Hasta La Creative!

Airbnb is no stranger to controversy in its marketing efforts.

The home sharing service recently teamed up with Strother Nuckels Strategies for a political campaign which claimed that the company helps middle class families. That work came in response to an effort launched last summer by lobbying group the Share Better Coalition which criticized the company, claiming that forty percent of Airbnb revenue in New York went to real estate moguls.

Last fall, the company angered some in San Francisco with an OOH campaign advocating against Proposition F, a proposed law that would have required Airbnb to be classified as a hotel chain, by lightly shaming libraries and other such organizations for the tax money they receive from the hotel industry and businesses like Airbnb. In the fallout from that campaign, CEO Brian Chesky essentially laid the blame on TBWAChiatDay, claiming the agency had “embarrassed” his company.

Airbnb’s latest move might not sit well with its agency partners, either.

The company is using content-sourcing company MoFilm to crowd-source ideas for its holiday campaign with an “Airbnb Holiday Ideas Contest.”

The call for entries, which was written by MoFilm, reads in part, “It’s a pitch situation, where we’ll put forward the best-of-the-best from our global network in an effort to gain the business.” It then calls members of its community to “Think big and think local. Infuse your ideas with knowledge of your own city, or cities you’ve been to in the past. And remember it’s not just Christmas, it’s any holiday worthy of a trip via Airbnb.”

The person running this contest is Carter Hahn, who spent several years as an account manager at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and served as lead on the HP, Adobe and Nintendo accounts.

The deadline for submissions is October 3, so if you want to participate you’ll have to hurry over to MoFilm and sign the NDA to get the brief. The top five concepts will be awarded a $500 cash prize!

Freeform jazz fills and frenetic dance moves converge in a new spot from London-based content crowdsourcing company MOFILM for Bose and its almighty noise-cancelling headphones.

In this clip, directed by OPC’s Max Sherman, we’re reintroduced to 11-year-old hip-hop dancer Taylor Hatala, who broke out last fall on YouTube with her interpretation of Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda.” After racking up over 13 million views (and counting) for that one and earning appearances on the likes of Ellen, Hatala now brings her energetic stylings to this piece of branded content, set in a Toronto space to the rapid-fire drumming of noted UK jazz/avant-garde percussionist Steve Noble.

Regarding the spot, dubbed “Music is My _”, director Sherman says:

“I wanted to do something different, and I wanted to push Taylor out of her musical comfort zone to see what she would come up with. Taylor and her choreographer, Alexander Chung, choreographed and rehearsed a routine, and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. She’s tantalizing to watch.”

Millions of viewers apparently agree.

Coca-Cola's new "Smile Back" out-of-home stunt (scroll down to see it) is cute and nicely done, and everyone everywhere will love it. But let's overthink it for a moment.

Coke is famously skilled at being able to "Open happiness," as its slogan goes, through innovative real-world stunts. These have ranged from overly generous vending machines to splittable cans and personalized bottles. The typical transaction is that Coke gives you something of obvious value—a free drink or a fun, surprising experience—and that thing makes you happy, sometimes infectiously so. That's an honest interaction. This new stunt, though—produced and crowdsourced with Victors & Spoils and MOFILM—is different. As the company explains in the YouTube description:

"Coca-Cola sent our people all over the world, from Jamaica to the United Kingdom to Pakistan and more, to simply smile at strangers—to see who would smile back. As we passed others on the street, on the bus or in the park, we gave a smile, held up smiley face posters or did a silly dance with a grin on our faces, all to prompt a little friendliness in the mundane. When someone smiled back, they received a free Coke or some other fun prize: everything from sunglasses to hats to bicycles."

So, instead of a product, first you get a smile—from someone who, regardless of how awesome they may seem, has been paid to smile at you. (This is sometimes called a Professional Smile, and is clearly of dubious value.) Then, you must respond positively to this pretend display of affection (bribe) to get the reward that you previously got for free. The transaction has changed—it's backwards. You agree to be made happy by something false in order to have the chance to be made happy by something true. (You might get punched in the nose, actually, if you tried this in New York City.)

That distinction may sound like B.S., but you can sense the difference. It's why Coke's security-camera spot was so good—it captured moments that couldn't have been more genuine. And it's why the "Smile Back" video (and the earlier huggable vending machine from Singapore, which had similar problems involving misplaced affection) feels more manufactured. For all the happiness on display here—and yes, not all of it is bogus—the spot lacks the purity of concept that makes the best Coke work sing.

Happiness is infectious, but this stunt might not leave everyone smiling.