Hasta La Creative!

BBDO New York recently launched a pair of 30-second broadcast spots for FedEx, directed by O Positive’s Jim Jenkins, promoting the brand’s ecommerce offerings. Both aim for comedy, but each has a distinct tone.

In “Passive Aggressive,” a man announces at a meeting that since FedEx helped the company simplify its ecommerce, they can “focus on bigger issues, like our passive aggressive environment.”

“We’re not passive aggressive,” a co-worked argues. The remainder of the ad, however, proves her wrong, as the co-workers trade passive aggressive lines back and forth.

The spot has a kind of entertaining dry office humor, which is an accomplishment for an ad about FedEx’s ecommerce offering

“Goofy Glasses” employs a different kind of comedy, relying instead on a visual gag that’s not quite as precise a fit for the brand. On the other hand, the spot addresses a business being helped by the offering more directly, as owners of a novelty shop discuss how they’re shipping goofy glasses all around the globe.

Credits:
Agency: BBDO New York
Client: FedEx
Chief Creative Officer Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
Senior Creative Director: Tom Kraemer (“Goofy Glasses”)
Senior Creative Director: Jens Waernes (“Goofy Glasses”)
Creative Director: Scott Mahoney (“Passive Aggressive”)
Creative Director: Dan Oliva (“Passive Aggressive”)

Director of Integrated Production: David Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer

Group Planning Director: Sangeet Pillai
Senior Account Director: Kathryn Brown
Account Director: Dan Langlitz
Account Manager: Cailin Gibbons
Account Executive: Billy McLellan

Production Company: O Positive
Director: Jim Jenkins
Director of Photography: Roberto Schaefer
Executive Producer: Marc Grill

Edit House: Mack Cut
Editor: Ian Mackenzie
Assistant Editor: Mike Leuis
Audio Post: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Tom Jucarone
Post VFX: Method
Colorist: Tim Masick

Production studio O Positive enlisted the services of actress Jessica Chastain in a new PSA for The Nature Conservancy.

Chastain reads a poem by Matthew Dickman entitled “Our Nature.” The spot, directed by Peyton Wilson sets Chastain’s reading of the poem to a dramatic piano track, coming across more like a short film about love than a PSA, until it’s revealed that the love Chastain is talking about is her love of nature. As the 60-second PSA continues, the camera turns more and more to shots of the beautiful Sierra Mountains, and Chastain interacting with the natural world around her, ending with the tagline “Your first love wants you back.”

“I chose to be a part of this remarkable campaign not just because it spoke to my own love affair with nature, but also because it’s imperative to find a way to co-exist with nature so that this valuable and beautiful resource is protected, ” Chastain said in a press release. “I hope this film encourages everyone to rethink their relationship with the natural world around them.”

The spot, the second nature PSA featured here in two days, like Conservation International’s effort, sees The Nature Conservancy take a different approach emphasizing emotion.

“This is a departure for the Conservancy,” explains Jordan Peavey, marketing director for The Nature Conservancy in California. “Instead of a typical PSA where we explain who we are sand what we do in a very intellectual way, we worked with Peyton, O Positive and Jessica Chastain to create an entirely different type of story. One we hope will intrigue and inspire new audiences to remember their love of nature and to get involved.” (more…)

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W+K New York tapped young Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper for their latest “This is SportsCenter” spot for ESPN, choosing to go an unexpected route with the outfielder.

In the 30-second spot, Harper sits in an office watching Field of Dreams with SportsCenter host Hannah Storm. During the movie’s concluding scene, both Harper and Storm get emotional. When Harper leaves to call his dad, he passes hosts John Anderson and Bram Weinstein in the hallway, who remark on Harper’s intimidating eye black — although by now viewers know better. It follows in the successful “This is SportsCenter” formula of toying with a star athlete’s perceived persona, and while it doesn’t add anything new to the approach it feels like a welcome addition, especially with the All-Star Game right around the corner. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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New York-based production company O Positive announced today the addition of director Rodrigo Garcia-Saiz to their roster for commercial representation in North America and internationally.

“I am an enormous fan of O Positive,” Garcia-Saiz said. “Talking with Jim [Jenkins] and David [Shane], I felt as if I knew them. They really love their work and enjoy their families; we share a similar vibe. Plus, they do some of the best work out there. I appreciate that O Positive is a small company where I can really focus and do great work.”

Garcia-Saiz has a steady track record of award-winning work, including a Cannes Gold Lion win for AMIS “Office” (Ogilvy & Mather Mexico), and the Bronze Lion-winning horror parody “Executed” for Gandhi Bookstores and anti-bullying spot “Playground.” After attending film school at University of Mexico’s prestigious El CUEC, Garcia-Saiz flexed his cinematic muscle at Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s production company as a commercial AD, before forming his own Mexico City production company, Central Films. continued…

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To promote Snickers Bites, BBDO New York went retro. Bites give hungry customers a bag full of tiny pieces of Snickers bars, a pretty big switch for the consistent candymaker. But what if Snickers had thought of the idea decades ago?

There are two spots, “Intercom” and “Leisure Suit,” that attempt to answer the question, showing goofy scenarios dated to the 70s about follies that prevented Snickers employees from making Bites many years ago. “Intercom” is clearly the better of the two, as a forgetful man with some vague decision-making responsibilities at the company tries to tell his secretary to remind him to create Bites. Unfortunately, there’s static, which the secretary blames on the Soviet Union. “Leisure Suit” is little more than 30 seconds of lazy guys in afros pretending to be stoned. There’s no reason for the laziness, and the jokes are dumb. However, the premise does lend itself to future self-contained episodes, so BBDO can always take a mulligan and create some better spots in the future. ”Leisure Suit” and credits after the jump.

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BBDO’s solid streak for Foot Locker continues with a new spot promoting the chain’s annual “Week of Greatness” event, “the one time each year when the most premium kicks come out.”

Entitled “All Is Right,” this latest effort is part of the agency’s ongoing “Foot Locker Approved” campaign for the brand and features the talents of Kyrie Irving, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Dennis Rodman, Brett Favre, Craig Sager, and Craig Sager‘s suits. Directed by Jim Jenkins, “All Is Right” opens with Kyrie Irving stating that with Foot Locker’s “Week of Greatness” it “feels like all is right with the world.” Irving then daydreams about what else would happen if all were suddenly right with the world. This daydream sequence features all the aforementioned stars. We see a lot of ads here at AgencySpy that attempt to be funny. Most of them miss; a few elicit a chuckle or two. Few of them are as genuinely funny as the daydream segment in this spot. I won’t give away too much, but the part featuring Mike Tyson (almost always comedic gold) made me laugh out loud. If the whole spot ended there it would still be classic, but the portions featuring Dennis Rodman and Craig Sager are almost as funny. We hope BBDO continues to make laugh-worthy work for Foot Locker in the future. Credits after the jump. continued…

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BBDO New York and Foot Locker know that Clippers forward/dunker Blake Griffin is a commercial machine – Subway, Kia, Jordan Brand to rattle off a few quickly. So for their latest joint venture, “The Endorser,” the creatives decided to physically hook up Griffin to a machine called The Endorser as if he were programmed to place products. For some Lob City support, Clippers point guard/whiner Chris Paul steps in as a foil to turn off the machine and show us the difference between Real Blake and Robot Blake.

The spot is another smart and self-aware sports bit that takes advantage of an athlete’s public persona through subversion. Griffin is usually stone-faced or arrogantly posturing on the court after huge dunks, but he’s built up a quiet niche as a funnyman on television. Just see this Grantland piece from March that discusses why Blake’s comedy is more complex than you might think. The only issue with Blake is overexposure, like, when his sponsorship brands debut separate commercials within the same week. His Jordan “Blake and Drain” spot, which alludes to MJ and Spike Lee ads from twenty years ago, is even better than the Footlocker commercial. And for that reason, “The Endorser” might get lost in the ever-expanding Blake Griffin commercial merry-go-round. Credits after the jump.

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