Painfully Funny Airbnb Parody Reminds You Who'll Really Be Staying in Your House

Airbnb’s existential-crisis ad with the waddling baby didn’t lend itself to being taken all that seriously in the first place. Now, a parody is now helping it along the path to full ridicule.

A grown man replaces the infant in this clip from digital shop Portal A, which turns the moral musings of the original voiceover into a biting satire of its sales-pitch subtext—and drives home why maybe you shouldn’t blindly trust the vacation company’s assessment of human nature. No, he’s not technically wearing diapers, but he probably should be.

Portal A, makers of Pitch Perfect 2’s crowd-sourced fan montage and YouTube’s Rewind videos from the past couple of years, shot the new video two days after Airbnb launched its global campaign.

In fact, the shop has been building a channel dedicated to ad parody—other bits so far include a more down-to-earth version of Carnival Cruise’s JFK Super Bowl spot, and if you’re a sucker for punishment, that older, NSFW play on Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches.

Here’s the original Airbnb spot:

Crazy Youngsters Break Out in a Worldwide Dance Party for Pitch Perfect 2

Never underestimate the promotional power of feel-good fan service.

More than 100 fans were featured out of a whopping 1,500 total submissions for this Pitch Perfect 2 promo. Together they created a worldwide dance party as the premiere for Ester Dean’s song “Crazy Youngsters,” an original song that appears in the movie.

The video also functions as a fun game of Spot the Social Media Celebrity, pairing YouTube stars alongside cast members, and Vine stars alongside DJs. All told, more than 20 influencers are in the video. See if you can spot DJ Flula, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, the Gregory Brothers, Sami Slimani, Lana McKissack, Carly Cristman, the Wassabi Brothers, Gabrial Valenciano, Will Pecarro, Kyle Hatch, Jamie Pine, MikeJerry and Vine stars Princess Lauren and AmyMarie.

The nearly four-minute music video was created by Portal A. It’s a lot of good, clean fun for a sequel whose inciting incident is flashing Rebel Wilson’s vagina at the president of the United States.

CREDITS
Client: Universal Pictures
Created by Portal A
Director: Kai Hasson
Executive Producers: Zach Blume, Kai Hasson, Nate Houghteling
Producers: Jacob Motz
Associate Producer: Jenny Leaf
Project Manager: Kalli Sandberg
Editor: Arturo Morales



Portal A Launches Official Music Video for Pitch Perfect 2

To build anticipation for the upcoming May 15th release of Pitch Perfect 2, last week Portal A (who recently worked with Vlad Divac for Waze) launched “Crazy Youngsters,” the international official music video for the movie.

Based around the idea of bringing together fans from around the world with cast members, the video was shot in Berlin, London and Los Angeles, and, in addition to cast members and fans, includes over twenty top YouTube vloggers, Vine creators and other people it makes us feel old not to recognize. All of these people spontaneously start dancing and singing along to the track, beginning individually and culminating in large ensemble scenes.

“Our video is centered around the idea that people around the world – stars of the movie, online influencers, and fans of Pitch Perfect – are hearing “Crazy Youngsters” for the very first time,” explained Kai Hasson, Portal A co-founder and creative director. “As the song builds, people begin to dance, and impromptu parties break out around the world. We wanted the video to have this feeling that something special was happening simultaneously.”

Portal A Outsmarts Traffic with Vlade Divac for Waze

Portal A created a video for the launch of popular driving directions app Waze’s custom voice commands featuring Vlade Divac.

The online spot takes a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of the voice commands with the affable former Lakers and Kings star, showing him in the studio. Divac seems to be having fun with the project, psyching himself up when a producer tells him to “go a little bigger,” making a few goofs and taking a break to dribble a ball outside the studio. It gives viewers an idea of what to expect from the Vlade’s voice commands, and the feeling of getting an intimate look into the recording process. Divac is just the first basketball star to be featured in the app, as users can look forward to being given the option to join an NBA team on the app and “collect basketball goodies for their favorite team (worth 3pts each) and help their team win the games.”

Credits:

Client: Waze
Agency: Portal A
Executive Producers: Zach Blume, Kai Hasson, Nate Houghteling
Director: Morgan Wise
Directors of Photography: Jesse Dana (for Barbosa) and Mike Epple (for Divac)
Producer: Jeffrey Sabin-Matsumoto
Editor: Paul Layland

Earth to Echo Swings From E.T.'s Basket Even Harder in Bike Promo

Just in case the trailer for Earth to Echo didn’t immediately make you think back to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, this bike-filled promo will leave you with no doubt that the marketing strategy is rooted firmly in 1982.

While not a remake of E.T., Earth to Echo is nonetheless attempting to leverage parental nostalgia for the Steven Spielberg classic. Just listen to that inspirational John Williams-esque orchestral music! Just look at all those bikes!

And if you’re not one for retro cinema references, they’ve also thrown in pro basketball players Ricky Rubio, DeAndre Jordan and Shawn Marion. The spot was created by Portal A for Relativity Media. The result is an odd mashup, especially for a movie. But people said the same about Spielberg’s innovative product placement of Reese’s Pieces, and that spawned a whole industry.

CREDITS

Producer: Jacob Motz
Producer: David Johnson
Directors: Nick Ligonis and Damon O’Steen
Director of Photography: Reuben Steinberg
Production Designer: Mollie Alexander
Editor: Max and Harry Frishberg
Executive Producers: Nate Houghteling, Kai Hasson and Zach Blume



Mulheres de verdade não fingem

São raras as ocasiões em que sequências são uma boa ideia. O cinema está cheio de exemplos de continuações que não deram lá muito certo, assim como a própria publicidade. É um risco que se corre, tentar explorar novamente o mesmo conceito e acabar errando a mão. Este foi o caso da agência Portal A com Real Women Don’t Fake, que dá continuidade ao divertido Real Men Don’t Fake, da Benefit.

Enquanto o primeiro filme brincava com a obsessão feminina por cílios gigantes, comparando-a à obsessão masculina pelo tamanho do seu genital, desta vez a piada está nas caras e bocas que a mulherada faz ao aplicar a máscara nos cílios, como se estivessem tendo um orgasmo – alguns deles com as participações de Kristin CavallariCarmen Electra e Kyle Richards. Só faltou mesmo a Meg Ryan

Mais uma vez, houve quem ficou chocado com o filme, mas na verdade ele não traz nada de novo, nem mesmo a graça do primeiro. E, infelizmente, as comparações são inevitáveis, como em qualquer continuação. Poderia ter sido melhor.

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Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Benefit: homens de verdade não fingem

Se você já leu ou assistiu a algum tutorial de maquiagem, já deve ter percebido que a mulherada tem uma obsessão declarada pelos chamados cílios de boneca. A maioria de nós quer ter cílios longos, volumosos e tão curvados quanto os de Betty Boop que, convenhamos, não é real. Sorte da indústria da beleza, que aproveita e até estimula esta ideia criando produtos capazes de entregar o efeito desejado de cílios falsos instantâneos. E é exatamente nesta “falsidade” que a marca de cosméticos Benefit resolveu mirar ao apresentar uma máscara que promete valorizar os cílios reais das mulheres, na campanha Real Men Don’t Fake.

Antes de apertar o play no vídeo acima, tente se lembrar de quantas vezes você já viu a mulher ser tratada como um objeto na publicidade de produtos de moda e beleza. Quantas vezes elas apareceram seminuas – quando não totalmente -, ou contracenando com homens prontos para consumi-las como se fossem um pedaço de carne? Você ficou incomodado? Agora inverta os papeis e coloque homens no lugar de mulheres e vice-versa.

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Preciso ser sincera e dizer que, na primeira vez em que assisti a este vídeo, achei simplesmente idiota. Afinal, que mulher em sã consciência usaria uma máscara para cílios guardada na cueca alheia, mesmo que fosse o pacote (hein, hein) de alguma celebridade (os famosos: quem?), como dizia a descrição. Mas isso foi até os segundos finais, quando apareceu a seguinte frase:

“Rir é o melhor cosmético”

E isso faz total sentido. Lá fui eu dar uma nova chance e tudo começou a ficar mais claro. Não é idiota, pelo contrário. A agência Portal A fez uma jogada inteligente ao inverter os papeis aos quais estamos acostumados. Só que, para que tudo isso fizesse sentido, apostou no humor ao comparar os cílios femininos ao genital masculino, que aparece diversas vezes em close. Afinal, tanto as mulheres quanto os homens parecem estar preocupados demais somente com o tamanho de seus “atributos”, o que realmente é uma grande piada.

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Uma olhada rápida nos comentários, entretanto, comprovou que a maioria está preocupada demais em levar tudo tão a sério, que preferiu ignorar a piada. Teve quem classificou o filme de horroroso, nojento, estúpido, sexista, perda de tempo, querendo criar uma controvérsia… Mas o que vale, realmente, é que por mais tosco que tenha sido o tratamento dado, ele está conseguindo chamar a atenção. Algumas pessoas vão parar e pensar a respeito, outras não.

Uma boa máscara para cílios pode até ajudar a “abrir o olhar”, como costuma-se dizer. Mas no final fica a reflexão de que nenhum padrão de beleza deve ser levado tão a sério a ponto de nos cegar para o que realmente importa.

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Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Jersey Shore Star Shows Off His Package (of Mascara) in Cosmetics Spot

Vinny Guadagnino of Jersey Shore stars as a well-endowed yoga hunk in this decidedly unique Benefit Cosmetics spot for They're Real! mascara. The ad opens to hunky dude ogling, which is oh so trendy right now. But it wastes no time focusing right on their man candy, as all the ladies around them become visibly excited. Then the men reach into their pants and pull out … a handful of mascara tubes to toss to the women—delivering the message that their bulges might be fake but your lashes could be nice. Or perhaps the message is the tagline: "Laughter is the best cosmetic."

The agency, Portal A, also roped in actor Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty) and Vine-famous comedian Brittany Furlan to round out the cameos. Benefit is doing exactly the right kind of things to draw attention to its tiny, feisty brand, but the spot doesn't go quite far enough to be funny or outrageous. Vinny, in particular, comes off as inexplicably suave as he winks in tree pose. Maybe they should have just let Brittany make five six-second Vines and call it a day. Her Vines about the spot are hilars.


    

Latest Parody of Ogilvy’s Dove Campaign Is Sketchy and NSFW

Frankly, I needed a testicle-themed parody of Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches" like I needed a kick in the crotch. Portal A was only too glad to oblige, producing this NSFW effort which becomes the second notable spoof of Grupo Ogilvy Brasil's mega-hit in which an FBI-trained sketch artist drew women as they see themselves, and as others see them. The point: "You're more beautiful than you think." (The Dove spot was released only two weeks ago. Feels like it's been around forever.) The Portal A clip is a one-joke parody … though, anatomically speaking, I guess there are a pair. An "Encino P.D. forensic artist" sketches, well, balls, first based on descriptions from their owners, and next by others who have seen them. The point: "Your balls are more beautiful than you think." The acting's solid, and the testicular descriptions ("It's like a frog that died, that's been in the road for two or three days") are amusing. But I feel deflated—this particular sack seems half empty. When you do balls humor, go big! Let it all hang out! All of the sketches look like fairly accurate representations of the body parts in question. Why not have the ones done from the guys' descriptions look outlandishly awful—draw a frog that's been dead in the road for two days—contrasted with sketches of giant smiley-face emoticons, Fabergé eggs and the package on Michelangelo's David? What we have is far too restrained. Back to the drawing board, guys.

    

The Most Insane Musical Number Ever Performed About Mobile Coupon Technology

Startup company Mobeam has patented technology that will allow barcodes to be scanned from smartphone screens at checkouts. The point-of-purchase possibilities are endless for coupons and other far more fun advertising promotions. Plus, it's way better than replacing every checkout scanner in the world. To pimp it, Portal A created this heavily Auto-Tuned supermarket musical, in which a frustrated cashier bursts into song over the wonders of Mobeam. It includes an obligatory rap, a talking fish and a dancing janitor. The video is goofy in the extreme. What it lacks is a compelling subject. Outside of advertisers, no one's really sitting at home thinking, "What I wouldn't give for a mobile solution for the hassle of using paper coupons!" Most of us don't get beyond, "Sweet! A coupon!" in our daily internal coupon monologue. Hopefully, they can tap into their core demographic: those extreme couponers on TLC who stink of the horrors of fanaticism.