Hasta La Creative!

Arnold Worldwide tapped actress/comedian Grace Helbig, who recently starred in the film Camp Takota, for a 1:47 ad.

The long form ad sees Helbig extolling the virtues of St. Ives’ new “Fresh Hydration Lotion Spray” — which was just released on February 25th — with her brand of manic humor. St. Ives’ new spot plays off the inherent ridiculousness of lotion ads, amping things up to 11 and letting Gerbig riff of that and generally run around like a lunatic. After using the spray, Helbig is whisked away to the magic “land of St. Ives,” a sort of tropical paradise. She tracks down a waterfall made out of lotion, at which time the apparent psychedelic effects of the spray wear off and she’s transported back to her house.

Whether or not you like the new St. Ives spot, which Helbig describes as “wonderfully stupid,” will depend in large part on how you feel about Helbig’s brand of humor. Her fans, who must make up a sizable portion of the video’s 100,000-plus views, will undoubtedly find the spot endearing (and just may purchase the product on her recommendation), while those who find Helbig’s personality grating won’t find anything to enjoy here. As the YouTube views indicate, the spot is certainly getting some eyes on it. Helbig has also garnered attention for the new product by mentioning it on her YouTube series, and even posting a behind-the-scenes video on her channel that has garnered more views than the ad itself. Stick around for that behind-the-scenes video, along with credits, after the jump. continued…

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Detroit-based, family-owned and operated apparel company Carhartt collaborated with former agency creatives to create an in-house online video examining what makes Michigan unique.

Entitled “Hands in the Mitten” the 4:27 video asks “What Makes Michigan?” and whether Michigan came pure or was built that way, investigating Michigan landmarks and interviewing natives before arriving at the answer. The video’s tone and message are reminiscent of McCann’s award-winning “Pure Michigan” campaign, but stretched out over several minutes. It does a lot to hammer home Carhartt’s status as a local company, in a state that takes a lot of pride in itself and keeping business within the state. “Hands in the Mitten” is well done, offering a look at many different parts of the state, even if its run time could have been cut a little bit. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Zula Alpha Kilo created a new campaign for Interac, promoting their e-Transfer service with a comical website containing historical parodies of various time periods.

The website has three videos featuring Dr. Trapasso, “Doctor of Money Transferology, a man who has dedicated his life to studying money.” Trapasso takes the viewer on a tour of three historical time periods where his mangled historical accounts demonstrate the “perils of archaic money exchange” in attempts at humor that mostly fall flat. One of these, featured above, features Leonardo da Vinci’s failed attempts at getting reimbursed for a pizza he fronted for Michelangelo. The other two videos are in much the same goofy vein, with accounts of the first Olympic games and the westward expansion of Canada.

“People resist change,” exaplains Shari Walczak, Executive Planning Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. “We know that consumers are not in love with cheques as a form of payment. However, we are creatures of habit and need to be reminded that there’s a better way to exchange money other than cheques or cash,” said Shari, completely ignoring the existence of debit transactions.

Zulu Alpha Kilo’s campaign also includes “video pre-rolls, standard and rich media banner ads, along with paid and organic social media support to tease audiences with the absurdity of these stories” and will run until the spring. The creative is supported with a national digital media campaign handled by Media Experts, as well as a French adaptation for the Quebec marketplace developed by TANK. Stick around for credits and “Let The Games Begin” after the jump.  continued…

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A group of Russian Havas Digital creatives have created an intriguing new digital campaign for Russian bookstore, Respublica.

The self-branded “humble project” is a site called “URLiterature,” which promotes reading with a URL lengthener. Yes, you read that correctly, a URL lengthener. Created to promote reading and combat the assault on language resulting from acronyms and social media-promoting short messages, URLiterature uses a URL lengthener to add text from a selected book to the link you want to send. Simply paste “your boring URL,” choose your book and share, pleasing literature professors everywhere. Check out the video above for a better look at the project, and head on over to the site to give it a try for yourself. Credits after the jump. continued…

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With the 2014 Sochi Olympics slowly making their way toward their conclusion, we thought we’d share an Olympic campaign you might not have seen yet. Radley launched “Be A Weekender” for Hilton with four mini-documentaries honoring American Olympic athletes for Hilton’s Honors program.

The four videos were designed to “provide an energizing look at the forever-on-the-move lifestyles of Olympic hopefuls,” exemplified by “Weekend By Ashley,” the 2:16 video starring U.S. skater Ashley Wagner featured above. In the video, Wagner talks about her crazy, always on the move lifestyle in which she sometimes forgets what country’s hotel room she is in, growing up at the ice rink, and all the trips to warm places she’d like to take. Other athletes featured in the series include speed skater Patrick Meek, hockey player Meghan Agosto-Marciano and Paralympic ski racer Alana Nichols.

Creating these documentaries was no easy feat, as finding the extra time to film with athletes whose days typically begin with training at 3 A.M. is a big challenge. As Radley CCO/Director Kurt Spenser explains, “Fitting into the lives of Olympic hopefuls in the middle of an Olympic year is not an easy task. Detailed planning with the Hilton team allowed us to stay on schedule for the athletes and to be spontaneous when opportunities presented themselves. We did not want to interrupt their training or their travel, so we had to tailor our production as much as we could while still staying on budget and on time. It was a great team effort and we are all very proud of the results.”

Check out “Weekend By Ashley” above, and stick around for Alana Nichols‘ video, along with credits, after the jump. And for the full experience, head over to the campaign website. continued…

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We’re not sure who is behind this one, but DHL pulled a clever stunt and, in lieu of a traditional advertising campaign, had their competitors advertise for them (if the above video is to be believed).

To accomplish this they taped the packages with thermoactive foil and cooled them to below the freezing point. So competing companies like UPS and TNT picked up what appeared to be a black package, but when they went to deliver it (to carefully selected, not so easy to find locations) the box had transformed to reveal the message, “DHL Is Faster.” So employees of competing companies were walking around the city, advertising DHL’s services for free. Assuming this isn’t a hoax, it has to be one of the more clever marketing stunts in recent memory. Video of the stunt, appropriately titled “Trojan Mailing,” has been gaining a good deal of attention on YouTube. It’s already gained over 500,000 views since being added on Wednesday. I think it’s fair to call DHL’s tactic a resounding success.

Update: “This was not something that was initiated by DHL,” a rep for the company told Consumerist in an e-mail. “The video was created by an external agency for their own internal competition. We were aware in advance of the intention to use it for this purpose. We were not aware of any plans to share it externally.” No word yet on which agency was involved.

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Russian creative agency Hungry Boys has launched a new animated digital campaign to promote the release of the upcoming film “Startup,” about “the burgeoning startup scene in Russia from the early 90s until now,” slated for an April 3rd release. (Here’s a link to the trailer, in case you speak Russian.)

The site allows users to answer a series of questions (after taking all your Facebook info) designed “ to determine whether or not people have what it takes to become an entrepreneur and what sort of startup they might consider becoming involved in.” But don’t take the questions, or the results, too seriously. It’s really just a fun way to promote the movie. Many of the questions have more to do with pop culture preferences than anything pertaining to business, and the startup suggestions are pretty goofy and ridiculous. Here are my results:

Other possible outcomes include deciphering animal noises, personal Instagram cameraman, and home ghost rentals. Head on over to the site to give it a shot for yourself, and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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W+K Portland has unveiled “The Power of Hair” for Old Spice, the “newest, never-been-done-before interactive digital experience.”

The new site is an extension of W+K’s “For Hair That Gets Results” campaign promoting Old Spice’s new haircare and styling products, featuring the same anthropomorphic hair, and comes on the heels of the “Boardwalk” and “Meeting” spots Old Spice debuted late last month. Visitors to “The Power of Hair are greeted by a testimonial video with a young man extolling the virtues of Old Spice’s hair products. Predictably, this includes attention from the ladies and respect around the office. Less predictably, this includes Huey Lewis songs. “When you’ve got great hair like this, you’d be surprised by how many Huey Lewis songs it can play on the piano,” the now bald man says.

Visitors to the site are then asked to pick a Huey Lewis song, and the hair (which by now has slithered off of the guy’s head) will play them on piano, occasionally adding in some percussion. You can pick from among 29 of Lewis’ greatest hits, including “The Power of Love,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock n’ Roll,” “Bad is Bad” and “Doing It All for My Baby.” It’s a pretty absurd idea (and yeah, we’re pretty sure no one has done this before), but then this is the kind of silliness we’ve come to expect from W+K’s work for Old Spice and a fitting extension of the “For Hair That Gets Results” campaign, complete with a perfect title. Give “The Power of Hair” a try above or at the site, and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Last month, W+K Portland launched the “Be Moved” brand campaign for Sony with the broadcast spot “Join Together.” Yesterday, W+K revealed the follow-up, the four minute (and change) documentary, “Separate Together.”

“Separate Together” brings together Bruce Zaccagnino, the creator of Northlandz, the world’s largest model railroad located in Flemington, New Jersey, and Matt Albanese, a photographer who specializes in miniatures. The documentary takes place within Northlandz’s “52,000 square foot exhibit space featuring dozens of tiny towns, three-story papier-mâché mountains and hundreds of toy trains snaking through a warren of tunnels, past tiny windmills and over bridges made from thousands of toothpicks.” Albanese captures Northlandz in a unique way, utilizing the Sony QX100′s ability to fit into tight spaces to capture unique shots that wouldn’t have been possible with other cameras. It’s a great way to show off the QX100′s unique capabilities in fun, charming way.

The documentary is accompanied by an experience site which lets you explore Northlands from the unique vantage points available with the QX100, letting viewers zoom in on different areas and take their own shots, which they can then share on social media. It’s a great extension, and a fun way to explore the charm of Norhtlandz without having to make the schlep to Jersey. Stick around for credits and “Join Together” after the jump. continued…

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Yes, lovebirds, Louisville-based agency OOHology has created a poem generator called the GIT-LUV 2000, designed to give you “a little help initiating intimacy this Valentine’s Day.”

Visitors to the GIT-LUV site are asked to pick from a list of descriptions that best fits their love life, such as “Single, full of regret,” “I just bet my fiancee 50 percent of everything I own that love is forever,” and “Promised my new spouse that the third time’s a charm.” Then, GIT-LUV 2000 randomly generates a unique poem, although they are often slight variations of what you’ve already seen, and despite claims that it “actually creates unique poems every time” it wasn’t all that long until a repeat came up. Our tipster described the site as “Slightly creepy, slightly hilarious,” although I’d say it hits on the former with far more frequency. We’ve selected a few of our favorite poems below.

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