DDB Canada crafted a new campaign for Sony, promoting its Hi-Res Audio collection via two 30-second broadcast spots.
The ads aim for a weird sort of humor, with each showing people working out their ears in preparation of the intense experience they’ll get from Sony’s products. In practice, this ends up looking a bit creepy, as in “Ear Crunches.” The spot opens on a man as he takes off his cowboy hat and, with the aid of some special effects, begins some vigorous ear crunches. “Ear Workout” (featured after the jump) is more or less the same concept, with each spot ending with the tagline “Get Your Ears Ready” before showing the range of products in Sony’s Hi-Res Audio collection. Strange as the approach may be, it’s refreshing to see audio equipment advertised for sounding good rather than as a fashion accessory worn by celebrity athletes. Still, it would have been nice if DDB Canada could have mixed up the formula a bit more between the two ads. (more…)
Toronto-based Grip Limited have a new campaign for Testicular Cancer Canada that’s, well, ballsy.
The agency employed risque humor to raise testicular cancer awareness and get more guys to self-examine regularly. Built around the tagline, “No one’s going to check them for you,” Grip’s two TV spots, directed by Matt Swanson, show men receiving testicular exams from unexpected sources, resulting in some pretty ridiculous (and funny) situations. In the first, and more successful spot, “Cop,” a guy is pulled over for a broken taillight. “Let me see your driver’s license,” says the cop, “….aaaand your testicles.” The humor in the spot comes from the resultant avoidance (and non-avoidance) of eye contact and awkward looks during the exam. “Mechanic” is basically the same idea, but with a mechanic in an auto body shop instead of a cop. It could just be that I viewed “Cop” first, but something about it just wasn’t as funny. Nevertheless, both spots make admirable use of humor to make a message that’s all too often forgotten memorable, an admirable accomplishment, especially when you consider the prevalence of testicular cancer.
“Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 15-29”, explained Testicular Cancer Canada founder Cheryl Perry explained . “If you try to sit these guys down and teach them something, they might tune you out. But if you make them laugh, they’ll remember what you’re saying”.
In addition to the TV spots, the integrated campaign, which is timed to coincide with Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, also features radio advertising from Pirate Toronto and an online testicular cancer “remote scanner.” As you might have guessed, the remote scanner asks dudes to place their balls on their phone screen only to display an error message telling them to check their balls themselves. Stick around for credits and “Mechanic” after the jump. continued…
Making a city self-promo is hard enough without having to compete against a crack-smoking homicidal mayor who has become a big-bellied joke of a scandal around the world. Toronto-based john st.’s “More Than Ford” compilation video of all things pleasant in its hometown attempts to do just that for a Canadian city that has been the unfortunate butt of the news for too long. The project comes from a good place, but the execution is typical, and as a result, uninteresting.
I think there’s a way to do this, to help Toronto separate itself from Rob Ford, but doing so would require a more self-aware, confrontational approach. john st. repeatedly puts out quality work, but this spot feels much too clean for the circumstances. Every city has people doing cool gymnastics in parks and drinking coffee. What makes this interesting and specific to Toronto? Where is the voice? It’s out there, but it doesn’t sound like a benign, glossy magazine cover.
Credits and a brief disclaimer after the drug-free jump.
By now (unless you’re completely cut off from all news outlets and/or in a coma) you’ve heard of the crack-smoking shenanigans of Toronto’s disgraceful, conservative mayor, Rob Ford. Ford recently admitted to smoking crack (following an online leak of video evidence), adding that it was ”probably in one of my drunken stupors.” Obviously, people from Toronto are less than thrilled about Ford making their city the butt of a million crack jokes. The fact that Ford not only refuses to resign, but also plans to run for reelection, certainly doesn’t make things any easier.
Marie Richer and Hannah Smit, two Toronto art directors, found it “depressing that a city as great as Toronto has been reduced to an international punchline because of its mayor,” and decided to do something about it. They’ve created a social media campaign called #MoreThanFord, an outlet for disgruntled Toronto-dwellers to express everything they love about their city in an attempt to escape being defined by one especially douchey politician. Richer and Smith describe the campaign as “a way for us all to change the conversation about our city by sharing what we love about it – from small things like a favourite coffee shop, roti place or bike path to bigger things like Pride, TIFF, Nuit Blanche, the Jays, etc.” (Although, given their dismal 2013 performance, you may want to leave the Jays out of it.)
The idea launches today, with the compilation video of Toronto highlights featured above. The campaign’s success is being measured at a microsite, morethanford.com, which pits tweets with the #MoreThanFord hashtag against tweets with the #RobFord hashtag. #MoreThanFord already seems to be catching on, currently leading at 53% as I write this. The #MoreThanFord site invites visitors to tweet what they love about Toronto, or to let #MoreThanFord take over your feed and tweet for you. It also allows visitors to watch the #MoreThanFord video.
I’ve only been to Toronto once, for a short visit, but found it to be a charming city. It’s really sad to see any city’s reputation hijacked by one crazy, crack-smoking, racist, crooked conservative nutcase. So head on over to the #MoreThanFord site, or just tweet something you love about Toronto with the #MoreThanFord hashtag to swing things in favor of the campaign and restore Toronto’s damaged reputation. But if you are looking for some crack, I’m pretty sure Mayor Ford can hook you up. Credits after the jump. continued…
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