Hasta La Creative!

Back in September, Mekanism rolled out its “It’s On Us” sexual assault awareness PSA for the United States government, enlisting the help of celebrities (including actor Jon Hamm), along with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, to deliver its message.

Now, the agency is rolling out phase two of the campaign, again calling on bystanders to help prevent sexual assault. While the initial effort relied on its star power, this time around Mekanism instead attempts to put the viewer in a realistic situation. At a drunken house party, a female guest attempts to leave, only to have her exit blocked by an aggressive guy asking, “Oh no, you’re not leaving are you? Why do you want to go home?” as another guy sits on the couch with a drink. “This isn’t a PSA about sexual assault,” says the voiceover, “it’s about being the guy who stops it.” The spot ends with the guy getting up from the couch to come to the girl’s aide, followed by the message “It’s on us to stop sexual assault” and directing viewers to ItsOnUs.org.

While lacking the visibility of its predecessor, the spot communicates its message well. By focusing on the guy on his couch just having a drink at a party as an uncomfortable situation unfolds, it puts the viewer in his position, the idea being that viewers in a similar situation will know that it’s time to act rather than simply doing nothing — to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Its released is timed in anticipation of next week’s “National Week of Action” at colleges and universities across the country, a push to get students involved with “It’s On Us.” (more…)

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W+K’s new “It’s Amazing What You’re Capable Of” campaign for TurboTax, which kicked off last week with the excellent “The Year of You” spot, continues on with two new 30-second spots that capture humor and sentiment in equal measure.

The first, “Life is Full of Whys” (above), finds a recently dumped guy, a guy being encouraged by his wife to move, and a sad clown wondering some incredibly depressing questions. However, viewers should note that even in the darkest times, taxes can be your redemption. Sure, everyone hates your clown jokes, but at least you can write off your squeaky shoes as a business expense.

The second, “Did I Get Married?,” is shot from the perspective of a man falling in love with a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, whose questions range from cute to sort of off putting and bizarre. But, isn’t that the kind of girl every guy wanted to marry after watching Garden State, Elizabethtown, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, etc.? And then brag about to web-based financial software? In any case, these spots both hit their target (MEN!) in an engaging, lighthearted fashion. Who knew doing your taxes could be so emotionally rewarding? Credits after the jump.

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W+K again? Yes, and now it concerns W+K Portland’s “It’s Amazing What You’re Capable Of” campaign for TurboTax with the launch ad, “The Year of You.”

The spot marks the first creative work W+K have completed in partnership with TurboTax since nabbing AOR duties back in July. As you might expect from the title, the :90 “The Year of You” reminisces about all the things that “you” have accomplished in 2013, paying homage especially to new parents, newlyweds and new home owners. This leads in to the suggestion that since you’ve done all these things, you’re the best person to do your taxes. The types of accomplishments applauded in the ad correlate with the simple questions that TurboTax uses, such as “Did you get married?” and the ad does a good job making TurboTax’s system look very easy. The voiceover during the ad (which sounds a lot like John C. Reilly) is lighthearted and endearing, making the whole thing unexpectedly likeable for an advertisement for a tax service, which should help assuage some of the inevitable tax season anxiety it triggers.

“The Year of You” launched yesterday and will run until April 15th. During that time, W+K will gradually roll out other initiatives in the “It’s Amazing What You’re Capable Of” campaign. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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