Hasta La Creative!

Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation) is the latest marquee Hollywood director enlisted for Wieden+Kennedy’s “Dress Normal” campaign for Gap, following David Fincher‘s efforts in August and taking the reigns of four holiday  spots — a pair each for broadcast and online.

The ads spin the “Dress Normal” tagline by showing some abnormal (and often cringe-inducing) family holiday moments. But then what’s more normal than pondering the family you’ll never understand? Each spot ends with the message “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” preceding the tagline. It’s an interesting approach, positioning Gap as a gift for those family members you have no idea what to give to, but it sits well with the “Dress Normal” tagline and Coppola and company do a good job of making it work in most of the ads.

In perhaps the most successful of the spots, “Gauntlet” a girl returns home to her large, boisterous, and often odd family. Perfectly set to the Johnny Cash song “I Got Stripes,” she makes her way through the house greeting her relatives with an awkward expression on her face that says a lot about the effort she’s putting in to deal with these people. It feels like a telling glance into the lives of a particular family, which is the approach taken throughout these efforts and, along with some great song selections, what makes them charming. The other broadcast spot, “Mistletoe,” documents a particularly cringe-worthy moment under the mistletoe at a holiday party. It’s almost hard to watch, but then that makes it fit the “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” all the more.

In addition to the two online ads — “Crooner” and “Pinball” — the campaign is supported by print and OOH elements, as well as digital banner ads launching on Gap’s social media channels and GapGiftGuide.com on November 3rd. (more…)

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W+K New York called on the services of Stephen Strasburg for the latest in their “This is SportsCenter” series and the Washington Nationals ace doesn’t disappoint.

In the 30-second spot, “Frozen Lunch,” SportsCenter host Bram Weinstein angrily searches the break room for his Lean Cuisine while Strasburg ices his arm. Weinstein decides that the best way to find the culprit is to send out an angry email and storms out, while the true whereabouts of his “glazed turkey tenderloins” are revealed. Strasburg and Weinstein’s interactions make for some pretty entertaining moments, including a funny throwaway line from Weinstein near the spot’s conclusion, and it’s nice to see Strasburg getting the spotlight from W+K and ESPN. When successful,”This is SportsCenter” spots can be a lot of fun, and this latest entry from W+K New York definitely qualifies as a success. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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