Hasta La Creative!

BBDO New York has launched the first-ever integrated global campaign for Pepsi’s Mountain Dew, extending its “Do the Dew” tagline to new markets.

“Mountain Dew is one of our billion dollar brands and one of our fastest growing global brands,” explained Brad Jakeman, president, PepsiCo Global Beverages Group, in a statement. “It enjoys unparalleled leadership positions in countries like Pakistan and India, as well as the United States, and is one of the few brands – in beverages and throughout the consumer goods space – that has no real competition. It is truly a category of one.”

For the campaign, BBDO worked with director Justin Lin, professional skateboarder Sean Malto and Olymic snowboarder Scotty Lago. In the campaign’s launch ad, “Fireboard” (video above), Lin finds a unique way to light a bonfire with his skateboard, some duct tape and matches. Lago’s spot, entitled “Directions” has yet to be released, but we do know it will feature the snowboarder leaving a birdseed trail while tearing up some slopes in Canada.

In addition to the two broadcast spots, the campaign will also include digital content, print, OOH and social elements, and a “refreshed visual identity system.”

BBDO New York released an extended 90-second version of a new spot for Mountain Dew Kickstart entitled “Come Alive,” which will run during the Super Bowl pregame show.

In the ad, three guys are sitting in a basement playing video games when one of them asks for a Kickstart. As they each take a sip, the music starts up (“Out The Speakers feat. Rich Kidz” by A-Trak, Milo & Otis) and things start to get weird. The three guys are compelled to start dancing, seemingly without intent — but that’s just the beginning. Soon everything in the room, from the dog to a head of a buck to a traffic sign hanging on a wall, join in for one super strange dance party, ending with the tagline, “It All Starts With a Kick.” The implication is that the highly-caffeinated beverage will provide you with energy for all manners of endeavor (not that it will take control over your body and perception, setting off a chain reaction of dance-madness over which you have no control). After the ad makes its Super Bowl pregame debut, the brand will promote it on social channels including Twitter, Vine, Snapchat and, of course, YouTube.

Credits:

Agency: BBDO New York
Client: Mountain Dew
Title: Come Alive

Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Tim Bayne
Executive Creative Director: Lauren Connolly
ACD/Copywriter: Dan Kelly
ACD/Art Director: Todd Rone Parker
Group Executive Producer: Julian Katz
Producer: Sofia Doktori
Executive Music Producer: Melissa Chester
Sr. Account Director: Ladd Martin
Account Director: Patrice Reiley
Account Manager: Kylie Halperin
Account Executive: Jillian Netzel
Planning Director: Jessica Summerfield

Production Company: Caviar
Director: Keith Schofield
Executive Producer: Michael Sagol
Executive Producer: Jasper Thomlinson
Executive Producer: Cathleen Kisich
Head of Production: Kelly Bowen
DOP: Damian Acevedo
Producer: Adrianne McCurrach

Edit House: Rock Paper Scissors
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Producer: Lisa Barnable
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Alexandra Debricon

Mix House: Heard City
Mixer: Phil Loeb

Post EFX: eightvfx
EP/Owner: Baptiste Andrieux
CD/Owner: Jean Marc Demmer
Executive Producer: Shira Boardman,
Executive Producer: Alyssa St. Vincent
VFX Supervisor: Yannick Leblanc
CG Lead: Jean-Baptiste Cambier
Lead Designer: Jaguar Lee
VFX Artist: Yann Mallard
Animator: Sue Campbell
Rigging: Kevin Culhane
Modeler: Diego Melgar
Look Dev: Damien Bataille
Flame Lead NY: Fabien Coupez
Flame Lead LA: Philip Ineno
Flame Compositor: Steve Miller
Flame Compositor: Alex Kolasinksi
Roto/Paint: Marianne Magne
Producer: Chad Carbone
Producer: Michael Shores
Coordinator: Kyle Leonard

Music:
Licensed Master: “Out The Speakers feat. Rich Kidz” by A-Trak, Milo & Otis

One of my favorite ads from Super Bowl night actually ran before and after the game, when Diet Mountain Dew bought some slightly discounted time for its new spot, "Dale Call." We see a duck hunter pull out his trusty turbo-powered call, which sounds like a Nascar engine and summons Dale Earnhardt Jr., regardless of location or time of day.

I can't think of too many scenarios where that would be useful, which might be why it's a bat signal solely reserved for duck hunters. As someone who took great joy as a child in scaring ducks into flight, I feel pretty certain these fowl would have scattered and flown away instead of sticking around to get blasted, but who am I to question Dale's abilities behind the wheel?

Below, you can check out another of the campaign's spots, featuring a rail-grinding horse worthy of the X Games.

Mountain Dew's "Living Portraits" series is one of the most innovative and intricate short-form campaigns of the year. Who'd've thunk it, especially after the brand's high-profile ad missteps a few months ago? Created by BBDO and Psyop, each 30-second "Living Portrait" spotlights a different Dew endorser—Nascar driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., skateboarder Paul Rodriguez and snowboarder Danny Davis. Fun, freaky symbolism is used to capture the essence of each and, for lack of a better term, mythologize their lives. The spots all take a similar approach, with the endorsers seated on stylized thrones and the shot slowly pulling back to reveal bedazzling details.

Davis sits on ornately sculptured ice, slurping Dew and strumming a guitar. The camera pulls back to reveal a wintry jam session with members of his crew, the ice sculptor, birds of prey and wolves in attendance. A yeti plays drums. Snowboarders soar in a rainbow sky. A cute, briefcase-sized eyeball lounges by the fire, diggin' Danny's vibes.

Components move at different speeds, mixing 3-D layering and 2-D animation with live action and matte effects. Yet there's no discord, and the elements combine to create harmonious representations of the endorsers' lives and achievements.

Fans can visit Mountain Dew's website to unlock the secrets behind each portrait's imagery. The outsized eyeball in Davis's spot refers to FrendsVision, where the snowboarder and his crew share information about the Frends brand and disseminate clips of themselves "performing skits, snowboarding, playing music and entertaining the public the best way they know how." So, basically, the eye opens onto another ad. I didn't see that coming.

And we learn that the crew is jamming around a "peace fire," because "Danny lives his life preaching peace." That's a bit precious for me—sounds like an overblown piece of you know what—and I wonder if perhaps the symbols should have been left unexplained, adding to the mystery, allowing fans to debate their deeper meaning.

The yeti's presence isn't explained at all! Smelling a Pulitzer, I sent an email, and a rep for Mountain Dew parent PepsiCo explained: "The Yeti was included as it's part of mountain folklore." Rock on, noble yeti! That furry dude really keeps the beat.

See the other spots below.