Hasta La Creative!

Mass Appeal recently launched a series of online ads for Under Armour, entitled “Charged By Belief” (also the name of a spot in Tight Shirt Production’s recent “Book of Will” effort for the brand).

Inspired by Golden State Warriors point guard (and Under Armour brand spokesperson) Stephen Curry, the series chronicles stories from the Bay Area of  “individuals and artists whose own drive and ambition has transformed their city.” Its initial effort follows the story of graphic designer Benny Gold. Gold began his career working for a series of design firms before deciding he was tired of working for other people and launching what eventually became a signature clothing brand with an international fanbase. Mass Appeal worked with production company Deacon and director Marcus A. Clarke on the series, which will see its second release this Friday and run for around six weeks. The initial effort, meanwhile, may run a little long (clocking in at almost four minutes) to appeal to anyone but diehard fans of Benny Gold and could have benefited from better establishing its connection to Curry and the Under Armour brand.

Credits:

Agency: Mass Appeal
CEO: Peter Bittenbender
CD: Alma Geddy-Romero
Account Director: Jon Colclough

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Decon
Director: Marcus A. Clarke
Executive Producer: Misha Louy
Line Producer: Ron Marrazzo
Director of Photography: Ricardo Sarmiento
Production Manager: Molly Salz

EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Mass Appeal/Decon
Editor: Ryosuke Tanzawa/Nick Briggs
Producer: M. Shane Dolly

TELECINE
Colorist: Alex Berman

MIX

Mix Company: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Justin Kooy

MUSIC
Composers: Lyrics Born/HBK

The American Advertising Federation has announced the judging panel for their 2014 American Advertising Awards, “the largest competition honoring excellence in advertising creativity.” Judges will review nearly 1,500 entries from all over the country in Washington, D.C. on April 25 and 26, choosing from finalists who have already won in 15 district-level competitions. Remote judging will be  supervised by Mark Landon, president of the Landon Agency in Los Angeles, and Kirk Kirkpatrick, group creative director at Trozzolo Communications Group in Overland Park, Kansas City. Winners will be honored at the American Advertising Awards ceremony on May 31st, during the final day of ADMERICA 2014, the AAF’s annual national conference. Keep reading following the break for the list of judges. continued…

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NBA stars are a festive bunch, with great timing to boot. They need both in the league's holiday campaigns. Last year, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Joe Johnson impressively played the popular Christmas song "Carol of the Bells" just by bouncing basketballs (in a spot that soared to more than 8 million views). Now, here's the sequel—also from GS&P.

It stars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry shooting three-pointers at nets outfitted with Christmas bells—producing an even more impressive musical performance, this time of "Jingle Bells." LeBron James punctuates the song with a dunk at the end, then asks, "Please tell me the camera was on." It's a perfect spot.

Like last year's spot, this one promotes special-edition uniforms, available for sale, that 10 teams will wear on their Christmas Day games this year.

See a making-of video, plus credits, below.

CREDITS
Client: NBA
Spot: "Jingle Hoops"

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Goodby
Creative Directors: Nick Klinkert, Adam Reeves
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rus Chao
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Koller
Producer: Benton Roman
Executive Producer: Tod Puckett
Director of Broadcast Production: Cindy Fluitt
Account Directors: Jason Bedecarre, Janice McManemy
Account Manager: Heather Morba
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Julie Petruzzo

Production Company: O Positive
Director: Jonathan Klein
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Line Producer: Angie Revell
Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg

Editing: Final Cut
Editor: Matt Murphy
Assistant Editors: Tara Wall, Nate Connella
Producer: Suzy Ramirez
Executive Producer: Saima Awan

Visual Effects: Moving Picture Company
Visual Effects Supervisor, 2-D Lead: Jake Montgomery
Nuke: Brendan Smith, Will Voss
Shoot Supervisor: Eric Pascarelli
Design, Animation: Casey McIntyre
Senior Producer: Juliet Tierney
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

Title Graphics: eLevel
Creative Director: Brady Baltezore
2-D Artist: Chris Carmichael

Sound Design: Barking Owl
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Mix: Barking Owl
Audio Engineer: Brock Babcock

And here is last year's spot:

Not only should you fear James Harden‘s beard, but now you should fear his voice, too. There’s a long history of athletes who want to be rappers/singers, and that history stars and ends with this awesomely terrible Deion Sanders single from 1994. Luckily, Harden’s leap into the music industry is all in good fun on behalf of Foot Locker. BBDO New York has been pumping out quality NBA-related spots for the brand in the past, and “Harden Soul” is no different. It’s crisp, funny, and capable of appreciating the offbeat moment of humor.

Basketball fans may also recognize sharpshooter Stephen Curry as the voice of reason, begging Harden to give up the strain on his vocal cords. But, as Harden says, “I just had the best year of my career, I gotta keep things fresh.” For those interested in things that are kept extra fresh, Foot Locker also released a full version of “Harden Soul” on Youtube (you can listen after the jump). Watch out for the lyrical genius of lines like, “I wear my shirt open/so you see my chest…I keep my stock open/so you can invest.” Almost worthy of a Grammy.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

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