Hasta La Creative!

The original Always “Like a Girl” commercial—which broke last summer and got 56 million views on YouTube before getting a plum Super Bowl ad slot last month—was primarily a challenge. It urged girls to redefine the phrase from one of weakness to one of strength.

Now, with International Women’s Day on Sunday, the Procter & Gamble brand has released a follow-up video showing how the meaning of the phrase is already changing.

P&G also released some new stats around the campaign from its Always Puberty & Confidence Wave II Study, conducted pre-Super Bowl. According to that study, 76 percent of women and 59 percent of men ages 16-24 said the video changed their perception of the phrase “like a girl.” Also, 81 percent of women said the video can change the way people think about the stereotypes surrounding women’s physical abilities.

This spot—created by Leo Burnett, as the original was—won’t go megaviral like the first one, simply because the first one had that magical insight. But it’s a good way to keep the campaign going.

“The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Make It Happen,’ and that’s exactly what girls are doing by rewriting the meaning of #LikeAGirl,” said Always global vp Fama Francisco. The new video celebrates amazing young girls around the globe and encourages everyone to continue the movement every day and everywhere, because together, we’re making #LikeAGirl mean amazing things.”

Leo Burnett took quite the minimalist route with its Oscar campaign for McDonald’s, using nothing but text to evoke classic movies.

The 60-second spot likens movies such as Jaws, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs and King Kong to McDonald’s iconic Big Mac, an audacious claim to be sure, ending with the line “Lovin’ takes the right ingredients.” Aside from any qualms about the comparison, the ad does mostly succeed at conveying movies with just a few lines of text, at its best (fava beans + chianti + people…for dinner) mixing in some humor. There’s also something oddly satisfying about how well the text synced up with Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.” Still, how you feel about the approach will largely come down to whether or not you think a fast-food chain should be comparing itself to the classics, and we’re guessing McDonald’s won itself plenty of haters with this one.

Leo Burnett, Melbourne launched a surreal ad for the new Honda HR-V called “Dreamrun.”

The spot opens on a man in a restaurant reading a book on lucid dreaming, the first clue that it doesn’t take place in waking reality. After looking down at his plate and seeing his eggs get all swimmy he leaves the restaurant, only to be chased by a pair of men telling him, “It’s time to wake up now, Brian.” He finds he’s holding a steering wheel as the Honda HR-V assembles before his eyes, functioning as his getaway vehicle. Things only get weirder from here as he’s joined by his talking pet dog.

It’s one of the stranger car ads you’ll see, and also one of the most visually striking, as Leo Burnett creates a surreal world and draws the viewer in. “Dreamrun” has enough surprises and humor to keep things interesting, and the concluding line “For wherever you dream of going” and subsequent “The Power of Dreams” tagline do a reasonable job of tying everything together.

Credits:

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Melbourne, Australia
Executive Creative Director: Jason Williams
Senior Copywriter: Garret Fitzgerald
Senior Art Director: Joe Hill
Senior Broadcast Producer: Cinnamon Darvall
Director: Nathan Price
Production Company: Goodoil Films
Executive Producer: Juliet Bishop
Producer: Claris Harvey
DOP: Ginny Loane
Production Designer: Guy Treadgold
Editor: Jack Hutchings / The Butchery
VFX: Alt VFX

After a seemingly endless glut of Super Bowl ad teasers from various brands over the past week, McDonald’s is the latest to release its big game entry in full. As part of its 2015 effort to focus on togetherness, positivity and the like, the chain — with the help of Leo Burnett — is turning love into currency for a select group of customers from February 2nd through Valentine’s Day.

Despite this week’s CEO shakeup that saw former Euro chief Steve Easterbrook take over for 25-year vet Don Thompson, the fast-food giant sticks to its longstanding “I’m lovin’ it” tagline in this two-week campaign.

In a statement to ABC News, a McDonald’s spokeswoman explains the effort, saying:

“We want to thank our customers for making our day and hopefully they will make someone else’s as well – that’s what Lovin’ is all about. From selfies, hugs to high fives – we have a bunch of fun ways to express your Lovin.”

In other words, lovin’ does beat hatin’ after all.

From Deutschland with love comes this rather tender spot from three-year-old Leo Burnett hybrid agency Thjnk Tank, which celebrates the fast-food giant’s 60th anniversary in Germany by spotlighting a clown.

That’s not just any clown, mind you, but one Oleg Popov, an 84-year-old Russian known as the “Sunshine Clown” who’s been entertaining audiences since the 1950’s.

As the 90-second ad shows us, though, age is just a state of mind when it comes to Popov, whose arduous yet rewarding day in the life we see unfold from backstage prep to showtime to–who would’ve guessed it–an end-of-day meal at McDonald’s and a seat across Ronald himself. With the aid of the soft-petaled soundtrack, it’s a subtle and poetic ending to a spot that’s a marked change of pace from Mickey D campaigns we’re accustomed to here in the States. Perhaps it’s time we took a cue.

Also of note: unlike every other recent ad in the chain’s rebranding campaign, this one includes images of real people eating its food.

Agency: Leo’s thjnk tank
Chief Creative Officer: Armin Jochum
Chief Creative Officer: Andreas Pauli
Creative Supervision: Georg Baur
Creative Supervision: Torben Otten
Creative Supervision: Florian Weber
Creative Supervision: Armin Jochum
Creative Direction: Torben Otten
Creative Direction: Georg Baur
TV Producer: Thomas Nabbefeld
TV Producer: Marcus Wetschewald

Director: Alex Feil
Film Production: tempomedia filmproduktion gmbh
DOP: Antonio Palladino
Producer: Vera Portz
Producer: Justin Mundhenke
Music: Supreme Music

Leo Burnett Change, a specialist arm of Leo Burnett dedicated to social change, designed an attention-grabbing cover for Cosmopolitan as part of an awareness campaign for Karma Nirvana, a UK charity aiding victims of so-called “honour-based violence.”

The cover (pictured above) was inspired by the death of of Shafilea Ahmed, a 17-year-old British-Pakistani woman who was suffocated to death by her parents in front of her siblings after refusing to honor an arranged marriage. It depicts a woman who appears to be suffocating, and is encased in a plastic wraparound. A 7-second online video, also created by Leo Burnett, depicts the cover being ripped open as a symbolic representation of the release of women from such violence. The harrowing cover will run on limited editions of the February issue of Cosmopolitan in the UK, and the video will run on the magazine’s social channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Instagram.

Credits:

Creative Agency: Leo Burnett Change

Executive Creative Director: Justin Tindall

Creatives: Darren Keff and Phillip Meyler

Account Director: Chris Jackson, Sofia Sarkar

Photographer: Erin Mulvehill

Design: Tim Fletcher

Producer: Mickey Voaks

Production Co.: Messrs Group

In 2004, a 17-year-old British-Pakistani woman named Shafilea Ahmed was suffocated and murdered by her parents, in front of her siblings, after she refused an arranged marriage.

Shafilea’s death is referenced clearly and heartbreakingly on limited-edition covers of the February issue of Cosmopolitan magazine in the U.K. to raise awareness about so-called honor killings—in which a person is murdered by a family member for bringing what the killer believes is shame upon the family.

Leo Burnett Change, Leo Burnett’s specialist arm dedicated to social change, designed the cover, which features a plastic wraparound encasing an image of a woman appearing to be suffocated. It’s part of a campaign for Karma Nirvana, the U.K. charity that helps victims of honor-based violence.

The campaign also includes a 7-second online film, also by Leo Burnett, showing the plastic wrapping being ripped open, signifying the release of women from violence.

Karma Nirvana and Cosmo, in partnership with the Henry Jackson Society, are organizing an inaugural Day of Memory for Britain’s Lost Women, which will take place July 14—the date of Shafilea Ahmed’s birthday.

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McDonald’s really wants people to think it cares about community. But go figure, not everyone is convinced.

The brand’s new ad from Leo Burnett, which aired Sunday during NFL games and on the Golden Globe Awards, focuses on McDonald’s franchises that have, over the past 20 years, used their roadside signs to support, celebrate or otherwise acknowledge local and national events, both happy and tragic—everything from 9/11 to the homecoming of troops to a nearby base to Boston’s spirit in the wake of the marathon bombing to the 30th wedding anniversary of a couple who’ve celebrated every year of marriage at a McDonald’s. (The campaign includes a Tumblr page that explains some of the more specific examples.)

The centerpiece spot, part of a broader brand refresh that began with the quite well-liked “Archenemies” ad, got a less-than-enthusiastic response on Twitter during NBC’s Globes telecast.“McDonald’s is presenting itself as the face of corporate kindness? PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES A LIVING WAGE,” said one detractor, in a post retweeted more than 80 times. Said another, “@McDonalds I just threw up in my mouth watching your commercial… Desperate attempt to rescue your image.”

To be fair, some viewers enjoyed the spot. “This McDonald’s marquee sign is fantastic!” tweeted the handle of Des Moines radio station Star 102.5. But the backlash around the fair pay debate is predictable, given the high profile of the recent Fight for 15 protests. And that makes a sign like “Keep Jobs in Toledo” seem kind of tone deaf, even if it technically refers to a nearby factory at risk of closure.

Plus, the soundtrack—a children’s choir covering indie pop band Fun’s “Carry On”—makes such a clumsy grab for the audience’s heartstrings that it’s hard not to think of crocodile tears. In the words of another viewer, “I’m not lovin’ it.”

See more of the Twitter reaction below. What do you think of the ad?

 
LOVIN’ IT

Call me a chump, but I loved that McDonald’s ad. #GoldebGlobes

— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) January 12, 2015

@McDonalds just won the #GoldenGlobes … that was expert. #advertising

— Scott Forshay (@scottforshay) January 12, 2015

Watch this @mcdonalds ad from @dlwahl1 @susancredle @leoburnett everyone. It’s brilliant. http://t.co/ohH0n87HS4

— Cindy Gallop (@cindygallop) January 11, 2015

Best work from @McDonalds in a long time–well done @dlwahl1& team and @LeoBurnett: McDonald’s: Signs: http://t.co/Y3YO4eBD78 via @YouTube

— Jim Stengel (@JimStengel) January 11, 2015

 
NOT LOVIN’ IT

That @McDonald‘s commercial is shameless, vulgar, tasteless, cynical, crass. In other words, as bad as the food. #GoldenGlobes

— Harold Itzkowitz (@HaroldItz) January 12, 2015

Can’t stop thinking about how weird and gross that McDonald’s ad is.

— Zach Floyd (@floyding) January 12, 2015

This McDonald’s ad is like everything I’ve ever had to tell my clients “NO YOU HAVE NO STAKE IN THIS CONVERSATION, BIG BRAND!” Barf.

— dulce calor (@dulcecalor) January 12, 2015

McDonald’s has reached a new, delusional level of grandeur with their “marquee” commercial.

— Greg Shumchenia (@GregShum) January 11, 2015

I really feel we can all come together as a country over how offensively manipulative and cynical that McDonald’s ad is.

— Erika Hall (@mulegirl) January 11, 2015

TD Bank gave 24 of its customers $30,000 to contribute to a community cause of their choosing, with just one stipulation: they had to complete the project in 24 hours.

Created in collaboration with Leo Burnett and Diamond Integrated Marketing, the campaign is captured in the above four-minute video (which fell through the cracks here last week). The video release was perfectly timed for Thanksgiving and easily went viral, having past the 3.5 million views mark on YouTube in under a week. “#MakeTodayMatter” shows surprised TD Bank customers learning they’ve been awarded the money for a cause of their choosing and then getting to work on making a difference in just one day.

The majority of those nominated for the campaign were chosen by TD employees, TD Chief Marketing Officer Dominic Mercuri told Adweek, with a few “chosen based on random live interviews in branches and stores with random customers.” Mercurri added, “We didn’t know if this idea would work. Would people drop everything to bring to life their idea? Turns out—yes, they would.”

Those ideas are on full display in the “#MakeTodayMatter” video, from buying all-new gear for a local youth football team, to making a woman’s home wheelchair accessible (allowing her to leave for the first time in years), to a gala event to boost the self-esteem of foster children. It’s hard to not be at least a little touched with people making their charitable ideas a reality. There are also separate videos for each project, hosted on a campaign website, as well as a social component. As you may remember, Leo Burnett and TD Bank went viral with the similarly charitable, “Automated Thanking Machines” this summer, and TD also collaborated with Philadelphia-based Tierney to commission “Art For Trees,” promoting eco-initiative MillionTreesNYC back in October.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Here’s the last parody video we’re going to post from Strategy magazine’s Agency of the Year event in Toronto. It’s Leo Burnett entry, and it seems the agency has found a unique way to make its employees more creative—by having them do shots and then literally slapping the tired old ideas out of their heads.

Burnett calls it “Slapshot,” and it seems to be working, judging by the impressive numbers in the fake case study below. And certainly, beta testing in Cannes was an inspired idea.

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The slapshot idea isn’t new—most other places it’s called a “whiskey slap,” and it appears to be a party game among bros in certain parts of the country. (It also shows up in the movie Beside Still Waters, judging by the trailer.)

It’s jarring, for sure, to see the Burnett staffers, male and female, clearly getting slapped in the face for real. Though as the voiceover says at the end: “No one was harmed or offended during the making of this video. Participants were willing and even excited about their involvement. Leo Burnett company in no way endorses violence of any kind against advertising people or any people.”