180 Amsterdam Launches ‘Welcome to the Future of Play’ for PS4

180 Amsterdam has launched a new campaign for Sony’s PS4 holiday push entitled “Welcome to the Future of Play.”

In what has long been the standard for gaming advertising, players are thrust into the action of a game. “I don’t want to die…again,” says one of the players, as he and a friend hide during a fierce battle. The friend decides they have three options: check YouTube and hope someone shared how to get past the stage via the PS4?s “Share” button; ask their friend Dave how to survive the Viking attack; or invite Nick to join them in the game, even though he doesn’t own the game. The last option illustrates one of the PS4?s big selling points, that you can join a friend’s game remotely, even if you haven’t purchased the title. The way the ad arrives at this point, however, may seem a little forced to some viewers.

The campaign is launching simultaneously in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and Middle East, as the holiday season approaches. In addition to the broadcast spot, the campaign also includes print and OOH elements, each focusing on one of the key new features for the PS4 promoted in the spot. (more…)

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Droga5 Gets Sarah Silverman to Become a Man for National Women’s Law Center

Droga5 enlisted the services of “writer, comedian and vagina owner” Sarah Silverman for a new spot addressing the wage gap for National Women’s Law Center.

Silverman introduces viewers to the wage gap issue, pointing out that over the course of their lives women pay a “$500,000 vagina tax,” before informing viewers that she’s becoming a man, since the operation is actually cheaper than dealing with a lifetime of income disparity. She then introduces National Women’s Law Center’s crowdfunding effort to raise the trillions of dollars American women are cheated out of by gender inequality in the workplace, to be payed back to each of them. Since the goal is basically unreachable, it actually serves as a fund raiser for National Women’s Law Center’s efforts, since they receive the money as a donation if (when) the goal isn’t reached. The video ends by directing viewers to EqualPaybackProject.com, which goes live today to inform visitors about the gender gap and accepts donations to the crowdfunding effort. It’s a clever approach, addressing the absurdity of the issue in a way people are sure to remember.

“Equal pay may not be a sexy issue, but it’s an important one,” Casey Rand, Droga5 creative director, told Adweek. “And it is absurd. Young women need to know what’s at stake. And we knew that to get them to engage, we’d need to play up that absurdity.” (more…)

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Caviar Director Reconnects with Emma Stone for Vogue Short

Caviar director Ruben Fleischer joined forces with cover girl Emma Stone, who recently starred in his film Gangster Squad, for a new original short for Vogue.

The spot sees Fleischer and Stone playing themselves, discussing Stone’s latest role. Fleischer, who wrote and directed the short, plays the stright man. Stone, meanwhile, has some unusual ideas to prepare for her role as a nun, all of which involve magic. As you may have guessed, things get a little bit silly, but the humor never quite connects and the premise feels a bit forced — even if “Everyone loves magic, even nuns.”

Stick around for credits after the jump.  continued…

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Progressive Knows Bad Drivers Want to Make Out with Your Car

From Arnold comes the latest TV spot for Progressive, “Rate Suckers,” helmed by director Ruben Fleischer (of  pretty great Zombieland and pretty terrible Gangster Squad fame). Depicting bad drivers as the soul-sucking, rate-hiking leeches they are, the ad also introduces Progressive’s new “Snapshot” technology.

“Snapshot,” a little device that sticks underneath your dashboard, ostensibly counts how many times a driver slams on the brakes, calculates the time of day and how many miles a car has driven. Then it rewards good drivers with Pez or something, but as the spot doesn’t say what the hell it is, none of this really matters now does it?

Noticeably absent from this spot is Flo, Progressive’s chipper apron-ed spokesperson. I know that we, the car insurance-purchasing consumers, were always supposed to really like Flo because everyone in Progressive’s ads sure did. However, the Flo-lessness of this spot reminds me that I kind of hate Flo, and I hope to never see her ever again. Credits after the jump.

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