Hasta La Creative!

Jim Henson creations have a storied history in advertising, going back to the 1950s, when a violent proto-Kermit pitched Wilkins Coffee with 10-second TV spots.

Tappy, the latest creation from Jim Henson’s Creature Studio, is similarly off-kilter in his role as a living credit card reader at a checkout counter. 

Tappy is the new voice of Softcard, an e-payment product that works at McDonald’s and other major chains that now accept phone swipes as currency. Softcard needed a new mascot and some rebranding after changing its name from Isis, an unfortunate name since being co-opted by the infamous terror state.

Tappy is a bit out there as a concept, turning a boring inanimate object into a somewhat obnoxious little critter, but that’s what the Henson team has done for decades, building characters for brands to support their more artful Muppet projects. In fact there’s a roster of corporate mascots that come from The Jim Henson Co. that you might not know are basically cousins to Kermit, Oscar and Big Bird. For Instance, Snuggle bear is part muppet and so is Jack In The Box’s oversized snowman.

Here’s a look at the some of the characters made by Jim Henson’s Creature Studio for commercials and video marketing:

Tappy, Softcard
In a history of oddities, Tappy stands out among the Henson creations for sheer adsurdity. He’s a credit-card reading machine with teeth. We could learn to love him, maybe, on a long enough timeline.

Mel, Kraft
Mel the MilkBite is part dairy, part granola bar and totally confused. He’s a character with an identity crisis, pondering, “What am I?”

Life, Pacific Blue Cross
Life is a Muppet in the classic sense, and he promoted insurance for Pacific Blue Cross. In the commercials, he bites people in the butt, symbolizing unexpected events like dental emergencies.

Polar Bear, Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola polar bear, which debuted in commercials in 1993, is a classic, and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop brought him to life for appearances with the public.

Puppet Jack, Jack in the Box
Puppet Jack has very similar mannerisms to Kermit, like when he throws his hands in the air and freaks out. A true pitchman who knows where to find a receptive audience, he shows up on couches to educate stoners about fast-food deals.

Great Chocolate Factory Mystery Experience in 4D, Hershey’s

Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery Experience is an interactive show featuring talking candy bars at Hershey’s HQ in Pennsylvania. Henson made the digital puppets for the experience.

Lenny, Lending Tree
Lenny could be brothers with Kermit, given he’s so obviously Muppet and green. He basically just follows around a guy named Len, trying to talk him out of taking a loan from a bank.

Fairy-tale characters, Reading Is Fundamental

The literacy effort Reading Is Fundamental featured puppets alongside famous cartoon characters for this ad inspiring adults to read to children.

Rico, Air New Zealand
Rico was a rather NSFW spokesppupet whose South American accent and wordplay raised eyebrows, such as when he praised “a nice Kiwi beach.” He was best known for the viral marketing collaborations with edgy celebrities, including Snoop Dogg and Lindsay Lohan.

Snuggle Bear, Snuggle

Snuggle the fabric softener bear has deep Muppet roots. The bear debuted in 1983, a creation of Kermit Love (not related to the frog), who also made Big Bird.

It’s an accepted truism that the food in fast-food ads looks nothing like the food in real life. But can it be made to look that way? Is it possible to transform a regular McDonald’s burger into food-porn perfection using only a couple of iPads and an iPhone??

That the challenge the guys at DigitalRev TV set for themselves. And they do a pretty decent job of replicating actual McDonald’s product shots. Though you wouldn’t want to run extreme close-ups of their creation, like they do in France.

Check out the process below, and skip to 3:00, where the action really starts.

Via Design Taxi.

Does McDonald’s put horsemeat in its burgers? What about pink slime? Would you feed McDonald’s food to your kids?

So many questions. But now, taking its cues from a well-received transparency campaign from McDonald’s Canada, the chain is responding to whatever hate its American critics want to throw at it. And it’s hired former MythBusters host Grant Imahara to be your third-party, completely unbiased, totally trustworthy, quasi-celebrity McMyth investigator.

Grant’s first three videos have already dropped, where he visits a Cargill plant and answers the following: Is McDonald’s beef real (and are there eyelids in there)? Why are the patties frozen (when fresh should theoretically be much tastier)? Why are the burgers so cheap (you get what you pay for, right)?

It’s everything you’d expect from a hard-reboot, Domino’s-style brand turnaround. What I most admire is that they’re letting the comment feed on YouTube be just as brutal as it wants to be. And man, is it brutal. It’s hard to tell the legit processed-food concerns from the horsemeat crazies.

Though honestly, that’s good for Micky D’s. The more they can discredit the really nutty folks by letting them be themselves—and there are some excellent conspiracy theorists blowing up the feed—the less McDonald’s itself actually needs to say.

That said, I’m probably not going to bite the bullet like Grant and munch a Big Mac anytime soon. But those sodium acid pyrophosphate fries, man. Who can resist those fries?

You can always count on McDonald’s for more modest World Cup advertising—simple stories about family and friends, not flashy spots with overpaid stars. Some of it can be hokey, though sometimes it captures little truths that are quietly sweet and evocative.

This spot from multicultural agency Alma zeroes in on a great cultural insight in the Mexican American community: what happens when a father and his friends still unequivocally support Mexico, while the son, as secretly as he can, roots for the U.S.

The ad was directed by Diego Luna, still perhaps best known as Gael García Bernal’s costar in 2001’s Y Tu Mamá También. The humor is broad, and the acting isn’t subtle, yet it’s one of those ads you can’t help but like. Shot in both English and Spanish, it breaks Thursday and will air in general market and Hispanic media throughout the World Cup.

Credits below.

brightcove.createExperiences();

CREDITS
McDonald’s: Client
Alma: Creative Agency
Luis Miguel Messianu: Chief Creative Officer
Alvar Suñol: SVP Executive Creative Director
Jorge Murillo: Creative Director/Copywriter
Serge Castagna: Associate Creative Director/Art Director
Rodrigo Vargas: Executive Producer
Marta De Aguiar: Account Director
Ana Silva: Account Supervisor
Diego Luna: Director
Canana Films: Production House
2105 Editorial: Post Production House
Alejandro Santangelo: Editor
Personal Music: Music House
Co. 3: Color Correction

On the heels of a refresh that brought Ronnie McDonald some sweet new threads, McDonald’s has just introduced a new crazy-eyed mascot—er, “ambassador”—named “Happy.” (Presumably because “Nightmare Fuel” was already trademarked.)

Created to coincide with the addition of Go-Gurt treats as part of a healthier Happy Meal, this guy looks instead like he’s trying to lure a stoned teen to spend his allowance on delicious fast-food treats at the Golden Arches. 

“At McDonald’s, we’re always looking to bring fun and happiness to families and listening to our customers’ asks to have more variety and wholesome options for kids to enjoy in their Happy Meals,” said Julie Wenger, senior director of U.S. marketing, in a statement from the House of Ronald.

This is the perfect super-size rhetoric to set up your child’s future decision to drunkenly eat both Big Macs during a 2 for $2 deal. I’m lovin’ it. 

Say hello to our newest friend, Happy! http://t.co/CuR3hU8Chj #HappyMeal pic.twitter.com/xgluLaHfcY

— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) May 19, 2014

As you can imagine, the announcement sparked some entertaining responses on Twitter:

I saw the new Happy Meal mascot and then I made this. pic.twitter.com/jeNBENA0c5— Brian F’n Patterson (@d20monkey) May 20, 2014

Can’t sleep. Clowns and/or creepy new McDonald’s “Happy” mascot will eat me. pic.twitter.com/Co1QBDXR2L— angry stick figure (@ottok) May 20, 2014

Ba da ba da OH GOD IT HAS TEETH RT @McDonalds: Say hello to our friend, Happy! http://t.co/w1NHUhLRvd #HappyMeal pic.twitter.com/Eb8eVsm7Du— Bridget Carey (@BridgetCarey) May 19, 2014

Maybe we shld calm down about new @McDonalds mascot & remember the children who had to contend with Mayor McCheese pic.twitter.com/hQ6RlKm8Mj— Shannan Siemens (@ShannanSiemens) May 20, 2014

Source

Last summer, TBWA Paris unveiled a bold campaign for McDonald's that consisted entirely of classic menu items photographed up close—with no branding at all. (Did somebody say McDonald's? Not in those ads.)

Now, agency and client are back with a follow-up campaign that, in a way, is even more minimalist. Instead of the actual products, now we get clean, simple drawings of the products—turning them into actual icons. There is a bit more explicit branding on these, though, but it's still very subtle—a tiny Golden Arches next to the illustrations.

The ads feature McDonald's "Big 6" menu items—Big Mac, cheeseburger, fries, sundae, Chicken Nuggets and Filet-o-Fish—and will appear on more than 2,700 outdoor displays in France, with the major rollout beginning June 2. The agency calls the work "unique and modern, in the McDonald's brand image," "exclusive, simple and universal, just like the six iconic products" and "a fun and intriguing addition to our cities."

More images, plus a new McDonald's TV spot from TBWA Paris, below.

Imitation is the sincerest form of fla—rather, great minds think alike. 

Seattle's Best Coffee's new spot features various dudes who happen to be named Duncan proclaiming their love for the Starbucks-owned brand. 

What's interesting here is that this video was published two whole days before Taco Bell's somewhat viral "Real Ronald" ads featuring guys named Ronald McDonald. 

According to the coffee company's behind-the-scenes website, "The ad, which appeared before a fast-food chain launched a similar campaign, is part of a national taste test that found people preferred the new House Blend from Seattle’s Best Coffee over a competitor’s original blend coffee."

Given the close timing between these two, it's clear that neither brand was ripping off the other's idea. (As we've noted, it wasn't even a completely new idea in the first place.) Rather it reads as an uncanny coincidence fueled by the brand-obsessed zeitgeist. 

So, take a look at the two ads below and see the uncanny resemblance for yourself. 

Via Business Insider.

McDonald's puts our minds to the test in this British campaign from Razorfish that features prankvertising and an online quiz.

The premise is that people can't concentrate on anything else when the Big Mac is nearby. Unlike some recent hair-raising ad stunts, and the million-calorie sandwich itself, the prank element here is pretty benign.

On a busy street, a young couple with a camera ask presumably unsuspecting passersby to take their picture. As they primp, a large portrait of a Big Mac is carried past by a different couple, who quickly switch places with the original pair just as the photo is about to be snapped. (It's cool how boyfriend No. 1 starts a sentence as the Big Mac obscures him from view, then boyfriend No. 2 appears and completes the sentence once the switch is made.)

The subjects don't seem to notice that anything's amiss. Maybe a devil baby puking up special sauce would've gotten their attention? Just a thought.

Anyway, the original couple from the clip also host a series of interactive "mind games" designed to demonstrate the Big Mac's distracting power. I thought the hypnotic properties of two all beef patties, yada yada, on a sesame seed bun had been irrefutably established long ago. Obviously, when one appears, so plump and juicy … I cannot turn away!

Oddly, when McD's showed in detail how McNuggets were made, I couldn't make the screen go dark fast enough. Still, I'll have fries with that!

Basta prestar um pouco de atenção nas comemorações dos medalhistas em eventos esportivos para perceber que parte da comemoração é morder a medalha. Em seu filme para a Olimpíada de Inverno, o McDonald’s resolveu apostar nesta tradição comparando os lanches da rede às medalhas conquistadas pelos atletas, lembrando que as celebrações são feitas com uma mordida.

O filme criado pela DDB de Chicago, com produção da Pytka e um ótimo trabalho de edição de Meg Kubicka, da Whitehouse Post, reúne uma série de momentos importantes da história dos Jogos Olímpicos de Inverno, mostrando as comemorações dos atletas ao longo dos anos.

E caso você esteja se perguntando de onde vem a tradição de dar uma mordida na medalha, a explicação mais comum é que o gesto imita um antigo costume de se morder moedas para verificar se elas realmente eram feitas de ouro. Em caso positivo, o metal fica com uma pequena marca do dente.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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This series of French McDonald's ads for three new sandwiches proves that, for better or worse, European stereotypes of Americans have changed a bit over the years. Instead of being fat tourists or dumb rednecks, we're now hockey players, cops and sexy lifeguards demanding that total strangers hand over their Double Shiny Bacon burgers.

Slate and Consumerist think the whole thing is out of left field, but I disagree. Sure, the hockey player is more of a Canadian icon (unless you live in Detroit), but the other two make sense enough. And unfortunately, we probably have earned a reputation as loud ostentatious bullies who always want what other people have.