Hasta La Creative!

Continuing their back-to-school Techfitter campaign, Best Buy and CP+B are providing Tim Kong, an aspiring games designer, with the tech he needs to design and code his next action-packed adventures. Previously, Best Buy “techfitted” a marine biology major and an aerospace engineer with a set of Windows 8 gadgets.

This new spot is comparatively less exciting, maybe because stars and oceans are grander than grungy cars and code. Consequently, I wish we had more of a storyline. Is Tim Kong really just going to make a new Grand Theft Auto, or do his interests lie somewhere specific? And in that case, can we hear what he has to say? At this point, he’s a Stock Student who knows how to make a good surprised/awesome face.

But maybe it’s better that he’s a basic video games enthusiast. Many current college kids must relate, and it’s a good thing Best Buy has a spot specifically geared towards forward-thinking, technology-centered students, hence the girl scientist, a guy scientist, and a gamer. If only the campaign lasted longer and their next subject is a fashion girl, conveniently coinciding with Fashion Week. Ah, what could’ve been.

Credits after the jump

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Water cooler talk seems to be a popular theme this week. Today, our awkward conversational time passing introduces us to Phil and Marty, the bull and bear duo in the first national campaign for social investing firm Ditto Trade. The online company uses a chain-like system to initiate trades from Lead Traders to the general users, as you can see in this handy diagram. In the above spot, Phil and Marty discuss the merits of Ditto Trade’s unique investing platform. Notice the clever characterization, as Phil uses bullish tactics to sway the reserved Marty.

Ditto Trade CMO Jeff Abbott, a former SVP/creative director at Leo Burnett who spent 20 years at said agency, is the mastermind behind this anthropomorphic campaign. The televised spot is part of a varied pitch to would-be investors that includes print, billboards, and digital ads. Ditto Trade is approaching one million “dittoed” trades by its users, so we may be seeing more of Phil and Marty in the future. I wonder, though, how does Phil button his dress shirt with his clunky hooves? Might have to address that in the sequel. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Nearly three months after 72andSunny introduced us to “The Replacer”–aka Fargo baddie Peter Stormare–in its campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Revolution trailer, the agency has brought back the character, now with sidekick JB Smoove in tow, for its Black Ops II – Uprising promo. Jesus, how many entries are in this franchise? Anyhow, the newly formed dynamic duo embarks on several replacing adventures from serving as weatherman to fixing cable, with Stormare being his usual, somewhat menacing self and Smoove giving us the fast-talking delivery that we first came to know and love in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

We’re not sure what the budget is here, but as the Black Ops franchise expands, so do seem the timeframe and scope of the clips promoting it. But, if you have the patience for it (it is lunchtime on the East Coast, after all), don’t let us stop you from taking in this slightly entertaining, slightly grating clip. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.