Hasta La Creative!

It may be hard for Boston Red Sox fans to imagine, especially with the stellar year he’s having, but David Ortiz plans to retire at the end of 2016 after 14 seasons with the club and 20 total (as an Orioles fan, I can’t say I’ll miss him). To say goodbye to the aging slugger, MullenLowe crafted a spot for Red Sox sponsor JetBlue entitled “David Ortiz vs. Piñatas.”

The 45-second spot finds Ortiz mulling over his post-retirement plans. He imagines himself working kids’ parties busting piñatas. Predictably, his swing may be a bit too forceful to make the plan practical.

It’s a simple but effective ad, finding humor in Big Papi’s monstrous swing demolishing a series of piñatas in one swing. Each time, a group of children looks on, their party ruined as they can’t collect the candy, which inevitably finds itself home run distances away from its launch spot. The 45-second ads ends with the message “Whatever’s next for you Big Papi, good luck.” Sure to appeal to Red Sox fans, the ad’s lighthearted humor could also resonate with more casual fans  (even those who dread Big Papi coming up to bat).

Credits:

Client: JetBlue
Agency: MullenLowe

Creative
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Directors: Tim Vaccarino, Dave Weist
Creative Directors: Amy Ferguson, Julia Neumann
Copywriter: Chris Gilbert
Art Director: Dan Pappas

Production
Execkutive Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near
Director of Broadcast Production: Zeke Bowman
Producer: Matt Polski
Senior Digital Producer: Louise Lloyd Owen
Production Supervisor: Kristine Ring-Janicki
Senior Art Producer: Jessica Manning
Senior Production Artist: Julie Sforza
Project Manager: Christina Gratton
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Amy Keddy

Account Management
Executive Director: Drayton Martin
Account Director: Molly Bluhm
Account Executive: Beba Rivera

Strategy
Group Strategy Director: Ellie Gogan-Tilstone
Senior Strategist: Mike Patrick

Media
Senior Vice President, Group Digital Director: Jade Watts
Associate Digital Media Supervisor: Tracy Barahona
Associate Media Director: Kelly McGowan
Digital Media Supervisor: Shoshana Levine
Senior Media Planner: Lauren Meyers

PR, Social
Senior Vice President, PR Account Director: Jaclyn Ruelle
PR Account Supervisor: Brittany Topham
PR Assistant Account Executives: Kelsey Labrot, Meg Weldon

Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Director: Matt Aselton
Executive Producer: Marc Marrie
Producer: Zoe Odlum

Editing: MackCut
Editor: Ian Mackenzie
Assistant Editor: Mike Leuis
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Producer: Sabina-Elease Utley

Color: Company 3
Colorist: Tom Poole

Animation, Graphics: Method
Executive Producer: Angela Lupo
Visual Effects Producer: Matthew Engel

Sound Design, Mixing: MackCut
Mixer: Sam Shaffer

Music: Storefront Music

To push its JetBlue Card—and hopefully drive some impulse trip planning—JetBlue created a digital billboard that tells people standing in Times Square how quickly they can get to nicer climes, right from where they’re standing.

The Android-based billboard, created with OutFront Media, uses the Google Maps API and JetBlue’s active flight schedule to produce driving and flight data in real time. Whenever people see a special hashtag, the first person to tweet it with the JetBlue Twitter handle can score a voucher for a round-trip flight.

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Humans generally consider themselves to be better than pigeons in all ways, significant or not. But are we, really?

JetBlue's "Air on the Side of Humanity" campaign from Mullen, which launched last fall in Boston and is now rolling out to New York and Florida markets, suggests we're actually quite pigeon-like ourselves—at least, those of us who don't fly JetBlue are.

Indeed, much like the humble pigeon, who flies in crowded spaces, gets crumbs for snacks and is generally ignored and/or despised, we tend to be unappreciated when we take to the skies aboard other airlines.

Along with the TV work, JetBlue has been running a new Web series from Funny or Die that extends this notion of pigeon-on-human empathy. Called "Shoo's Bird's Eye View," the series stars a pigeon named Shoo who watches humans go about their business—and wryly remarks on how odd people can be.

The idea is that, through his comical observations, we might come to see the errors of our ways—like flying those airlines that don't have JetBlue in their name.

"The idea of bringing these two brands together, JetBlue and Funny or Die, was really appealing from the start," says Tim Vaccarino, executive creative director at Mullen. "Both have great sensibilities and a unique perspective on things. A way of getting right at the truth in a smart humorous way."

He added: "The use of the pigeon POV was a conscious one. It allowed us a unique perspective on humans and all their quirks. It let us show things we humans do every day but may overlook or ignore. Through Shoo's simple yet comical observations, the hope is people will wake up and change bad behavior. Such as the behavior of accepting a substandard level of customer service when we travel, for example. Just a thought."

The "Air on the Side of Human Campaign" has also included custom homepage takeovers, branded Spotify playlists, an interactive mobile rich media game and lifelike Pigeon Props riding atop taxi cabs.

JetBlue Airways is launching a big new ad campaign from Mullen with the theme "Air on the Side of Humanity." But its big star isn't even human—he's a pigeon.

The 60-second launch spot is a documentary-style piece in which the pigeon—that most frequent of frequent fliers, and most underappreciated of birds—talks about how he flies in crowded spaces, gets crumbs for snacks and is generally ignored. Thus, he's a stand-in for the masses who, with ruffled feathers, shuffle onto rival planes and experience the worst of air travel. "There's got to be a way to fly with a little respect. You know?" our hero asks at the end, as the tagline appears on screen.

The campaign breaks first in Boston, where JetBlue has the most daily nonstop flights of any carrier, and includes TV spots (running in 39 prime-time season premieres), online advertising, microsites, mobile, social, experiential and out-of-home advertising. Most intriguingly, JetBlue is also partnering with Mobile Theory on a voice activation unit that will teach consumers "how to speak pigeon on their smartphones."

There's also a digital experience and social hub called Central Perch, where you can send messages to friends through virtual carrier pigeons on Facebook. Meanwhile, check out the launch spot and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: JetBlue Airways
Spot: "Air on the Side of Humanity"

Agency: Mullen
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director Tim Vaccarino
Executive Creative Director Dave Weist
Group Creative Director Dylan Bernd
Sr. Copywriter Jack Collier
Writers: Evelynne Scholnick, Nick Olish
Sr Art Director: Dan Madsen
Art Directors: Jay Spahr, Mauricio Perez, Kara Noble
Digital Designer: Scott Petrichko
SVP, Creative Technologist: Christian Madden
Creative Technologists: Dave Lee, Stefan Harris, Joe Palasek
Executive Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near
Head of Broadcast Zeke Bowman
Producer Vera Everson
Sr Digital Producer: Kim Ryan
Digital Producers: Heidi Laidlaw, Charley Perkins
Experience Designers: Hoon Oh
Group Account Director Drayton Martin
Account Director Jill Rugani
Account Supervisor Hannah Moore, Cece Wedel
Senior Account Executive Molly Barag
Assistant Account Executive Vish Chandawarkar
Animation Designer: Veronica Padilla
QA: Ryan Nelson
Copy Editors: Ashley Rumery, Eric Maus, Rebecca Rehbein
Strategic Digital Analysts: Steve Sandiford, May Liu
Sr Computer Artist Kathryn Lane
Project Manager Niha Reddy
Production Supervisor Mark Gardner
SVP Group Media Director Keith Lusby
VP Associate Media Director Chris McLaughlin
Senior Media Planner Lauren Atkins
Assistant Media Planner Charlie Weickert
VP Group Digital Media Director Jade Watts
Associated Digital Media Director Rachel Allen
Digital Media Supervisor Erin Kelly
Digital Media Planner Caroline Caterine
Account Director PR Jaclyn Ruelle
Account Supervisor PR Christina Simmons
Account Executive PR Arianna Rubinstein
SVP, Group Strategy Director Fredrik Sarnblad
Senior Planning Analyst Chris Plating
Senior Brand Strategist Lirra Schiebler

Production: Hungry Man
Director Hank Perlman
Executive Producer Mino Jarjoura
Producer Martha English
Director of Photography Tom Richmond

Editorial: P.S. 260
Producer Laura Lamb Patterson
Editor JJ Lask
Assistant Editor Colin Reilly, Joe Simmons

VFX: Brickyard
Executive Producer Kirsten Andersen
Lead VFX Artist Geoff McAuliffe, Jimi Simmons
Animation Director Anders Beer

CG: General Gau & Brickyard VFX
Executive Producer Kirsten Anderson

Music: Original Music by Human

Audio Post: Sound Lounge/Soundtrack
Sound Design/Mixer Tom Jucarone, Glen Landrum, Mike Secher

JetBlue and its ad agency, Mullen, celebrated April Fools' Day with a payout instead of a prank. For the "April's No Fool" promotion, the airline actually offered to refund the entire fare (as a JetBlue credit) of anyone named April who happened to fly JetBlue on April 1. The carrier quoted its very own April—director of media relations April Dinwoodie—in the announcement. "April 1 isn't always fun and games for everyone," she said. "For many of us, it represents an annual tradition of mockery. We're thrilled to take a moment and do something for those customers that might not look forward to starting their month with a day of teasing." Poor Dinwoodie's life of teasing wasn't for naught, as it delivered a fun insight that drove this neat little promotion, causing excitement for Aprils all over Facebook. And yes, they really, actually, truly did give the money back.

Check out 42 other branded April Fools' efforts here.