Hasta La Creative!

Team One is launching a campaign today to introduce Lexus’ first-ever RC 350 sport coupe and RC F performance coupe.

The multimedia campaign is centered around a pair of broadcast spots promoting each of the new vehicles. In “Face Off,” actor Wes Bentley (Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games, that creepy voyeur kid in American Beauty) confidently walks into a dark factory. As he glances at the Lexus RC Coupe, he likes what he sees (and for some reason lightbulbs explode as he unlocks the door) and he drives off smiling. The spot ends with the tagline, “Once driven, there’s no going back.”

“No Limits” was inspired by the RC F reveal video, and touts the vehicle’s powerful performance as barrier-breaking. It combines footage of the RC F racing through turns with athletes pushing their bodies to the limits.

Both spots launch today and will air during prime time, late night, cable, network television and cable sports, including “multiplatform ownerships within the Thursday Night Football Halftime Show on CBS and NFL Network.” In addition to the general market spots, “three additional RC F commercials geared toward multicultural audiences will also air at launch.” The broadcast efforts will be supported by digital, print and OOH executions. (more…)

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Now that Airbnb, that controversial apartment “sharing” (read: renting) business, has grown beyond its startup roots to become a company with an estimated value greater than the entire Hyatt Corporation, it needs a little creative work to show the world what it’s all about.

Today Pereira & O’Dell provided that work in the form of the very first Airbnb spot:

We’re not sure whether the business will catch on with the public at large and we can’t imagine warming to the idea of swapping apartments with strangers, but we also can’t think of a better way to summarize Airbnb’s appeal than with a series of views from alternate windows in a “you could be here, or here, or here” montage.

Unfortunately, you may still have a tough time describing the company’s product to your grandmother.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jose Cuervo is introducing its new Cuervo Cinge — “Cuervo with a cinnamon sting”  – with a new animated spot by McCann NY and Elastic.

Directed by Andy Hall, “Get Stung” is pure eye-candy. The spot is well-animated, with a very appropriate red-tinted effect throughout (because cinnamon, get it?). There’s not a whole lot to the 30-second spot: scorpion walks into a bar, drinks tequila, sets bar on fire. But then there doesn’t have to be. Why the bartender serves tequila to a scorpion is never really explained, but suspension of disbelief, right?

As an introduction to a new product, the spot works well. If you like the idea of cinnamon-flavored tequila, this ad will make you excited to try it. If not, you can still appreciate the artistry that went into animating it. I’m rarely going to have something negative to say about a simple, well animated spot about liquor. I wasn’t crazy about the “Get Stung” tagline at first, but they make it work with the whole “sting of cinnamon” description and it serves its function as a way to help people remember the product.

It’s a departure from McCann’s “Have a Story” opus starring Kiefer Sutherland, and a welcome one. Perhaps the “be more interesting, be different…” approach typified by certain Dos Equis ads is finally on its way out. Hopefully this simple, elegantly animated approach from McCann spreads beyond their other work for Cuervo and starts a new trend in boozey advertising. Credits after the jump. continued…

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At this point, Nike and AOR W+K are just showing off. Their latest spot, “Possibilities,” is a fat, splashy kick-off to the 25th anniversary of its ubiquitous slogan, “Just Do It.” These type of Nike ads have always had a mythical quality, compared to other sports brands – like certain BBDO Foot Locker commercials – that are solid and funny. Nike is serious. W+K Portland is serious. Nike, Inc. is set to earn $25 billion in revenue this year, meaning we must be serious, too, when it comes to our purchases.

Being serious does not preclude Nike from a certain playfulness if you look hard enough. For “Possibilities,” the lightness comes from some Bradley Cooper voiceover that makes the viewer want to just do it, even though said viewer knows he/she can’t do it as well as professional athletes. That’s where stars like footballer Gerard Piqué and basketballer LeBron James come in, cameos that are almost taking the money out of your wallet before you know it.

For LeBron, the unofficial king of the summer, Nike has been creatively pumping out his spots for a few years now. This one may be a joint venture, but he subtly dominates the end with some clever winking done in the form of a fake dunk content. LeBron has never entered the NBA dunk contest. Maybe this is a hint for 2014? Or maybe it’s just smart marketing? Plenty of possibilities to choose from.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.