FCB Presents 2015 Pan Am Games Invasion

FCB Toronto recently launched a campaign for the 2015 Pan Am Games on behalf of The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, centered around a 60-second broadcast spot called “Invade.”

Appropriately enough, the ad imagines Toronto invaded by hordes of athletes, who take to the city to the tune of a cover of the Delphonics “Ready or Not.” It starts innocently enough, with a lone gymnast on a rooftop. But soon a swarm of kayakers is rowing toward the city, followed by equestrian riders storming through neighborhoods, soccer players running through woods and various other groups of athletes. The spot concludes with the message “41 countries, 51 sports,” followed by the tagline “Epic is on.” The spot fits the tagline pretty perfectly, encapsulating the scope of the event in a well-shot, jam-packed 60-seconds that gets more and  more frantic leading up to its conclusion.  (more…)

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Rethink Uses Bromancevertising to Sell Sh***y Canadian Beer

Rethink takes bromancevertising to the next level with their follow up to “The Beer Fridge” for Molson, the second most viewed commercial online in Canada in 2013.

“The Beer Fridge – Project Indonesia” is a 2:45 ode to Canada, hockey, beer, and, above all, bromance. Two friends decide to surprise a third friend who moved to the Gili Islands in Indonesia years ago. That there are no motorized vehicles in the Gili Islands makes the trek a bit of a challenge. The friends come packed with a satellite so their buddy can watch Team Canada in the 2014 Olympic Games and a red fridge full of Molson (which was obviously not easy to transport). When the three friends finally reunite, it’s actually quite a touching moment. This is probably the most bromantic ad you’ll see this year, and a refreshing angle from Rethink.

Molson released the Internet spot today, with a full-length TV version slated for the Canadian World Junior Hockey Tournament, where it will essentially take up entire commercial breaks. Clearly, Molson believes in this spot. Additionally, a 30 second version of the ad is set to debut on December 26th. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Walk Off The Earth Plays Bland Song in Three Styles for Interactive Beetle Spot

Immensely popular/boring band Walk Off The Earth play the same bland song in three different styles for Red Urban’s new interactive VW spot, directed by Wendy Morgan.

Users can select to hear the song “Gang of Rhythm” in three different versions, each shot at a different location and paired with a different Beetle, and even switch back and forth while the song plays out. They can choose ”Playful” mode for the Beetle Convertible, “Soulful” mode for the Super Beetle, or “Powerful” mode for the Beetle GSR. The song sounds like it was written for a car commercial, so I guess it’s appropriate enough. That doesn’t make it any more listenable, though. Gimmicky attempts to use the Beetle in the music abound: In one version, it’s the sound of the car’s engine, while in another it’s one of the Walk Off The Earth dudes drumming on the car.

According to Christina Yu, ECDof Red Urban Canada, the collaboration was the band’s idea. “Volkswagen got a call from the band one day,” she says, “apparently they are big Volkswagen fans and wanted to collaborate…We thought it was a great idea, so immediately started developing the ideas for the video.”

One thing we can take from this is that interactive seems to be in at the moment, especially in work for car companies. WCRS had their virtual test drive for the BMWi3, and Campfire had that “Deja View” spot for Infiniti. This particular spot’s interactive element (or gimmick, depending on your stance) is a pretty sound one, and the fluidity with which you can switch between the different styles in the video is well-executed. If I had been able to stomach the music, I could have even enjoyed it. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Red Urban Highlights New Golf GTD’s Acceleration in Global Spots

Red Urban, Volkswagen’s creative agency in Canada for the past three-and-a-half years, has unveiled the new Golf GTD with a global campaign showcasing the car’s rapid acceleration. The five 15-second spots for the campaign were filmed on location in Toronto over the course of two days, presenting quite a few challenges for Red Urban and director Curtis Wehfritz, working with several different shooting locations, a car-mounted camera and many prop gags.

The results are pretty mixed, ranging from the befuddling — expanding waistlines and accelerated childbirth — to the humorous: a grumpy child whose strawberry ice cream flies off its cone and against the rear windshield. This latter spot succeeds largely because of the perfect look on the girl’s face, and the believable (if unrealistic) execution of the ice cream splat.

The series marks the Canadian agency’s increasing expansion into global creative work for Volkswagen, which creative director Christina Yu calls “an amazing opportunity for Red Urban.” Red Urban’s work for Volkswagen in Canada has been innovative and has even seen the agency take some risks, as with their “Great Volkswagen Art Heist” campaign. While their campaign for the Golf GTD plays it relatively safe, hopefully the agency will start pushing boundaries with their future global work for Volkswagen.

Credits and one more video after the jump.

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