Hasta La Creative!

Wunderman Brazil has a new campaign for the São Paulo Soccer Federation, entitled, “Linesman for Peace,” which calls for peace amongst fans during the São Paulo State Championship.

The Campeonato Paulista, or Paulistão, is one of Brazil’s largest soccer tournaments, with fierce rivals like Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos and São Paulo vying for the championship. This can cause soccer loving Brazilians fans’ extreme passion for the sport to escalate into violence in the stands (as it does in many soccer-loving countries around the world). So Wunderman Brazil had the São Paulo Soccer Federation (FPF) linesman’s yellow and red flags replaced with white flags to deliver a very simple but important message: “There is no offside for peace,” or “Please don’t try to kill each other.”

“Whenever the linesmen get involved in the game, either because someone is offside, a throw in, or a corner kick, etc., in any of the 158 games of the championship, the fans will remember that for peace there is no offside,” says Marco Polo Del Nero, FPF president.

Wunderman Brazil created a website complete with web film (featured above), as well as handling social media for FPF “to stimulate the fans’ engagement in the cause by posting messages on the signs and banners at the games.”

“There is no greater universal peace symbol than a white flag. And it will draw the fans’ attention because it’s the first time  that linesmen have given up their customary yellow and red flags,” adds Paulo Sanna, creative VP at Wunderman.

Wunderman Brazil has found a clever way to reach fans who otherwise may be too riled up to listen to reason, and a novel way to deliver a very important message. It may be kind of sad that it needs to be said in the first place, but hopefully it will reach the right people and keep things peaceful during Campeonato Paulista. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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What a load of bulgogi.

The grilled, marinated meat from Korea is suddenly on the media's plate after this strange ad was placed in The New York Times last week. Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo—a huge star in his native South Korea, but not so much in this country, where he actually plays—offers up a morsel with chopsticks. Copy begins: "Spring's here and I'm ready to play! And do you know what got me through training? Bulgogi. Try some at your favorite Korean restaurant. It's delicious!"

Thanks for the tip, Choo! Sure, the ad is random and goofy, but I'm surprised it has sparked so much attention. Maybe it's because it doesn't tout any specific brand, group or eatery, just the beef dish in general.

A Web address in the ad, ForTheNextGeneration.com, contains links to English-language news about South Korea, and holds a clue to the strange ad's origin. NPR, among others, investigated, and traced the placement to Sungshin Women's University visiting professor Seo Kyoung-duk—a passionate promoter of Korean food and culture—and restaurant chain Chicken Maru, which apparently picked up the tab.

Wade Boggs famously ate chicken before every game and wound up in the Hall of Fame. Maybe they should get Choo on that next!

Culver City, CA-based Pitch has just launched an NCAA March Madness campaign for tournament sponsor Burger King, the agency’s first since taking over for Mother NY on BK general market duties in January (Pitch has been in charge of youth/family ad duties since 2010).

For the campaign, entitled “Watch Like A King,” Burger King and Pitch have teamed up with iconic Fab Five member, former NBA star and current NBA TV/TNT analyst Chris Webber, who stars in the Final Four 2 for $5 “Watch Like A King” spot. The 30 second spot sees a fan tell the guy in front of him in a Chris Webber jersey, “Seriously dude, we’re trying to watch the…” at which point Webber turns around and the man lets out a comical scream. Webber then asks him about his two sandwiches for five bucks from Burger King, and they work out a mutually beneficial agreement. The new spot, which unfortunately does not involve Webber attempting to call a timeout, will debut on March 16th. Webber will also be in attendance at the NCAA Men’s Final Four in Dallas cheering on participants of the Burger King-sponsored Kings of the Court 3-on-3 Tournament.

Meanwhile, from today through April 7th, fans can follow @BurgerKing on Twitter and tweet why they deserve to “Watch Like A King” and/or post a NCAA-themed photo with the hashtag #WatchLikeAKing for a chance to win a prize, including “$100 Burger King Crown Cards, mobile phone projectors, flat screen TVs, tickets to the NCAA Final Four and much more.”

“We know March Madness is about the fans, games and of course the student-athletes, so we’re celebrating by partnering with the NCAA to provide the fan base with a viewing experience fit for a king,” says Eric Hirschhorn, chief marketing officer, North America, Burger King Worldwide.

In addition to television and social media, Pitch’s “Watch Like  A King” campaign will also feature experiential elements, details of which have yet to be released (but according to the credits you can expect “Throne Installation” and “Crown Headbands,” so that should give you some idea). Stick around for those credits after the jump. continued…

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Utilisant le nouveau morceau « Come Get It Bae » de Pharrell en featuring avec Miley Cyrus, la nouvelle campagne World of Redbull 2014 permet de mettre en avant ses athlètes de l’extrême en action, à l’image de Sally Fitzgibbons et Jamie O’Brien en surf ou encore le plongeur Orlando Duque pour ne citer qu’eux.

Ever wonder what tennis can do for you? Well, for starters, it can make you smarter, stronger, happier, more attractive and pretty much invincible.

The United States Tennis Association doesn't skimp on the specifics of the sport's many benefits to its athletes in this new campaign from DDB New York, targeting millennials. And the messages are delivered in decidedly offbeat fashion, thanks to the inimitable style of director Jared Hess, who made Napoleon Dynamite.

Five short online spots communicate the benefits with quirky visuals and simple factoids—all crisp, clean and slightly off center. The theme is "Tennis Makes You," which works well as a stand-alone line and an introductory phrase.

Judging by the shrimp with the one giant arm, the only question is whether being stronger and being more attractive are mutually exclusive.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: United States Tennis Association
Campaign: "Tennis Makes You"

Agency: DDB, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Matt Eastwood
Executive Creative Director, Chief Digital Officer: Joe Cianciotto
Creative Director: Scott Cooney
Associate Creative Director: Carlos Wigle
Copywriters: Step Schultz, Bobby Finger
Art Director: Amanda Millwee
Head of Production: Ed Zazzera
Management Supervisor: Ginny Levine

Production Company: Community Films
Director: Jared Hess
Director of Photography: Mattias Troelstrup
Executive Producers: Lizzie Schwartz, Carl Swan
Producer: Lisa Shaw

Visual Effects: MPC (Bee spot only)
Editing House: Fluid
Editor: John Piccolo
Flame/VFX: Ross Vincent, Fluid
Producer: Laura Relovsky
Music: Stock

With 100 days to go until the start of World Cup 2014, ESPN has debuted a new ad called “True Beauty,” which celebrates the World Cup returning to Brazil.

The 30-second spot, “developed by ESPN’s award-winning marketing team,” features voiceover (in Portuguese) from Brazilian musician Seu Jorge, extolling the beauty of Brazil and their five-time World Cup champion soccer team which is the pride of the nation. “True Beauty” is soundtracked by tropicalia band Os Mutantes’ song “Bat Macumba” from their classic debut album. The spot is perfectly edited to fit the pace of the song and celebrate different aspects of the World Cup’s host nation. ESPN will also be celebrating with special programming over three days, including “extensive digital content on ESPNFC.com, coverage of seven FIFA matches and more…”

As you may recall, ESPN’s World Cup campaign kicked off during half time of their Rose Bowl coverage on New Year’s Day. We’ve included it after the jump in case you need a refresher. Expect to see more from ESPN promoting the World Cup leading up to kickoff on June 12th. continued…

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Following a “formal competitive review” that involved incumbent/Troy NY-based creative agency, id29, as well as “several West Coast shops” along with VML, it was the last, WPP-owned agency that won out for the Cobra Puma Golf account. This marks the second AOR win for VML since last December, when the agency picked up ad duties for NAPA Auto Parts.

Cobra Puma Golf president Bob Philion says in a statement, “VML is an innovative agency with extensive expertise in creating meaningful consumer experiences within the world of marketing, and we are excited to have them on board. Their understanding of the industry and ability to tell our Game Enjoyment story across multiple platforms will help us elevate our communications platform and reach an even greater global audience.” , VML has taken over the activation of the current COBRA “Go Looooong” campaign and will continue to focus on all 2015 product launches. You can check out the first print work for Cobra Puma Golf from VML, which will also handle global creative for the brand in UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Australia and China, after the jump.

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Brazil is already known as the land of beer and soccer, but now A-B InBev brew brand, Brahma, in conjunction with the Rio de Janeiro-based branch of agency, Africa, is bringing the country’s passions closer together than ever before with Brahma Selecao Especial, a new limited-edition beer brewed for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Brahma Selecao Especial’s big selling point is that it is brewed with “barley planted, grown and harvested on Granja Comary, home to the Brazilian national soccer team,” which should score major points with Brazilian soccer fans. Literally bringing together beer and soccer by planting on the Brazilian soccer teams’ decades-long training grounds, the “same soil where [the] five-time world champion team was conceived” brings the World Cup-sponsoring brand even greater appeal to Brazil’s soccer-loving faithful.

Sergio Gordilho, Africa’s co-president and CCO, says, “Creating and developing such an innovative idea in partnership with such a legendary brand shows a new frontier for advertising, where the agencies stop thinking about the media and start focusing on the idea. We developed this project with Africa Lab, an innovation arm of the agency, and we are looking forward to see the results on shelves around the entire country.”

Africa collaborated with Brahma at every step of the process — they even “accompanied the planting of the barley, its growth and harvest, the development of the product, and helped with the promotion and launching strategies,” claims Africa co-president and CEO Marcio Santoro.

The new beer, complete with “packaging [which] leaves aside the brand’s traditional red color for black, subtle green and yellow lines paying homage to the arrival of the World Cup to Brazil” will be available beginning next month, but you can pre-order it now on Brahma’s website. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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With the 2014 Sochi Olympics slowly making their way toward their conclusion, we thought we’d share an Olympic campaign you might not have seen yet. Radley launched “Be A Weekender” for Hilton with four mini-documentaries honoring American Olympic athletes for Hilton’s Honors program.

The four videos were designed to “provide an energizing look at the forever-on-the-move lifestyles of Olympic hopefuls,” exemplified by “Weekend By Ashley,” the 2:16 video starring U.S. skater Ashley Wagner featured above. In the video, Wagner talks about her crazy, always on the move lifestyle in which she sometimes forgets what country’s hotel room she is in, growing up at the ice rink, and all the trips to warm places she’d like to take. Other athletes featured in the series include speed skater Patrick Meek, hockey player Meghan Agosto-Marciano and Paralympic ski racer Alana Nichols.

Creating these documentaries was no easy feat, as finding the extra time to film with athletes whose days typically begin with training at 3 A.M. is a big challenge. As Radley CCO/Director Kurt Spenser explains, “Fitting into the lives of Olympic hopefuls in the middle of an Olympic year is not an easy task. Detailed planning with the Hilton team allowed us to stay on schedule for the athletes and to be spontaneous when opportunities presented themselves. We did not want to interrupt their training or their travel, so we had to tailor our production as much as we could while still staying on budget and on time. It was a great team effort and we are all very proud of the results.”

Check out “Weekend By Ashley” above, and stick around for Alana Nichols‘ video, along with credits, after the jump. And for the full experience, head over to the campaign website. continued…

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DDB and Tribal Worldwide Amsterdam have an interesting social campaign brewing for the beermeisters at Heineken.

Entitled “Share the Sofa,” the campaign invites fans to join star UEFA Champions League players on Twitter for a chat during select games. Players involved include Ruud Gullit, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Owen Hargreaves, Hernan Crespo and Fernando Morientes. Owen Hargreaves was featured recently, with his “Share the Sofa” generating 2,600 tweets and 55.6 million social impressions. Dutch star Patrick Kluivert was the most recent player to be featured, during Tuesday’s Manchester City Vs. Barcelona match.

Fans questions need not be about sports, but can range from “What’s your favorite sandwich?” to just about anything. While it’s easy to be cynical about the overcrowded social media marketing space, this seems like a fun initiative offering fans real insights into their favorite players (even if it’s just their favorite sandwich) with a unique opportunity to ask them just about anything. The initiative makes good sense for Heineken as well, offering a large part of their fan base (those looking for watery beer to guzzle during matches) a unique second screen experience they’ll associate with the brand.

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