Hasta La Creative!

Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation) is the latest marquee Hollywood director enlisted for Wieden+Kennedy’s “Dress Normal” campaign for Gap, following David Fincher‘s efforts in August and taking the reigns of four holiday  spots — a pair each for broadcast and online.

The ads spin the “Dress Normal” tagline by showing some abnormal (and often cringe-inducing) family holiday moments. But then what’s more normal than pondering the family you’ll never understand? Each spot ends with the message “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” preceding the tagline. It’s an interesting approach, positioning Gap as a gift for those family members you have no idea what to give to, but it sits well with the “Dress Normal” tagline and Coppola and company do a good job of making it work in most of the ads.

In perhaps the most successful of the spots, “Gauntlet” a girl returns home to her large, boisterous, and often odd family. Perfectly set to the Johnny Cash song “I Got Stripes,” she makes her way through the house greeting her relatives with an awkward expression on her face that says a lot about the effort she’s putting in to deal with these people. It feels like a telling glance into the lives of a particular family, which is the approach taken throughout these efforts and, along with some great song selections, what makes them charming. The other broadcast spot, “Mistletoe,” documents a particularly cringe-worthy moment under the mistletoe at a holiday party. It’s almost hard to watch, but then that makes it fit the “You don’t have to get them to give them Gap” all the more.

In addition to the two online ads — “Crooner” and “Pinball” — the campaign is supported by print and OOH elements, as well as digital banner ads launching on Gap’s social media channels and GapGiftGuide.com on November 3rd. (more…)

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Yesterday we brought you news of Adidas’ World Cup spot from TBWA featuring Lionel Messi, a host of other international stars, and a Kanye West track. Now here’s a look at the latest in W+K New York’s World Cup campaign for ESPN.

The charming 60-second spot, entitled “Time Zone,” examines how the World Cup creates “one time zone,” as the whole world rearranges their schedule to watch the World Cup premiere. “Time Zone” opens and ends in Brazil, stopping over in destinations around the world as everyone prepares for the match. Some have an easier time adjusting to “Brazil time” than others. A businessman in Seattle is seen rushing out of the office while updating his voicemail to reflect that he will be “out of the office for the rest of the afternoon” — an accurate portrayal of kickoff times in the states — while an old woman falls asleep watching the game in Russia and in Japan a group congregates before the sun rises. The spot ends with the tagline, “Every 4 years the world has one time zone,” which is reminiscent of the earlier “Every 4 years the conversation starts again.” This newer spot reflects the heightened anticipation for the World Cup kickoff, which is just over two weeks away. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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In anticipation of the impending Master’s Tournament, W+K New York has launched two new spots in their long-running “This Is SportsCenter” series, starring 2012 Master’s champion Bubba Watson.

In the first spot, Watson, whose “miracle” shot to get out of a difficult lie helped him win the Master’s, finds himself in another tricky situation in ESPN’s Bristol, Connecticut office, with the Stanford Cardinal mascot blocking their way. Watson and caddy Ted Scott try to decide how to proceed, when SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi shows them the way without really thinking about it. The spot delivers the kind of fun goofiness we’ve come to expect from the “This Is SportsCenter” series and shouldn’t disappoint, especially for fans of Watson.

The 15-second “Pencils” is a little more straightforward, but no less fun, with Watson’s incessant sharpening of scorecard pencils posing a distraction for anchor Jay Harris. First and second round play of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club will be televised on ESPN from 3-7:30 on Thursday and Friday, April 10-11. Stick around to view “Pencils” and credits after the jump. continued…

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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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We’ve covered a few W+K New York RV spots for NBA on ESPN in the past here at Agency Spy including this recent effort. In the latest installments including  the one above dubbed “Notebook,” we have yet another healthy dose of awkward humor from the cavalcade of ESPN and Association talent.

The spot features NBA commentator Mike Breen, Warriors head coach/former ESPN analyst Mark Jackson and his shooting star, Steph Curry. The trio stumbles upon Jackson’s old draft notebook while storing luggage, complete with some rather unflattering notes on Curry. Predictably, this results in the comic awkwardness that’s been synonymous with this ongoing campaign and continues the long line of funny RV spots W+K NY has created for ESPN.

The second spot of the campaign, “Clapper,” is not as noteworthy. It features Breen and Curry in some by-now old hat clapper humor. You can view this quick spot and credits after the jump.

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After taking a different direction with their last SportsCenter spot, W+K New York and ESPN have gone back to what has made the “This Is SportsCenter” series so popular, employing humorous situations in the network’s Bristol HQ.

The spot, “Double Double,” stars Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love as the guy responsible for pushing the coffee cart that keeps the SportsCenter crew caffeinated (UCLA mascot Joe Bruin can also be seen in the spot). This is an important job, because, as anchor Scott Van Pelt says, the SportsCenter crew relies “pretty heavily on the coffee cart” to keep going throughout the day. Love’s specialty is making “the best double-double,” which is two double espressos. Host Stan Verrett swears by Kevin’s double-doubles. In fact, he’s a little too fond of them. He requests another double-double from Love while he still has his two espressos in-hand, but Kevin says “I think maybe you should slow down.” Verrett continues to hound Love for more espresso as the spot goes on, with Kevin responsibly telling him he should just get through his show. At some point Love must have given in, and the results on Stan Verrett‘s show are pretty funny, as well as startling to co-host Neil Everett.

It’s a return to form for W+K, who play to their strengths with “Double Double.” The strategy seen here has worked for the “This Is Sportscenter” series in the past, and “Double Double” is the best SportsCenter spot in recent memory, with a good setup and comedic payoff thanks to Love and Verrett’s delivery. Let’s hope agency and brand continue sticking with what works in the future. Credits after the jump. continued…

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