Jul
20
Jun
17
Isla Fisher Stars VCCP Sydney’s New Spot for ING Direct
Posted in: UncategorizedAustralian actress Isla Fisher plays a reluctant celebrity spokeswoman in VCCP Sydney’s new spot for ING Direct, entitled “Monloluge.” She nervously talks herself through the role, which only contains one line, “ING Direct, how banking can be.”
“How am I going to make that sound real?” she asks herself, walking onto the set. She goes on to complain about the tightness of her dress and work in quick jabs at fellow Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe before the camera rolls…at which point things go awry. The spot is the latest ad to feature a reluctant spokesperson, a trope popularized with Droga5’s “If We Made It” spot starring Anna Kendrick and perfected by Ricky Gervais in M&C Saatchi’s campaign introducing Australia to Neflix for Optus. As far as the style goes, Isla’s “Monologue” falls somewhere in the middle of the pack, a good deal more entertaining than Neil Patrick Harris in W+K’s New York’s recent work for Heineken Light, but the joke is starting to get a bit stale.
Jan
15
The Nominations Are Out, and Here's a New Eye-Bending Oscars Ad With Neil Patrick Harris
Posted in: Uncategorized
Whether you agree with the nominations (The Lego Movie was ROBBED), it’s an exciting day for Hollywood, as the Oscar contenders were announced this morning, including esteemed cinematographer Dick Poop.
Everyone’s favorite teenage M.D., Douglas Howser, will be the host of this year’s broadcast, and will certainly not disappoint like that shlub Neil Patrick Harris usually does.
Kidding aside, the Oscars rolled out this 30-second spot today featuring a little optical trickery to promote the show, which will air Sunday, Feb. 22, on ABC.
And here are a couple of NPH Oscars spots from a couple weeks back:
Jul
17
Doogie Howser (Almost) Drinks Heineken Light for W+K
Posted in: UncategorizedFrom a kid in scrubs to a man with an angry inch, Neil Patrick Harris is quite possibly our leading example of a Renaissance Dude. The star may now add “drinking beer” to his illustrious resume along with acting, singing, cooking and talking to Smurfs.
Well, sort of…
According to The New York Times and Stuart Elliott, NPH (as the cool kids call him) will help promote Heineken Light in a humorous campaign created by Wieden + Kennedy that includes television and online spots and a microsite: besttastinglight.com.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Feb
20
Neil Patrick Harris Sings a Sexy Song for His Favorite Sleep-Inducing Beverage
Posted in: Uncategorized
Neil Patrick Harris goes all Miley Cyrus on a bottle of Neuro Sleep in this goofy music video for the brand's "Sleep With Neuro" campaign.
The video was directed by Jon Jon Augustavo, who also did Macklemore's "Thrift Shop" video, and has NPH in full Barney Stinson mode, silk pajamas and everything. I guess that nightshirt phase he went through didn't last.
There's a fair amount of corny R&B video tropes to be found here, both in the visuals and Neil's delivery, which is top notch as always. That's the nice thing about him—you never feel like he's phoning it in, no matter what ridiculous or beneath-his-talent thing he's doing.
NPH's appearance in the video came from a Neuro customer survey that asked people who they would like to have a slumber party with—35 percent of the responses went with Neil. It also didn't hurt that he and Neuro Sleep founder Diana Jenkins are friends.
Plus, How I Met Your Mother is finally finishing up, so he needs to keep the wolves off his doorstep somehow.
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Feb
03
Teaser for ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ Hints at Explicit Trailer
Posted in: UncategorizedIf you’re Seth MacFarlane, how do you get people to view your three minute long “restricted” trailer for A Million Ways to Die in the West? You take out a Super Bowl ad claiming that you tried to show the trailer during the Super Bowl, but the powers that be decided it “wasn’t family friendly enough” and then direct viewers to your site for the “restricted” trailer. Not exactly an original method, but it’s worked in the past, and MacFarlane was never one for originality anyway.
MacFarlane’s Super Bowl spot, created in collaboration with Santa Monica production company Detour Films, also calls on Ted, the titular talking stuffed bear from his last movie (which, hey, I forgot existed), as a way of reminding fans of that movie that this is the same dude. The restricted trailer for MacFarlane’s new movie is, in fact, too explicit for television, thanks in large part to Sarah Silverman‘s role as a foul-mouthed prostitute, as well as MacFarlane’s own raunchy dialogue. That’s not to say that the Super Bowl teaser itself is wholesome by any means. Between Ted’s “Oh yeah, drunk before the kickoff: new record” line and the suggestion that a certain actor starring in A Million Ways to Die in the West has an abnormally large schmendrick, it stands out as one of the more explicit ads in a particularly tame Super Bowl.
MacFarlane’s new flick features a slew of A-list names, such as Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris, Amanda Seyfried, Sarah Silverman, and Giovanni Ribisi. The film is currently scheduled for a May 30th release from Universal Pictures. Stick around for the restricted trailer and credits after the jump. continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Oct
03
Honda Devours Crumbs with ‘Odyssey’s Day of Reckoning’
Posted in: Uncategorized
Back in August, we covered RPA’s “spokescrumbs” campaign for the Honda Odyssey, featuring the voices of Neil Patrick Harris and Rainn Wilson.
Now Honda and RPA have extended their “spokescrumbs” campaign to Honda’s Twitter page, engaging a bunch of other brands in the process. The gist of the campaign extension is Honda tweeting popular snack companies and other brands, letting them know their crumbs will soon be vanquished by the Odyssey’s built-in vacuum cleaner. They dubbed the campaign “Odyssey’s Day of Reckoning.” Eighteen brands engaged in conversation, including Popsecret, Red Vines, Taco Bell, Eat24, Oreoe, Chips Ahoy, Lay’s and others. The engagement with Taco Bell was the highlight, featuring a fake mini-feud. Honda’s followers seemed to enjoy the banter, with some suggesting brands that Honda then reached out to. Several brands also engaged Honda without prompt, certainly a sign that they were doing something right.
It got a little cheesy and repetitive at times, but “Odyssey’s Day of Reckoning” made a lot of sense for a social campaign extension, one that succeeded in engaging fans and other brands. It solidifies the built-in vacuum cleaner as the selling point of the Odyssey, the only strong point of the weak “spokescrumbs” TV spots. Maybe Honda can follow up and make the reckoning last for more than one day. There are certainly more brands out there that would fit the concept.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Aug
30
RPA and Honda Tap Neil Patrick Harris and Rainn Wilson to Promote the Honda Odyssey
Posted in: UncategorizedRPA’s new campaign for the Honda Odyssey launches next week, featuring the voice-acting talents of Neil Patrick Harris and Rainn Wilson. The spots all revolve around the Odyssey’s new built-in vacuum cleaner, the kind of car feature that seems so obvious you have to wonder why it hasn’t been done before.
The spots feature various talking debris — discarded toys and snacks– talking about how great the Odyssey is, only to be swept up by the built-in vacuum cleaner. This begs the question: are these anthropomorphized bits of detritus harmed or killed by the Honda Odyssey’s vacuum cleaner? The moral implications of vacuuming up sentient garbage are not broached by the two 30 second and one 15 second spots.
Honda’s campaign doesn’t end with the morally ambiguous commercials, however. The campaign will be spread through online video, homepage takeovers, gaming, mobile, location-based targeting and print, in addition to the network and cable TV spots. Honda has also aligned with Fox to feature the Odyssey, along with other Honda models, on “The X Factor,” starting with the season premiere on Septemer 9th. So basically Honda and RPA are going all out with their campaign to promote the Odyssey. Prepare for the barrage of Odyssey marketing everywhere, complete with the new tagline “Start Something Special.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
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