Pereira & O’Dell Asks, ‘Where in the World is Mike Cory?’ for Skype

San Francisco-based shop Pereira & O’Dell switch gears from their tearjerking “Stay Together” campaign with their latest spot for Skype, “Rerouted: A Skype Travel Challenge.”

For the spot, Pereira & O’Dell chose a travel blogger, Mike Cory, who they gave the impression was recruited for a travel blog. Instead, on November 12th, they dropped him off at Instanbul without a clue as to where his next destination will be. To get home, he will be given a series of clues that he must piece together along with a Skype audience. His goal is to be home for Thanksgiving in an attempt to fulfill a lame “Turkey to Turkey Day” pun. Mike is powered only by Surface Pro 2, Windows 8.1, Skype, and the help of his audience. Without an engaged audience Mike could, presumably (but come on, not really), end up lost somewhere. It’s an interesting approach that should appeal to geography buffs the world over. Think of it like a real-life “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego,” but without all the stolen cultural artifacts and punily-named villains.

If you’d like to become part of the “Rerouted” experience, you follow Mikes progress at @SkypeMoments or Skype him directly at mike.corey8. Check out the official rules at skypererouted.com and help Mike crack the clues via Skype, Facebook, or Twitter with the hashtag  #reroutedclue. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Pereira & O’Dell Shows the Power of Skype with ‘Stay Together’

The onion alert is in full effect. Skype has been promoting their global capabilities with a “Stay Together” campaign produced by Pereira & O’Dell, and the fourth video in the series, “The Born Friends Family Portrait,” is a smart showcase of the program’s utility. Two girls, Sarah from Indiana and Paige from Auckland, were both born without fully developed left arms and formed a long distance friendship over the years. Sarah and Paige are now teenagers, and as you can see in the accompanying clip, finally met in-person. It’s touching and respectfully filmed.

The three prior videos cover similar stories – a father talking to his family still in Africa, a zookeeper in America keeping tabs on an animal family in Australia, and a two young cousins (common theme) closing the gap between Brazil and America. We should probably expect more tearjerkers from Skype, because these are the kind of tales that sell themselves. No misdirection or exploitation, just a documentary setup that has the right kind of appeal. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.