Hasta La Creative!

Is there anything more heartwarming than watching children of all ages fall over repeatedly?

From Proctor & Gamble and W+K comes “Pick Them Back Up,” a new spot that’s part of the “Thank You, Mom” campaign running during the length of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. If you’ll recall, P&G and Wieden have been leaders in mom joy, child guilt and intermittent bouts of crying since a 2010 Mother’s Day campaign, which set the stage for the very viral 2012 London Olympics spot “Best Job.” Since the initial broadcast of “Best Job,” most of the world has been stuck in a routine of enthusiastic weeping followed by hugging their mom until it hurts.

Adding a little humor to the affair (this is, if you’re a sociopath like me), “Pick Them Back Up” sees attractive young mothers repeatedly watch their children fall down before picking them up, thus transforming them into successful Olympic athletes. For those mothers whose children didn’t grow up to be competitive in winter sports on an international scale, well, your time was better spent leaving your kid on the ice and just working on you for a while.

Of course, this spot also begs the question, how did they film so many babies falling over? Were they stunt babies, or did they trip them with invisible wires or something? In any case, after seeing this on TV, your mother’s gaze will slowly drift over to the photo she has of you as a baby on her nightstand, and she’ll sigh a million disappointed sighs because you were once so cute and loving and now you apparently don’t “have the time” to give her a call once in a while. She’s right, you know, because you just watched this and it caused you do to nothing. Credits, and one in a series of new athlete-specific video, follow after the jump.

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The image of fat, overpaid athletes who don’t care about what they do as much as they should is an easy shot for fans to take. It’s occasionally true. But this angle almost never comes from the house, since gambling companies don’t need to take a stance one way or the other to make money. But in the UK, bookmaker Paddy Power has teamed with CP+B for “Fat Watch” a contest to the bottom that rewards soccer players who take the least shots or spend the most time on the bench. Fans who support the clubs of the laziest players (Fernando Torres) will win some undisclosed prize, which seems more like compensation for rooting for FC Shame.

The 30-second spot is pretty funny and plays more like a comedy sketch than a commercial. I don’t think this idea could play in America, but for the stodgy fans across the Atlantic, the campaign’s sneering tone feels like a great fit. Credits after the jump.

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TBWA/Chiat Day celebrates Peyton Manning breaking the NFL single-season touchdown record with an inspirational campaign for Gatorade.

At the heart of the new campaign is the thirty second spot, “51 And Counting.” The simple spot shows photos of Peyton unleashing each of his 51 touchdown passes, set to inspirational narration about ignoring those who tell you what you can’t do. It’s a timely response to Manning’s record-breaking season, and the association with Peyton is sure to win Gatorade some points with fans. That TBWA/Chiat Day couldn’t follow up the last photo with footage of the record breaking pass being completed is something of a letdown, but I imagine logistical/legal concerns are to blame. The campaign also includes a celebratory print ad in Sports Illustrated, congratulating Manning on winning the Sportsman of the Year award “by painting a picture of what it means to win from within using only words and Manning’s number, 18.” Stay tuned for the print ad, and credits, after the jump. continued…

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Texas stalwart The Richards Group teamed up with Sugar Film Production and director Chris Smith to create a new, four spot campaign for H-E-B.

The 30-second spots – “One For Each,” “Laundry Sorting,” “Splendid” (featured above)– all feature those fundamental playoff perennials/San Antonio Spurs stars Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Kawhi Leonard in humorous scenarios. Each of the spots employs a type of self-depreciating humor too often absent from self-serious athlete endorsements. Even more refreshing is that the majority of the spots actually succeed at being funny. This is all thanks in large part to solid writing. The Richards Group delivers “scripts tailor-made…for the personalities and idiosyncrasies of the players…” and it really shows.

The funniest of the spots, “Splendid,” features Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili taking a steak dinner at home a little too seriously. “Laundry Sorting” is almost as amusing, highlighting Kawhi Leonard’s impressive laundry skills. “One For Each” and “Tough Talk” see the Spurs stars talking up H-E-B sauces and Mootopia (a type of post-workout drink) respectively. Stick around for “Laundry Sorting” after the jump.

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ESPN has a new in-house effort promoting their NBA Christmas lineup, and Calvin Broadus has yet another name. Santa Snoop narrates the effort, which riffs off the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (better known by its first line, “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”).

The NBA Christmas spot is about as straightforward as it gets, supplementing Snoop’s narration with highlights of the teams featured in the Christmas day matchups. It all works, thanks mostly to Santa Snoop’s immediately recognizable voice. Who doesn’t love to hear this this guy? He could narrate a shopping list and make it sound intriguing. Beyond that, I really like the idea of Santa Snoop. He’s probably skinny enough to actually fit down a chimney, and I imagine he brings the kind of treats Santa normally wouldn’t feel comfortable trafficking in. So keep an eye out for Santa Snoop this Christmas morning and if you’re a hoops fan, tune in to the NBA on ESPN and ABC. The opening game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Chicago Bulls tips off at noon, followed by a doubleheader on ABC (Knicks/Thunder, then Heat/Lakers), and capped off with a prime-time doubleheader on ESPN, with the San Antonio Spurs hosting the Houston Rockets at 8 p.m., followed by the Golden State Warriors hosting the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30 p.m. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Today, Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive and ESPN senior vice president Justin Connolly debuted a new brand campaign celebrating the planned launch of the SEC Network. Both national television spots and previews of print ads “were revealed as part of a series of SEC Network programming announcements made at a press conference prior to the SEC football championship game at the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta.” The new campaign, developed along with North Carolina agency McKinney, is called ”Take It All In,” which may or may not be a reference to butt chugging.

The campaign includes “a series of print, TV and online ads that not only focus on the overarching SEC Network, but also on each of the 14 schools of the SEC.” The full “Take It All In” campaign will roll out next year, leading into the launch of the network in August.

The debut TV spot, called ““Not Just a Casual Fan” (which, come to think of it, would have made a better campaign title), can be viewed above. It, in Justin Connolly‘s words, ”bring fans the grandeur of the SEC in a celebratory, immersive and real way.” As the title of the spot suggests, it features die-hard fans both old and young, many of them ridiculously dressed. This is a solid tactic, since these are the kind of rabid SEC fans who might shell out for the new network. It’s just too bad they didn’t think of all the implications to their tagline/campaign title. Or maybe they did. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Last year, Lionel Messi and Kobe Bryant faced off in an ad for Turkish Airlines, competing for a young fan’s attention. The ad, “Legends on Board,” became a gigantic viral success, now with over 105 million views on YouTube.

For better or for worse (definitely for worse), 2013 might as well be the “Year of the Selfie.” The ubiquitous word found its way into the vocabulary of everyone from grade schoolers to their grandparents and was even named Oxford English Dictionary’s Word of the Year. If you’re sick of hearing people jump at every opportunity to use this word, we’re with you. At any rate, it’s undeniable that the selfie has won itself a lasting position in our culture.

In an attempt to recapture the success of last year’s “Legends on Board” spot, CP+B has brought back the Bryant Vs. Messi formula, this time positioning the two in a “Selfie Shootout” in which each attempts to one-up the other with self-shot photos in exotic locations. The spot is the first ad CP+B put together for Turkish Airlines since winning ad duties for the airline back in September, and it’s a fine first effort. Without giving too much away I can say that Bryant and Messi both jump through hoops to one-up each other, and their photos get more and more exotic and over-the-top as the minute long spot progresses. CP+B manage to work something of a surprise ending into “The Selfie Shootout,” incorporating another Internet photo phenomenon.

Can “The Selfie Shootout” hope to match the success of “Legends on Board”? We would say yes. The entertaining ad incorporates the selfie phenomenon, has a much larger production budget than Alametifarika’s work last year, and is designed to jumpstart conversation. “The Selfie Shootout,” which was uploaded to YouTube yesterday, has already surpassed the 5 million view mark, and is certainly not showing any signs of slowing down. Its combination of star power, humor, and topical references make it just about unstoppable. Make no mistake, people will be talking about this one for some time. Our reservations about the overuse of “selfie” aside, we can’t blame them. “The Selfie Shootout” is just plain fun. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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A year ago, State Farm released a wonderful commercial from agency Translation suggesting NBA star Chris Paul had a twin brother, Cliff, who happened to be a State Farm agent—because he was "born to assist." In April, agency and client released an amusing follow-up spot. And now, they're cleverly extending the campaign all the way into product design through a deal with Nike's Jordan Brand.

Yes, the Los Angeles Clippers star's Jordan CP3.VII sneaker is now available in an argyle design—inspired by Cliff, who is always seen in an argyle sweater in the State Farm spots. (The CP3.VII sneaker is also the first Jordan brand shoe with iD customization on the Nike website.) A new State Farm spot, posted below, shows Chris and Cliff brainstorming ideas to bring their fans together—and landing on the custom shoe idea. Paul, as always, is doubly great in the new ad playing both himself and his nerdy alter ego, even if the plot line of the new :30 isn't as magical as the two previous :60s.

"I am always amazed at how people have connected to Chris and Cliff," Paul said in a statement to AdFreak. "I enter an arena and people call out 'Where's your brother?' Working with State Farm and Jordan on the argyle customization of my new shoe adds another level of creativity to marketing both the shoe and State Farm."

State Farm marketing chief Tim Van Hoof said the argyle iD customizations are "an exciting and cool way to connect with NBA fans and increase our relevance within the NBA culture." And Translation creative director Emily Sander said the agency wanted to "dig deeper and give fans a culturally relevant way to own a piece of the story. … We found the perfect way to organically continue infusing State Farm into sports culture, while adding more dimension to the character and his story."

See the previous spots below:

After forever tainting beards and depressing me by winning the World Series (disclosure: I’m a Baltimore Orioles fan), the Boston Red Sox said goodbye to their playoff-grown facial hair in a mass “Shave Off” at Gillette World Shaving Headquarters on Monday, November 4.

If you’d like to commemorate that event, you’ll be glad to know that the “Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors that were used to shave each champion beard,” as well as the beards themselves — called beard ball trophies — are up for auction on eBay thanks to agencies Grey and Ketchum. It’s kind of gross and creepy, but at least it’s for a good cause. All of the proceeds for the auction are being donated to Movember, the global mens charity raising awareness and funds for prostate health through the growth of November mustaches that you may have read about here this month. If you’re interested, you can bid on Shane Victorino‘s beard ball here (the current bid is $1,550), or World Series MVP David Ortiz‘s beard here (current bid 3,050). “I’m glad that the beard that helped me throughout the series can now help raise funds for a great organization like Movember,” said Ortiz.

Gillette senior brand manager Hooman Shahidi says of the Red Sox shavings, “their facial hair has been the symbol of the team since spring training and became part of baseball lore. We hope the shavings help raise awareness for important men’s health issues and find good homes with passionate fans.” I know this is for a good cause and everything, but I’m trying to imagine the type of fan who spends thousands of dollars to obtain and display the facial hair of their favorite player, and “passionate” is not the word that comes to mind.

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We catch Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Kevin Love and NBA commentator Mike Breen in medias res, driving through some nondescript green chunk of Basketballville in the latest NBA on ESPN RV spot from W+K New York.  With Breen’s steady hand at the wheel, Love turns to the passenger side window and notices a large billboard featuring his sultry face and a phone hotline called The Love Dial. They drive a bit farther and pass a second billboard. Love has no idea who’s behind this, so like any great detective, he decides to call the number. Another man picks up – it’s Love’s teammate/on-court soulmate Ricky Rubio, moonlighting as a sex-hotline entrepreneur in a dingy room that also has a video camera set-up to film something. I guess there isn’t much to do in Minnesota.

“Billboard” may not be as funny as a few of the more recent RV spots ESPN uses to promote its NBA coverage, but the clip has some edgy subject matter compared to the usually benign hijinks. The network probably won’t push the envelope any more than this, but this 30-second ad is an interesting sidestep in the NBA on ESPN commercial canon. Credits after the jump.

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