Carmichael Lynch Strolls Down ‘Memory Lane’ for Subaru

For its latest campaign for Subaru, promoting the 2015 Outback, agency-of-record Carmichael Lynch teamed up with director Lance Acord (best known for his cinematography on films such as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Lost In Translation) and production company Park Pictures for a couple of 60-second spots emphasizing that the Outback can “go anywhere.”

In “Memory Lane,” a family picks up a hippie grandmother for a road trip to Woodstock. The grandmother imparts some questionable teachings on her granddaughter and finds the spot where she met her grandfather, in a cute moment that also shows the Outback’s off-road capabilities.

“Bison” also features a road trip, as a father attempts to wow his tween son with major American landmarks. The bratty son is unimpressed with Redwoods and The Grand Canyon, more interested in his smart phone than anything outside the car, but the father does eventually get through to him, followed by the voiceover, “There’s nothing I can’t reach in my Subaru.”

Both spots are impressively shot (which shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the director) while delivering their message in a way that should appeal to parents (always a target demographic for Subaru). And if they cross the line into cheesiness, it’s in a way that fits the brand well. (more…)

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Heat, Hungry Man Unleash ‘Shadow’ for EA’s ‘Titanfall’

Heat and their production partner Hungry Man have released a new spot for Xbox One crown jewel exclusive and E3 critical darling Titanfall, which just had its North American release yesterday.

The new, 60 second spot (there’s also a 30 second version), entitled “Shadow,” imagines what it would be like to constantly be shadowed by a 25-foot Titan that obeys your every command. Following in the recent trend of inserting gamers into the real world, the spot attempts “to capture the ear-to-ear grinning invincibility you feel when you first climb into your very own Titan and start dominating the world.” “Shadow” follows a man with a shit-eating grin walking through a city trailed by his own personal Titan. Everything is just peachy until he runs into another Titan owner, at which time, as you might expect, shit goes down.

The spot manages to capture the overall “Life is Better with a Titan” theme of the campaign, while also demonstrating Titanfall‘s unique features, like verticality. What really makes the spot work, though, is the perfect transition to gameplay footage during the final 15 seconds. While there’s nothing revolutionary about Heat’s approach here, they find a balance between live action and gameplay footage that a lot of similarly minded ads miss. And they certainly succeed at making the game look like a lot of fun. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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