Hasta La Creative!

McGarryBowen is behind a new campaign for Kraft announcing that the company has caved to pressure and made their Kraft singles line with “No artificial preservatives or flavors,” following similar changes to some of their macaroni and cheese products. For those interested, the specific change involves swapping out sorbic acid for natamycin, a naturally occurring anti-fungal agent commonly found in soil.

The campaign features three similarly minded ads, all of which show idyllic cow pastures that couldn’t be more different from the giant factory farms where Kraft actually sources its dairy. “Our story begins here, where we get our milk,” the spot “Dairy” begins. “Made” is similarly structured, while “Why” begins with the end of the story: the grilled cheese.

All three of the 15-second efforts employ simple animation to deliver their message in a way that’s designed to appeal to families that are concerned with what their children are eating (but not concerned enough to discover Kraft’s questionable dairy sourcing). It’s another baby step in the right direction for Kraft, who seem to be attempting to figure out how to appeal to an increasingly health conscious customer base while making their concessions as small as possible. The problem with leading with the wholesomeness of your product when you’re Kraft, of course, is that it opens you up for scrutiny. Stick around for “Made” and “Why” as well as credits after the jump. continued…

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It seems that the fight for the craziest, most absurd holiday ad is in full force, with McGarryBowen Chicago being the latest agency to throw their hat in the ring with three new spots for Sears that introduce us to “The Denskies.”

While Draftcb’s currently causing controversy with its Joe Boxer jingle for Kmart (and let’s not forget the earlier Satan/Genghis Khan layaway spot), McGarryBowen makes that holiday effort seem tame in comparison to its “Squirrel Revolt” ad. It wouldn’t stand out from the other two “Denskies” installments, in its “let’s be as crazy as possible” humor, were it not for the line (assuming I’m hearing this correctly), “Oh god, it’s mating with my mouth.”

The aforementioned spot (which you can watch above, though you probably shouldn’t) begins with Papa Denskie explaining to his wife that he’s trained “those pesky squirrels” to cut coupons. Everything, though, soon goes haywire, the squirrels attack the man and elicit the crazy, over-the-top response from the above paragraph. (You know, the one where the guy gets orally raped by a squirrel with a rage boner.) If people were pissed off about Kmart’s “Show Your Joe,” I can’t imagine how they’ll respond to this one.

The other two “Denskies” spots for Sears have plenty of crazy to spare as well. In “Robo Granny,” the same man builds a robotic grandmother so that the family won’t have to go visit their real, living grandmother. Predictably, chaos ensues, dragging on for way too long, with the spot clocking in at 1:23 but seeming more like a 5-minute endurance test. Meanwhile, “Medium” sees agency and client portraying their subject as some kind of crazy, possessed witch lady. I’d almost feel bad for real mediums if it weren’t for the fact that they make their living by pretending to talk to dead people (sorry, Sylvia Browne, RIP). The message from Sears this holiday season seems to be the tired “Don’t do something crazy to save time and money, shop here” approach–just with the crazy pushed well beyond the point of reason. You can check out the other two after the jump, along with credits.

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