Smucker’s is merging with Folgers.
How many microseconds will it take you to figure out what we think the new brand name should be?
180 Amsterdam launches “Set Your Fingers Free†for HTC, one of the fastest-growing companies in the mobile device market. The integrated campaign is headlined by a :60 second TV commercial, initially for the US market, which illustrates the new experiences people have at their finger tips today. This TV spot will be underpinned by rich media banners, in the same visual style, which go live on May 12.
“It is about the experiences and the freedom these devices give us,†said Adam Chasnow, creative director at 180 Amsterdam. “It goes way beyond wireless data speeds and the specific technologies. It’s about how smart devices, like the HTC Touch, fit into the lives we are already leading.â€
Exercising her talent for quirky storytelling, FilmCore’s Tiffany Burchard has edited a new campaign for Bloom and Charlotte, North Carolina agency BooneOakley that positions the upscale market as having the answer to any problem a consumer might have—no matter how weird.
Burchard collaborated with Director Rick Lemoine and a team of agency creatives who share her off-kilter sense of humor. Each of the dozen 15-second spots features the same set up: a man or woman pushes a shopping cart through the market (without somehow seeming to walk) while describing some peculiar life calamity.
For those cyclists in the ad biz that have dreamed about riding in the French Alps with the FireFlies (www.thefirefliesride.com), but could not manage to get away, here’s your chance to be part of a great cause. This year, a group is heading along the California Coast. Planned by veteran FireFlies Jake Scott and Bryan Farhy, the event will take place June 8-14, riding the 550 miles from San Francisco to LA.
As with its annual event in France, the 2008 FireFlies West ride is in aid of Leuka, providing continued support for the research and treatment unit for leukaemia at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.
If you are interested in riding the whole way – or even joining them for a stage – please contact bryan@restlessfilms.tv. Those who cannot make the ride are encouraged to join the group for the welcoming party at the Kings Head Tavern in Santa Monica, as the FireFlies arrive on Saturday, June 14.
This year’s ride from Evian to Cannes will take place June 10-18, culminating with the arrival of the FireFlies at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
With 100 days to go until the Beijing Olympics, Amnesty International today launched the first in a series of four hard-hitting animated films highlighting human rights abuses linked to the Chinese authorities’ hosting of the Games, in particular the risks of peacefully protesting in China.
Amnesty is campaigning for Ye Guozhu, imprisoned and reportedly tortured with electro-shock batons after he protested at forced evictions in Beijing. Ye Guozhu’s home and family restaurant had been bulldozed to make way for Olympics construction.
“Amnesty is not against the Games but we want people to know what else is happening in China – including the silencing of critics and peaceful protesters – and to join our campaign for urgent human rights reform,” said Tim Hancock, UK campaigns director. “People who speak out about human rights in China are being persecuted and locked up ahead of the Olympics. Torture is commonplace. Right now we’re demanding the release of Ye Guozhu, who was arrested and tortured just for protesting when his home was bulldozed to make way for Olympics venues. The Chinese authorities promised when bidding for the Olympics that hosting the Games would improve human rights. Rather than honour these promises, the government has cracked down on dissent more rigorously than before.”
World Famous has produced three new spots for the Washington State Department of Health and Seattle agency WongDoody that use humor towarn teens about the dangers of smoking. It is the second straight year that the editorial and design studio has produced ads for Washington’s acclaimed “No Stank You†campaign.
The spots appeal to teens with a raw filmmaking style, gross-out humor and an unflinching anti-smoking message that have become trademarks of “No Stank Youâ€. World Famous was brought into the project during pre-production. “The agency had eight or ten scripts and asked us which ones we would be most interested in producing,†recalled World Famous creative director Alan Nay. “We picked five and the client shaved it down to the three we ended up producing.â€
LG Electronics (LG) announced the launch of their newest LCD TV, the LG60 – also known as ‘Scarlet’ – following a three-month teaser campaign promoting a new TV series. A Hollywood-style approach was used for the a product launch by creating the character of Scarlet. Leading up to the official reveal on April 28, a teaser campaign ran globally promoting the idea that ‘Scarlet: a hit new TV series’ was a secret project from director/producer David Nutter and starring an up and coming actress, Natassia Malthe.
Sadly, the pieces for post launch weren’t proofed very well or had a fundamental lack of understanding of the correct use of apostrophes and the possessive tense. “The Hot New Series of TV’s”. Um, TV’s what? Tsk, Tsk. Unfortunately, this line shows up in nearly every piece of print, poster, digital, etc. in this global campaign. Oops.
Lowe Roche Toronto created a campaign for Laughing Cow cheese which plays off the benefit of laughing. Print, banners and a website all circle around the fact that laughing is good for you.
The Rich Media interactive banner (turn on your sound for the full-effect):
laughingisgoodforyou.ca features the Symphony of Laugher where, as the title suggests, you can can create your own laughter composition.
To celebrate and pay tribute to the iconic Superstar, adidas Originals (with the help of 180LA) produced a pair of giant, SUV-size exact replicas, down to the fire-hose shoe laces. Housed in separate studios, they invited friends and artists at Surface2Air (NYC) and Upper Playground (San Francisco) to celebrate their own originality by customizing these huge sneakers – the right shoe for the East Coast and the left shoe for the West Coast.
For three days, the artists’ collectives (Surface2Air featuring Gordon Hull, Daniel Jackson and Alexia Stamatiou and Upper Playground featuring Sam Flores) went to work. Upon completion, the shoes were put on a flat bed truck and the two parties set off to meet in Venice Beach, CA. The showdown on the boardwalk drew L.A.’s finest “originals.â€
Sometime later today, after a month of unprecedented buzz, 80,000 feet of film, 460 million liters of foam, a crew of 150 and three years of growing expectations thanks to the Bravia campaign, Fallon London, director Simon Ratigan and Sony will unveil the finished Foam City commercial for its digital imaging products — the Handycam, Cyber-shot and alpha.
On March 9th, I was told that I “was going to see some amazing things.”
Later today, if all goes as planned, so will you.
Have they created yet another experience like no other?
What music did they use?
Is it, dare I say, foamtastic?
Be sure to check back here later today to find out.
It’s not often that we get questions regarding ursine sexual organs here at AdLand,* but one of our site’s good pals was watching his large screen HDTV (show-off) when a Lowe’s commercial came on featuring a ornery grizzly bear. The minute-long commercial was about 32 seconds in when he noticed “something dangling and wiggling ‘down there'” on the bear.
Of course, AdLand had to investigate, and what did we find? Was it indeed a happy bear penis? Was it simply a matted clump of bear hair? Was it really David Hasselhoff’s stunt double in the bear costume? Judge for yourself.
Superadgrunts, see the full commercial here, and then, thanks to our patented AdLand Bear Penis Detector Zoom 3000, see a close-up of the scene in question here.
*I know! I know! Hard to believe!
Finnegans Irish Amber backlit sign seen at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.
Management at a North Dakota television network affiliate are at a loss to explain how and why a commercial for a local car dealership featuring three seconds of male genitalia was broadcast during the ten o’clock news Monday night.
McKinney tells us what we already know, “most consumers know what to expect from real estate commercials—picket fences, manicured lawns and “sold†signs”. So instead, they created a new integrated campaign for Coldwell Banker that breaks through the “sea of sameness†and shows consumers the best of both worlds: easy to use online tools and experienced agents who can guide them through each step to home ownership. The agency uses the characters of the Founders Coldwell and Banker, who “have always been known for their pioneering spirit and passion to innovate. So don’t be surprised if you see them popping up at events and on popular social networking sites.”
AdLand goes to Miami … What does “dime” and “Sony” have in common?
1) Daniel Day-Lewis will star in a Twinkies commercial.
“I eat your sponge cake! I eat it up! Nom nom nom…”
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2) Cialis will air a special two-minute, three million dollar commercial written, directed, edited and produced by the Coen brothers entitled A Chubby For Old Men.
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3) Johnny Depp will appear as Sweeney Todd for a Gillette Fusion Power Phenom commercial.
[singing] “There’s a hole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And its morals aren’t worth what a pig could spit
Gillette! The best a man can get!”
Psyop directors Marie Hyon and Marco Spier share the dirt on their recent work for TBWA China’s Adidas Olympic 2008 spots “Zheng Zhi” and “Together”.
What was the creative brief from the client/agency?
The brief from the agency was to create a poetic, sophisticated, and awe inspiring Olympics campaign that embraces the idea of, “impossible is nothing†for the people of china. With the agency, we created four spots in total. The first spot was an anthem called “Togetherâ€. For this spot, we created a landscape of the nation supporting their athletes. It was important for us to create the intimacy between the supporters and the athletes. We wanted to make sure the fans were not seen just as the masses but to feel their emotion of being part of something big.
The other three spots were athlete specific spots that told their personal stories of their Olympic journey. With these spots, we were able to explore the world of imagery that is very dream like, allegorical, and surreal. Along with the agency and their Asian sensibility in storytelling, we were able to imagine three very unique looking spots with the type of stories we haven’t really encountered in the western market.
Visual effects design company a52 (www.a52.com) contributed its visual effects expertise to two CareerBuilder.com spots from advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy and The Directors Bureau director Mike Mills which debuted on ESPN’s SportsCenter following this year’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLII.
“a52 and RPS were meticulous with all the technical details, which allowed us to focus on the performances, script, and art direction,” said Wieden+Kennedy copywriter Jason Bagley. “The whole process was very smooth and we couldn’t be happier with how the effects turned out.”
It’s time for the 4th and final installment of the 2007 Adland Roundup. While Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 looked mostly at TV or cinema spots, here we’re checking out viral, print, outdoor and other media.
Best Viral Mockumentaries:
Naughty 2 Nice – Axe.
“Kittens are to soft what carbon fibre is to tough.”
Trident – Trident Factory (2007) 4:50 (UK)
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