Hasta La Creative!

360i has launched a new campaign promoting the latest installment in Toyota’s teen driving safety initiative, TeenDrive365.

Based on safety research by Toyota and the University of Michigan Transportation Institute (UMTRI), the campaign aims to influence teens by targeting the number one influence on how they drive: their parents. The latest additions to the initiative include online tools, expert advice, local events and social media elements. To promote the effort, 360i worked with Toyota on a series of videos targeting parents of teen drivers.

Two of these videos focus on “Parents Who Drive Bad Anonymous,” a fictional (and grammatically challenged) support group for parents who drive poorly and are worried that they’re passing on their questionable practices to their children. In the above video, Deb attends a meeting and admits to texting while driving. “I know I’ve been a bad example. I’ve been texting while I drive and it’s got to stop,” she says to a mannequin wearing headphones, presumably a stand-in for her son. Another “Parents Who Drive Bad Anonymous” video focuses on a dad obsessed with checking on his fantasy team. Another video, part of the “Masters of the Wheel” series, focuses on NHRA driver Antron Brown and his teen daughter.

“As a mother of a teenager, I often remind myself that the things I do behind the wheel go a long way in setting a powerful example,” said Dr. Tina Sayer, Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center principal engineer and teen safe driving expert. “Experience and education certainly help your teen become a safe and more confident driver, but our research shows us that the biggest factor in how teens will drive is their parents.” (more…)

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adam&eveDDB crafted what is sure to be one of the most talked about holiday ads of the year with “Monty The Penguin” for John Lewis.

Of course, this hardly comes a surprise, given the pair’s track record with holiday advertising. But “Monty The Penguin” still manages to stand out. The two-minute ad tells the story of a boy and his best friend, a penguin named Monty. We follow them through scenes of their day-to-day activities, and get an idea of their relationship through a charming montage set to a cover of the John Lennon-penned “Real Love” by Tom Odell. Somewhere along the way it becomes apparent that Monty is missing something, as he wistfully watches couples in the park and in movies. The conflict reaches its adorable conclusion on Christmas morning, coupled by a reveal that is effective even if it doesn’t come as a surprise.

The broadcast spot, which cost around $1.6 million dollars to make, is part of John Lewis’ overall $11 million holiday campaign. It is supported by a children’s book called Monty’s Christmas, an audio app version of the book narrated by Dermot O’Leary, a single release of Tom Odell‘s version of “Real Love,” and an in-store experiential event called Monty’s Den, created in partnership with Samsung and including Monty’s Goggles, an Occulus Rift like technology created using Google Cardboard.

“At John Lewis, this time of year is all about helping our customers create their dream Christmas,” Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis, told Adweek. “We hope this uplifting tale of Sam’s love for his friend Monty will remind people of the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes and inspire them to think how they can make the festive season extra special for their friends and loved ones.”

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Upstart girls engineering toys brand GoldieBlox is back, following up its “This Is Your Brain on Engineering” spot from April with a new Orwellian ad introducing an action figure for girls.

The ad (like previous efforts, created in-house) opens with the message “Fashion dolls teach girls to value beauty over brains. One is sold every three seconds.” Then a screen shows a Big Sister figure repeating, “You are beauty, and beauty is perfection,” as identically-dressed girls line up to receive Barbie-like dolls from a conveyor belt. Then one girl, dressed in overalls and Chuck Taylors, breaks from his spot in line and smashes the screen, causing GoldieBlox’s action figure to be produced instead.

“There’s Bob the Builder, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jimmy Neutron—they’re all boys with IQs off the chart,” Goldieblox creator Debbie Sterling told TIME. “That’s intimidating for all kids, but particularly for girls who suffer from this thing called math anxiety where they have really, really high standards for themselves when it comes to math.”

While it effectively communicates its message, the spot lacks the same staying power as the clever “This Is Your Brain on Engineering” and the video that catapulted the brand onto the scene early last year. Still, the real question is whether it’s enticing enough to get girls to replace Elsa with GoldieBlox’s new offering. Stick around for a “behind the scenes” video after the jump. (more…)

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Mullen, Boston worked with JetBlue on an online campaign entitled “Fly It Forward”, in which the airline gives away tickets to individuals with inspiring stories, who then select from a list of people to receive the next ticket.

The causevertising initative is detailed in a three minute online ad following the stories of several individuals selected to “Fly It Forward.” Their stories vary widely from the inspiring to the not-as-much (Hipster street artist travels to Brooklyn to paint a mural? Are we missing something there?) but the video effectively communicates the philosophy behind the campaign. Ultimately the effort makes JetBlue look good, as the airline manages to support a variety of causes all at once, and even takes the selection process and effectively gives it over to those touched by the campaign. As the ad states, the campaign is effectively set up so that there’s no end in sight. (more…)

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Grey New York teamed up with Whitehouse Post and Carbon VFX to document the rise of One World Trade Center and promote One World Observatory, set to open in the spring of 2015 in “The Rise of See Forever: One World Observatory.”

In the 50 second video (featured above) the visual history of One World Trade’s rise is pieced together from hundreds of crowdsourced Instagram images. Reminiscent of a flipbook, the images flit across the screen, documenting the eight year construction of the structure in under a minute and ending with a 360 degree view of the building as it morphs into the One World Observatory logo and the line “See Forever.”

“The Whitehouse Post team and I have watched One World Trade being built from our office since we moved in six years ago,” said Executive Producer Lauren Hertzberg in a press release. “It has been an absolute honor for all of us to work on this project with Grey.” (more…)

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Instead of trying to scare you this Halloween, Droga5 decided to go a different route for Chobani.

“We made a scary video,” reads the text at the video’s opening, set to ominous music, “this is not it.” The remaining 30-seconds are, instead, devoted to dogs in funny costumes eating Chobani. It’s cute stuff, to be sure, but we’re not sure how dogs eating Chobani are supposed to make people want to eat Chobani. But then the point is probably more to raise awareness for the brand with a video Chobani and Droga5 hope people will share on social media. The video will be pushed out on the brand’s social channels throughout the weekend, supported by social media posts and a Chobani sampling (presumably for humans, not dogs) at the Chobani café in SoHo. (more…)

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W+K has a new ad for Nike, promoting the launch of its new LEBRON 12 sneaker today with a celebration of LeBron James’ return to Cleveland directed by the Malloy Brothers.

Yes, that’s right: another LeBron James ad about the star’s return to Cleveland. This follows on the heels of Translation’s spot for Sprite (which we wrote about yesterday) and R/GA’s “Re-Established 2014? for Beats, which deal with the exact same subject, as well as the recent Kia spot from David&Goliath, also starring James. Nike’s new spot will run tonight during the Cavs first home game, when it’s theoretically possible that ads featuring James will run back-to-back-to-back.

So there’s a bit of an oversaturation issue with this message, to put it mildly. But how does W+K’s version compare to the others we’ve seen? It might actually be the most melodramatic of the bunch. It opens on James giving a pep talk to his team about giving their all for the city of Cleveland. Soon the entire city is in a huddle, chanting, “Forward! Together!” It’s well-shot, in black and white, but the message comes across as a bit over-the-top, all the more so given the story’s overexposure. The spot will continue to run through November.

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Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation) is the latest marquee Hollywood director enlisted for Wieden+Kennedy’s “Dress Normal” campaign for Gap, following David Fincher‘s efforts in August and taking the reigns of four holiday  spots — a pair each for broadcast and online.

The ads spin the “Dress Normal” tagline by showing some abnormal (and often cringe-inducing) family holiday moments. But then what’s more normal than pondering the family you’ll never understand? Each spot ends with the message “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” preceding the tagline. It’s an interesting approach, positioning Gap as a gift for those family members you have no idea what to give to, but it sits well with the “Dress Normal” tagline and Coppola and company do a good job of making it work in most of the ads.

In perhaps the most successful of the spots, “Gauntlet” a girl returns home to her large, boisterous, and often odd family. Perfectly set to the Johnny Cash song “I Got Stripes,” she makes her way through the house greeting her relatives with an awkward expression on her face that says a lot about the effort she’s putting in to deal with these people. It feels like a telling glance into the lives of a particular family, which is the approach taken throughout these efforts and, along with some great song selections, what makes them charming. The other broadcast spot, “Mistletoe,” documents a particularly cringe-worthy moment under the mistletoe at a holiday party. It’s almost hard to watch, but then that makes it fit the “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” all the more.

In addition to the two online ads — “Crooner” and “Pinball” — the campaign is supported by print and OOH elements, as well as digital banner ads launching on Gap’s social media channels and GapGiftGuide.com on November 3rd. (more…)

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Translation recently debuted a new spot for Sprite documenting LeBron James return to his home town of Akron, Ohio.

Entitled “LeBron James’ First Home Game” the spot follows James as a driver takes him through Akron and to Patterson Park, where Sprite has restored two basketball courts. This footage is interpersed with Akron residents discussing how epic James’ first home game for the Cavaliers will be. James arrives at Patterson Park where a throng of excited fans follows him as he sits and watches a pick up game. “They say home is where your heart is. Well my heart is here, it’s always been,” James says. “This is my first game,” he adds, before telling the guys on the court, “I’ve got next.” (Good luck with that, guys.)

It’s an emotional approach, if somewhat muted from coming on the heels of R/GA’s ad for Beats carrying much the same message. Still, aside from the awful Imagine Dragons song used to soundtrack the spot, it’s well put-together and those not already feeling overly-saturated by ads starring James (he also appears in this recent Kia spot) should find it enjoyable enough, especially Cavs fans. A 30-second version of the spot will run during the Cavs first home game later this month, and Sprite has also issued “commemorative 12-ounce cans featuring James’ likeness that are available in Ohio stores,” according to Creativity.

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Carhartt’s in-house creative team worked with production company Furlined to launch a fall integrated advertising campaign promoting the brand’s Rain Defender technology, available in select outerwear, sweatshirts, pants and accessories.

To showcase the Rain Defender technology in the 60-second “Weatherman” the Carhartt and Furlined team traveled to rainy Washington state to capture arborists, dock workers, farmers, and ranchers battling the elements in Carhartt gear to get the job done. The spot opens on a man watching a weather report calling for clear skies and sunny weather. “Leave the rain gear at home,” the weatherman says, but when he glances outside he sees it is already raining. He slips on his Carhartt jacket, steps outside, and gets to work.

“…hardworking men and women trust their Carhartt, not their local weather forecast,” said Tony Ambroza, senior vice president of marketing at Carhartt. “Having gear that protects against even the
harshest weather conditions is just as important to them as their work truck, tool belt, hard hat, etcetera – they want to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.”

The broadcast campaign will run primarily across national sports and outdoor programming networks, and will be aided by digital support on social media and sports websites. (more…)

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