Hasta La Creative!

360i and Oreo collaborated with designer Lori Nix and production company Dream Machine Creative directors for a Halloween campaign in which the brand will release a new “nomster” made out of Oreo and other confections every day.

The mad scientist creations were crafted and then filmed in a 32-by-64 inch “Oreo Laboratorium” set, designed to evoke Frankenstein, with over 100 props (many of them handmade). It’s a pretty adorable way to get the brand on people’s mind for Halloween, and its “snackable” size (the first video is 11 seconds) make it perfect for sharing on social media. The brand also offers people the chance to “Name the Nomsters” and will feature the best names in custom digital content later in the day. Oreo’s first “nomster” creation was unveiled today, a fusion of Oreo and candy corn to make a bat-like creature. So far naming suggestions include Dunkfluffula, Count Candy Corneo and Vamporeo. (more…)

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Publicis Kaplan Thaler teamed up with the the Advertising Council to launch a PSA campaign for various groups dealing with children’s learning and attention issues.

The campaign is designed to direct parents to the new website Understood.org, designed to help parents better understand their children’s issues and help them reach their full potential. In one broadcast spot, a man asks Siri, “How can I help my daughter with her reading?” and instead gets results for “Dachsund breeding.” It’s revealed at the end of the 30-second spot that the mistake was intentional:  “…I was trying to show you how Sarah feels every day. Frustrating, isn’t it?” before directing him to Understood.org. Broadcast spots also appear in Spanish-language versions. While comparing problems with voice recognition software to learning and attention issues may be a bit of a stretch, it also should get the attention of parents struggling to understand their kids’ problems in school and get them to the website.

“The crux of the campaign is that understanding is everything,” Larissa Kirschner, a creative director at Publicis Kaplan Thaler, told The New York Times. “Put yourself in children’s shoes and you can truly understand their frustration. We took the cultural phenomenon of Siri, a smartphone not always getting you, as our way in.”

The campaign also includes print, radio, and outdoor elements, as well as a social initiative that includes weekly Twitter chats for parents. The website itself attempts to educate parents through a series of videos and interactive experiences designed to simulate the experiences of children with learning and attention issues. (more…)

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Air New Zealand, no stranger to well-publicized safety videos, is today launching “The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made,” created by agency True and directed by Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi, in anticipation of the December release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. 

The airline has been cashing in on the popularity of Peter Jackson‘s Tolkien adaptations since his Lord of The Rings trilogy, and this latest installment marks the third themed effort for The Hobbit series (less than a year after the last campaign), and the second flight safety video. Shot over the course of six days, at numerous locations used in the filming of the series, the spot also includes appearances from Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Dean O’Gorman (Fili the Dwarf) and Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), as well as Jackson himself. As cheesy as might be expected, the ad will undoubtedly appeal to the kind of diehard Tolkien/Jackson fans who would plan a trip to New Zealand based around the films. It’s a much more sure bet than the controversial “Safety in Paradise” from earlier this year, as Middle Earth tourism has been a boon for New Zealand.

Director Peter Jackson was pleased with the video, saying, “Air New Zealand has created yet another fantastic video to celebrate The Hobbit films. This latest offering combines members of our cast and our locations with Air New Zealand’s unique personality.  I had a lot of fun on the set with Taika and the team and look forward to seeing the video on board.”

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Activist t-shirt brand FCKH8 has stirred up some controversy with a new video that features little girls dropping f-bombs left and right (and seemingly having a blast while doing it).

The point of the profanity is that gender inequality should be more offensive than a child saying the word “fuck,” but it also serves to draw attention to the message, which otherwise offers up facts that aren’t anything new if you’ve been paying attention. The girls address such issues as the wage gap, objectification and sexual assault. The most shocking moment comes not from the girls use of profanity but when they say one in five women will be a victim of rape and sexual assault and then count off and wonder aloud which one of them it will be.

Unsurprisingly, FCKH8?s video has met with its fair share of criticism. The profanity proved too much for YouTube viewers, and the site has since removed the video. It lives on, however, at Vimeo, where the comments section is ripe with accusations of child exploitation (FCKH8 is a for-profit company) and open misogyny. Of course, the video was designed to stir up controversy and draw attention to the company, which donates five dollars from each fifteen dollar t-shirt to charities, so the backlash is entirely expected.

“Some adults may be uncomfortable with how these little girls are using a bad word for a good cause. It is shocking what they are saying, but … the big statistic that one out of five women are sexually assaulted or raped is something society seems to find less offensive than a little four-letter word, and we love how these girls draw attention to that imbalance,” video producer Mike Kon told Adweek.

Funnily enough, Adweek points out that FCKH8?s PR team couldn’t bring itself to be as brazen as the girls in the video, censoring the word “fuck” in its official press release.

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With the release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare coming up on November 4th, Ant Farm has released a 60-second gameplay trailer, the last piece in the long advertising onslaught for the game, which kicked off with a reveal trailer starring Kevin Spacey (who voices a character in the game) back in May. 

Lines from Spacey’s in-game character hold together the trailer, along with gameplay footage and quotes from advanced reviews of the title, such as Forbes‘ “…transcends the line between game and film…” The spot highlights the changes from previous iterations in the franchise, touting a more important plot and improved multiplayer while putting the game’s improved graphics on display. Fans of the franchise have probably already put in their pre-orders but emphasizing the changes in the franchise could bring some newcomers on board.

“We’ve been partners with Activision on the Call of Duty franchise from its infancy, and over the years we’ve had the fantastic opportunity to see it grow to become the massive pop culture phenomenon it is today,” said Rob Troy, chief creative officer at Ant Farm. “This year, the graphics and the multiplayer aspects of Advanced Warfare took a huge leap forward, so the creative aspects behind this campaign needed to pay homage to that.” (more…)

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This week marks the expiration of the Wright Amendment, a federal law governing air traffic at Dallas Love Field, Southwest Airline’s home airport. So to celebrate, the airline teamed up with agency David&Goliath and New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, “spreading the luck” to passengers on the first-ever nonstop flight from Dallas Love Field to Las Vegas.

When passengers boarded the plane they each found a surprise gift under their seat, including a book of two-for-one deals and a free t-shirt. Then they played “Spread the Luck,” a game in which a spinning wheel selected a row to win prizes from New York-New York Hotel & Casino, including a suite upgrade. The airline saved the biggest surprise for last, with all passengers receiving a long list of items from the hotel and casino, including a free two-night stay. (more…)

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Mekanism has a new digital campaign for Jim Beam’s cinnamon-infused Kentucky Fire, entitled “#FiredUp.”

Made up of 15-second spots, Mekanism employs tongue-in-cheek humor to help introduce the new product with advice on how to enjoy it. In “The Slow Burn” for example, step one for “How to get #FiredUp” is to prepare your palette. Step two is to “take it slow,” as the spot shows a group of friends bringing a shot of Kentucky Fire to their mouths in slow motion. “The Kentucky Standard” makes things even simpler ( Step One: Order a round of Kentucky Fire; Step Two: Drink it), while “The Kentucky Tycoon” takes generosity to the next level. The ads will run on Jim Beam’s social channels, and “various online, mobile, social and experiential channels such as ESPN, AOL, Kargo, Viacom, and NBCUniversal” through early November. (more…)

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DDB-owned agency Ant Farm teamed up with rapper Childish Gambino for a new Far Cry 4 gameplay trailer set to the Gambino track “Crawl.”

In a lead-in to the gameplay footage, Gambino discusses his choice of “Crawl” for the trailer while hanging out with friends playing the game. The Ubisoft logo then appears onscreen, and a variety of in-game action plays out to the track for the remainder of the ad. It does a good job of mixing a variation of game footage — from what appear to be cut scenes to actual gameplay — to keep things from getting monotonous, and the footage does seem carefully tailored and edited to fit the song.

“Our goal for this trailer was to emphasize the perfect pairing of the song and game, and give fans a memorable musical and visual experience that is authentic to both artistic groups” said Ant Farm  VP/Creative Director Scott Cookson. “The chance to merge cutting-edge gameplay footage with a unique musical talent was an exciting and welcomed opportunity to produce a unique and stylized film that is both memorable and compelling to the brand.”
(more…)

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San Francisco agency Eleven has a strange new campaign for Virgin America centered around an extremely long online video.

The ad, entitled “Have you been flying BLAH Airlines?” depicts, in real time, a flight on the imagined rival airline from Newark to San Francisco: a five hour and forty-five minute flight. If that sounds boring, well, that’s the point. It’s also a bit strange and creepy, since the passengers are all mannequins. There are long shots of the mannequins doing absolutely nothing in their cramped seats, punctuated by occasional “action” such as a woman devouring some ribs.

“There’s a very distinct odor coming from somewhere nearby,” says a man on the flight, while the woman goes on and on about the ribs she’s eating. And that’s about as much action you can expect as you (inevitably) skip around. Still, there’s actually a kind of strange charm to the ad and its surreal humor when taken in small doses, and you kind of have to appreciate the great lengths Eleven went to to make its point.

“The passengers have no choice but to be on ‘autopilot’ to get through the tedious journey,” Virgin told Adweek. “Just trying to watch the video is downright painful—and that’s the point. If you wouldn’t sit through the entire film, why would you pay money to experience it in real life?”

(more…)

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EVB has launched a new digital campaign combining the Internet’s love of cats with the burgeoning phenomenon of wearable tech for cat food brand 9Lives.

In the trailer, EVB introduces Morris (the cat) to wearable tech, or, as his owner calls it “a face computer.” Morris seems pretty jazzed on the experience, impressed that it appears to know everything about him. It’s a bit on the cheesy side, but should appeal to cat lovers (and who else is watching an ad for cat food?). You can check out the trailer above, but for the complete interactive experience, including Easter eggs leading to 9Lives coupons and a Morris poster, head to the site. (more…)

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