Drones Try to Assemble a Layer Cake in This Nutty Norwegian Phone Ad

Finally someone has found a good use for drones: Making a cake.

A team of little flying robots assembles a three-tier confection by airlifting genoise, splashing icing, firing candies out of a makeshift cannon and even lighting a sparkler with a blow torch—all in a new ad for Norwegian telecoms company Telia.

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A Volkswagen Drives a Trailer Backwards at High Speed in This Marvelous Campaign

Imagine walking down the street, going about your business, and seeing a car-towed box trailer whizzing past—backwards.

You might imagine you had stumbled onto the set of an action movie. Or perhaps it’s a Norwegian Volkswagen campaign from agency Try Oslo that picked up four Lions last week in Cannes, including gold in the Promo category, as well as silvers in Outdoor and PR and a bronze in Film.

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Telenor – The Gold Medal SIM Cards (2016) 2:00 (Norway)

Telenor - The Gold Medal SIM Cards (2016) 2:00 (Norway)
Norwegian national hero Aksel Lund Svindal is the world’s fast skier. Telenor is Norway’s fastest mobile network. To celebrate this, Svindal melted his first gold medal from 2007 and put that gold into 3 million SIM cards. in addition, Svindal created a fund in his name to help get more Norwegians out on the slopes among other projects.

Norwegian State Railways urges you to be polite

Unngå floke = Avoid Tangles.

Thank you for moving in and using the whole train
We travel together.

Unngå propp = Avoid Jams.

Thank you for using the whole platform
We travel together.

I love the illustration style here. Very fun way of telling someone to act politely..

Norwegians Object to Giant Penis Squirting Them With Confetti in PSA Stunt

Believe it or not, there are a few situations where dressing up as a giant penis and spraying people with confetti is inappropriate. Promoting condom use on behalf of a sex education charity is one of those situations, according to thirtysomething Norwegians.

To clarify, sex education charity RFSU hired ad agency Involve! to come up with something for a condom use campaign, which began as a response to rising chlamydia rates in Norway. Involve! then hired 19-year-old student Philip van Eck because he was tall enough to fit in the giant penis suit they’d built. Once properly fitted, Philip ran around spouting golden confetti at total strangers in service of the campaign’s tagline, “Tiss kan overraske,” which means “Penis can surprise you.”

If they’d set the ad to Da Vinci’s Notebook’s “Enormous Penis,” it would have been perfect.

Involve! meant for this to be cheeky and fun, and kind of gross, and they succeeded, but not across all audiences. Young people apparently loved it, but the over-30 crowd didn’t like it one bit, and many of them called the stunt pointless and banal.

Philip thought the whole thing was hilarious, because he’s 19. But it wasn’t without a few hiccups. “If I can do a good thing for others, just by being a dick, there is nothing better,” Philip said. “The filming was not unproblematic, as passers-by wanted selfies with the giant penis. Suddenly, lots of people wanted to touch the penis and take pictures with the penis. I almost felt harassed.”

Have I mentioned how fortunate we are to live in this time?

Statoil Fuel "Real hot dog precision" (2015) 1:25 (Norway)

When Statoil and Fuel (Think the european version of Pilot Gas Stations in the States) launched their new and improve hot dog menu they wanted to pay tribute to their demographic in a very unique way.
So they got a Finnish excavator-operator Juha-Pekka Permäki to make a hot dog for his friend. Using the excavator. Please tell me they sanitized it first.

NOAS "So you think you can stay" (2015) 2:15 (Norway)

Apparently in Norway, refugees are rejected the same was as they are on reality shows. At least according to NOAS (Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers). While these obviously aren’t real asylum seekers, NOAS maintains the Norwegian authorities who are rejecting real seekers are doing it randomly.

This first one in the series features “Amir,” from Gaza , who was tortured by masked men, accused of collaborating with Israeli forces. There’s also Leila Hasani, another contestant who wants to flee Iran because she converted from Islam to Christianity. In both cases, Norwegian authorities rejected their plea for asylum. Again, these are real stories, even if the people we see are fictitious.

While I appreciate how hard it is for refugees to seek asylum, and completely understand the cold-hearted Scandinavian mentality that would never judge something on a case-by-case basis, but rather takes a blanket approach, my problem with this concept is that it cheapens the efforts of people to seek asylum. Using the construct of a game to tell is this isn’t a game just isn’t working for me. And even watching it, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do, and you are relying on my being interested enough to go to the So You Think You Can Stay website and dig further. It just feels too clever for its own good.

Save The Children "Philip" (2015) :50 (Norway)

If you think it’s hard to hold it in for 50 seconds, try seventeen years. That’s how long on average, childhood victims of sexual abuse wait before they talk about it. This is one super dark PSA for Save The Children Norway.

Save The Children "Ane" (2015) :50 (Norway)

Powerful ad for Save The Children, Norway. Studies have shown on average sexually abused children suffer in silence for seventeen years before sharing their experience. By juxtaposing this information with the images of a girl holding her breath underwater for as long as she possibly could, the spot is unsettling and jarring. However, it does force you to take it in and read every word.

Comfyballs – Legalize Comfyballs – (2015) :40 (Norway)

Comfyballs - Legalize Comfyballs - (2015) :40 (Norway)
I should probably have delegated this ad to one of the boys since it’s… all about “the boys”. A small Norwegian startup is making extremely comfortable men’s underwear that hold your hairy space hoppers snug in place, you know so that spunk tanks don’t rattle around like marbles in an oak barrel. From the little I know of the world of giggleberries, comfort in the undercarriage starts with a well designed pair of underwear. However, the young startup has a bit of an issue, they’re “fighting the US Patent office which claims the brand name is indecent (using the word “balls”)” with this campaign. Sales are up, and Comfyballs are hoping to make an appeal at the next junction. So here we have a glorious 2001 homage style close-up on the courage-bags, to celebrate the berries.

If the brand name “comfyballs” is rude, then what was the Axe cleaning campaign?

Goat Sings '80s Rock Ballad 'Simply the Best' in Ridiculous Ad for Goat Cheese

Have you ever wondered how a goat would interpret ’80s rock ballad “Simply the Best”? Of course you have.

The cute beast in this Norwegian commercial for goat cheese sticks pretty close to the classic version by Tina Turner, though it does change the line “You’re Simply the Best” to “I’m simply the best.” That’s a bold creative statement. For a goat. And decidedly on brand.

Some silly billies at Try/Apt in Oslo devised the 30-second spot.

I kept expecting the wooly warbler to get even more anthropomorphized and maybe bust some moves, like Three’s famous dancing pony. Alas, this goat isn’t much of a hoofer. (I’m also surprised there’s no horn section.)

That’s one crazy kid, but way saner than Mountain Dew’s Felicia, who, you may recall, got everybody’s goat last year.

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One Bite of Chocolate Puts Everything in Perspective in This Lovely Spot From Norway

This video spot for Freia chocolate shows a young, impressively bearded Norwegian man living by the “full life, empty fridge” principle in New York City. His hectic lifestyle as a fashion stylist doesn’t leave him with much time to buy groceries, relax in his apartment or, you know, live.

When he eats a piece of Freia chocolate, nostalgia for his homeland prompts him to jump the next flight back in Norway, where he hugs a man who I assume is his father (also no slouch in the beard department).

It’s like Proust and his madeleines, but without the inconvenience of slogging through Proust.

Created by agency SMFB, Oslo, and directed by Anders Hallberg, the cinematic spot’s tagline sums everything up by saying, “Find joy in the simple things.” This ad, for example, is simple, but there’s plenty of joy in it.

Via The Inspiration Room.



A Man On Fire Jumps Off A Mountain

En portant un équipement de la marque Devold Protection, le cascadeur Tom Erik Heimen s’est fait filmer pour son saut enflammé depuis une montagne de Norvège haute de 3,900 pieds. Le plus gros risque dans ce saut extrême était que le parachute prenne feu lui aussi. Une vidéo signée Peter Degerfeldt à découvrir.


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Hidden-Camera Video With Freezing Child Is a Whole Lot Warmer Than Most Ad Stunts

If you saw a boy without a coat shivering alone at a bus stop, would you ask if he needed help? Would you lend him your gloves, scarf or jacket?

Commuters do just that for 11-year-old Johannes in this hidden-camera video from SOS Children's Villages Norway, which is seeking to raise awareness and funds to help Syrian children in need. "The goal was to touch upon the fear of becoming numb to crises that don't affect you directly," SOS rep Synne Rønning tells AdFreak.

In the film, shot over several hours on two freezing days in Oslo, the young actor tells adults that his jacket was stolen during a school trip to the city. "We were touched by the many people that got involved, and risked getting cold so Johannes could stay warm," says Rønning, adding that only three of the 25 or so people who shared the bus stop with him didn't try to help.

Indeed, it's moving to see commuters give him their coats and mufflers, especially when it leaves them in short sleeves on a winter day. "We were quite surprised as to what extent people would try to help the boy in trouble," says Rønning. "The campaign has worked as an eye opener—people who watch the campaign ask themselves: What would I do?"

The video, produced by Släger Kommunikasjon and Pure Content, doesn't explicitly address one significant issue—that you're more likely to help someone right in front of you than someone far away whose pain is more abstract. But it does memorably imply that really shouldn't matter.

Plus, it exudes genuine warmth, and that's something sorely missing from most over-the-top hidden-camera ad stunts.


    



Split View Mountain Lodge

Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter ont conçu cette jolie maison de vacances privée, à Havsdalen en Norvège. Les baies vitrées donnent une belle vue sur les montagnes enneigées et l’ensemble du mobilier est en bois, de quoi apporter un peu de chaleur à l’atmosphère. Les photos sont signées Søren Harder Nielsen.

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Norway’s Pro-Gay Olympic Ad Is Cheesy and Absurd, but Also Kind of Incredible

Thanks to the country's anti-gay laws, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia have turned into a de facto platform for LGBT marketing. Earlier, we had the Canadian ad that said the two-man luge is "a little gay." Now, we have this crazy spot from Norwegian sports apparel retailer XXL.

It's an over-the-top, absurd blockbuster of an ad, with overly slick visuals, overly cheesy music and a "twist" ending you could spot from Moscow. And yet … somehow you have to love it. Its heart is generally in the right place, even if it plays out like a male fantasy. (And no, they probably wouldn't do the same ad with two men at the end.)

The ad premiered during Norway's broadcast of the Opening Ceremony last week.

CREDITS
Client: XXL

Agency: Schjærven Reklamebyrå
Account Director: Ole Marius Simonsen
Creatives: Jon Erik Skiælder, John Draleke
Agency Producer: Gard Andreassen

Production Company: Camp David, Stockholm
Producer: Kalle Wessblad
Directors: Bjørn Stein, Måns Mårlind

Location: Lleida Airport, Spain
Filming: Dec. 15-18, 2013
Line Producer: Dominic Bolus, Widescope Productions
Postproduction: The Chimney Pot, Stockholm

Music: Tommy Tysper


    



McDonald’s Sweden Taunts Norway With Big Mac Billboard at the Border

Here's a fun neighbor-shaming McDonald's billboard from DDB Stockholm.

Sitting right at the border between Sweden and Norway, the billboard displays comparative pricing for Big Macs in the two nations—egging on Norwegians to take advantage of Sweden's cheaper burgers. In other words, it's the rare fast-food ad that doubles as fodder for exchange-rate geeks.

The Economist's Big Mac Index has for decades used McD's staple burger as an international benchmark for measuring relative prices around the world. Norway's Big Mac was, in fact, recently declared the most expensive anywhere (and not for the first time). That's due to the country's oil-rich, inclusive economy, where generally high wages (even for burger flippers) help drive up prices. (Some observers, meanwhile, are claiming all the extra money is making the country's workforce too lazy.)

DDB points out that Norwegians are already crossing the border for bargains in droves. So really, the agency is just reminding them to stop for a more affordable heart-stopper.

How much will they save? In Norway, a Big Mac costs the equivalent of about $14.41, says the billboard. In Sweden, it's only about $9.08. Of course, that's still way too much for a Big Mac—especially if they're made in any way like the brand's Chicken McNuggets.


    



Agency Recruiting Creatives on Snapchat by Asking for 10-Second Pitches

You are a digital idea ninja, innovating where branding meets emerging technologies. That is to say, you are an aspiring ad creative who likes shooting videos of yourself with your smartphone. That is to say, you are an aspiring ad creative. Rejoice! Now your favorite hobby may actually bear fruit.

DDB Oslo invites you to Snapchat yourself talking about your own genius. You have 10 seconds to sell an idea. That is to say, you have 10 seconds to sell yourself. If a bunch of idea ninjas—i.e., the creatives at DDB Oslo—like your pitch, they will fly you in for a job interview. At one-third the length of your traditional elevator pitch, that may seem like a lot of pressure, or like it would invite a lot of simplistic drivel. But really, we have to credit DDB Oslo for figuring out a way to make sure the spiels stay brief. And if Miller High Life can do it in one second, you can do it in 10.

Then again, the agency is mostly selling itself here. As such, it probably should have followed its own rules. The video explaining the campaign is an exhausting 42 seconds long.

Via Adrants.


    



Norway Photography

Alors que nous présentions récemment sa série photographique intitulée « Dolomites », l’artiste Kilian Schönberger magnifie cette fois-ci les paysages de la Norvège. Des clichés d’une incroyable beauté, rendant honneur au pays des fjords. A découvrir en détails et en images dans la suite de l’article.

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Norway Church

En 2009, la vieille église de Valer, petite ville du sud-est de la Norvège, avait disparu sous les flammes. Le studio Cebra basé à Copenhague a proposé une nouvelle architecture pour l’édifice qui doit être construit au même endroit. Un parti-pris visuellement impressionnant, à découvrir en images dans la suite.

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