Hasta La Creative!

twofifteenmccann has released a live action trailer for Xbox One open-world racing game Forza Horizon 2.

Like a lot of live action trailers for games, the 90-second spot attempts to capture the feeling and excitement of the title in a live action format that captures viewers attention. “Leave Your Limits” opens with a nostalgic look at an electric slot car track. When one of the cars breaks through a wall rather than sticking to the track, the film shifts focus to cars speeding down a highway. The remainder of the spot uses racing footage of cars both on and off road, emphasizing the aspect that makes the game unique, the freedom its open world affords players.

“Leave Your Limits” finds a playful way to promote the game which should have fans ready for the September 30th launch while also piquing the curiosity of casual viewers. Appropriately enough, the spot is set to the song “Prisencolinensinainciusol” by Adriano Celentano, which is sung entirely in gibberish.

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Continuing a rather ambitious storyline that kicked off late last year, Samsung, with the aid of Cheil Worldwide and Psyop, has unveiled the next installment of its soccer stars vs. aliens saga to promote the Galaxy. While not technically a World Cup tie-in, “The Training” (nearly 42 million views and counting–yeah, we know it’s been out for a bit) features two of the event’s biggest (and best) participants, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who have also been making the rounds in spots for Nike and Adidas, respectively, that are officially attached to the event. In this campaign, though, real-life Ken doll Ronaldo and his archrival Messi, along with other notable footballers like Wayne Rooney,  join forces and evolve from mere athletes to sci-fi superheroes in order to combat an alien invasion…with their Galaxy S5s in tow, of course.

Psyop director Laurent Ledru, who shot this four-minute short in two months across cities including London, Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, Prague and Manchester, explains the process of working with the stars.  “Because of the athlete’s varying schedules we had to shoot each player separately. It was very important that each performance felt authentic to that athlete yet interacted seamlessly with the others.” Ledru, who met the players in the varying aforementioned locales, where they would execute the acrobatic stunts and moves for the real shot, adds, “Each player was given instructions and guidance but we needed to capture them acting as naturally as possible in front of the green screen despite the CG elements that were to come later.”

Like the previous clips that have encompassed this campaign, the Samsung Galaxy branding is kept to a minimum, save for the occasional highlighting of a feature (heat sensor! fast auto focus!). It’s the stars, story and special effects that take center stage here, and now, with training said and done, we’ve only the big final showdown to look forward to. Consider us involved. Game on.

Credits after the jump.

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FCB San Francisco gets a bit suggestive in their latest spot for online residential real estate site Trulia.

The 30-second spot, “Shower” shows a couple deciding whether or not they want to make an offer on a house. Said couple is in the bathroom admiring the tub when the woman makes a push for them to submit an offer. The guy isn’t so sure, but she reminds him that he was crazy about the garage, and also that the mortgage is the same as their rent. She adds that it’s in a great school district, which is important because they’re going to “start making babies,” and then adds “Let’s do it.” The guy, understandably mistakes her meaning and points out that the owner is right in the other room. It all feels a little forced, as if FCB wanted to break out of the usual real estate advertising rut but wasn’t quite sure how to go about it. The claustrophobic spot (feeling like you’re in a bathroom with two other people doesn’t exactly make for a pleasant viewing experience) also doesn’t do much to differentiate Trulia from the competition. “Shower” ends with the “That’s your moment of Trulia” tagline and an announcement of a $50,000 giveaway. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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StubHub’s Ticket Oak is back from hiatus with some advice for a bored couple, which for this particular plant means a concert ticket giveaway. “Not everyone has a Ticket Oak, but everyone has StubHub,” the ad from SF-based Duncan/Channon ends. In past, Ticket Oak has presented sports game tickets and orchestra-center tickets for a sold-out show. He’s a generous character, made even more loveable through his social media presence. He carried on a multiple-tweet conversation about kittens with @zachford2 and made lady oak jokes on Facebook.

Ticket Oak also showed up naked in ESPN’s Body Issue, on the side of StubHub food trucks, and will be appearing in pop-up shops for fans to take selfies with the big guy. It’s a sweet campaign for a ticket company, endearing users instead of estranging them. With help from their foliaged friend, StubHub will keep on growing.

Credits after the jump

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What about the trucker who just had to sit there while a waitress poured fake coffee into an overflowing mug? Or the egg on top of a diner table? The guy swimming with sharks? The wind-up brain toy? The geeky guy playing with a giant ball of yarn? Aloe vera tissues? Yes, all of these things are in the same “Retrain Your Brain” Virgin Mobile commercial, created by Mother NY. The spot is certainly unique, but that doesn’t mean it will get customers to switch from other carriers to Virgin Mobile.

“Retrain Your Brain” was birthed out of focus group findings that suggested customers wouldn’t switch mobile companies even if they were specifically told how much money they could save. So, Mother and Virgin Mobile decided to go with Brazilian triplets, Colonel Meow, and The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.

Could it be that most customers just aren’t suited for short-term pay-as-you-go phone plans? (Shh, don’t tell Virgin Mobile). Regardless, the spot looks like a surrealist drug sequence from a bad student film. If you’re going to include Brazilian triplets, you might as well use them. Credits after the jump.

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