The show, Amazon’s first attempt at original programming, could create additional momentum for change in the concept of television.
     |
ABC has announced the short-term fates of its remaining freshman comedies, with “The Goldbergs” and “Trophy Wife” both receiving full-season orders.
| |
You may have thought the word “ejaculate” was a little strong for this spot for the Sony Bravia from McCann London. Then you watched the spot and realized, “Nope, that’s what actually happens. A mountain or volcano or something blows its flowery wad all over a city.” See? I wasn’t being hyperbolic.
Now, as I’m a bit of an urban, indoor being, I honestly can’t tell you if what I’m seeing occur in this spot possibly happens in real life. I would assume it doesn’t, as a mountainside town taking a big old rose-y facial would seem to be a newsworthy story. But, now I notice McCann London sent a three-minute behind-the-scenes video along with this spot, so I’ve embedded it below.
Huh, looks like they spent a lot of money getting that volcano to blow its 8-million petal load. If you buy an expensive new Sony 4k TV, it will all be worth it. Credits after the jump.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Modern celebrations of World Series wins have a lack of spontaneity, with security preventing fans from going on the field and interviews conducted on a stage.
| |
The Times reporters Bill Carter and Brian Stelter discuss this week’s TV cancellations and renewals.
| |
We are now in the season of LeBron James commercials. He’s like Victor Cruz, only taller, better, richer, and not a Time Warner Cable lackey. If you happened to watch the opening night of the NBA season, you saw three different LeBron endorsements, including a new two-minute Samsung spot (:60 version with just the family after the jump) that gives viewers a glimpse into the family life of the best basketball player in the world.
If you care about such things, you may remember last year’s Samsung/LBJ launch, which also premiered on opening night as the Miami Heat were getting their first set of rings. That 2012 spot was more about LeBron and his friends ruling Miami in barber shops and ice cream trucks. This year’s version is all about LeBron and his family: his sons hanging out in the pool or on a driveway basketball court as his wife films from a Samsung Galaxy. ”The Next Big Thing is Here” flashes on the screen as LeBron’s son celebrates after swishing a jump shot. We get it, but it’s still fairly interesting to let two little boys take some of the spotlight away from the real star.
The spot is an easy watch, a relaxing tone that rubs off on the viewer. Life is good for LeBron, and even though I typically prefer product-focused ads to lifestyle ads, when the spokesman is one of the most famous people on the planet, customers may take notice. Smiles all around and credits after the jump.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
The 24-hour channel would mostly repurpose video and reporting already produced by CBS News, according to executives.
| |
The zombie apocalypse drama is more popular than anything else on AMC.
| |
| |
Winning the prestigious annual designation of being the first brand to launch a national broadcast campaign for the holiday is Best Buy. Teaming with AOR CP+B, the duo have decided that the best way to delude people into putting a Microsoft Surface on their wish lists with the help of four celebrities reading parodies of “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” whilst mugging for the camera. If you were watching the World Series on Sunday, these may already look a bit familiar.
Up to bat first are Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph, former co-stars on NBC’s troubled sitcom Up All Night or, to the vast majority of Americans who never heard about that show, “that guy from Arrested Development” and “that girl from Bridesmaids and SNL.” Both consistent show-stealers no matter what project they’re working on, neither phones in their performances for these spots, even though the scripts may be a bit lacking.
The issue with both of these comedic talents is that they completely make these spots. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. But whenever the camera breaks from them to focus on the spot’s holiday shopping subject, I lose total interest in these ads. In other words: Any time they’re not on camera, I’m completely tuning out until they come back. This may just be my experience, as I’m a big fan of both actors, but we’ll see if upcoming spots in the campaign starring LL Cool J and Jason Schwartzman suffer from the same issue. Still, cheers to Best Buy for getting Arnett and Rudolph on board.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
The philosophy that what goes on between pitches in late innings is not riveting came back to haunt Fox in Game 4 of the World Series when it missed Koji Uehara’s pickoff throw.
| |
An office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will collaborate with “Octonauts,” an animated preschool show about undersea adventuring.
| |
Fresh off of LeBron James Sprite duties, Translation is back with a new 30-second State Farm spot that includes the Scooby-Doo Mystery Gang and one lucky animated insurance agent. A far cry from the days of slackers triumphantly yelling “Can I get a hot tub?” this ad mixes together some interesting threads of nostalgia and pop culture. Even if people no longer watch Scooby-Doo, the characters are, for better or worse, iconic. Of course Velma knows how to summon help. Of course Shaggy knows how to set the exposition with his stoneresque wail of a voice. If the creatives really wanted to get creative, they could’ve brought it all together with Shaggy yelling, “Can I get a hot tub?” Still, the spot is a cool little change-up from the Da Tailgate spot that we’ve seen too much during football season. Credits after the jump.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Tablet computers are becoming the “first screen” for pre-school-age viewers and Disney is making a broader investment with the app debut of “Sheriff Callie’s Wild West.”
| |
The all-football channel has gone from an uncertain start to 13 regular-season games, 17 studio shows and more than 70 on-air personalities.
| |
With a new NBA season comes new spots for Kia from David&Goliath starring L.A. Clippers superstar Blake Griffin. This season, though, Blake, aka “The Endorser” as he’s known in other campaigns, is joined by a small sidekick, Jack McBrayer, who is best known for playing the bizarre but sweet NBC page on 30 Rock.
While this spot, “Trailer,” adorably portrays Griffin and McBrayer as a noble superhero team saving citizens from purchasing non-Kia vehicles, it lacks what has made Grffin’s spots for Kia so memorable over the years: Blake’s inherent weirdness. Not once does Blake open his mouth to tell the camera something strange while giving his off-putting stare. Neither does McBrayer, whose unhinged 30 Rock performance allowed him to frequently stand out amidst a large cast filled with other unhinged individuals.
I certainly hope that “Trailer” is aptly named, released only to build excitement for forthcoming “feature presentations.” If we never get to see two superpowers of weird actually interact with each other, then all may be lost. The next spot, “Zipline” is slated to come out early next month. Credits after the jump.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
The video service said on Monday that it had surpassed 30 million U.S. subscribers and it reported third-quarter results that beat most expectations.
| |
Mr. Mazer, who spent more than 60 years in broadcasting, earned the nickname “The Amazin’ ” for his encyclopedic recall of sports facts.
| |
Just two weeks ago, we were covering the first wave of Nabi spots from Draftfcb, a pair of 30-second ads that favorably compared kid-friendly Nabi tablets to Kindle devices a la Microsoft vs. Apple. Our Erik Oster found them to be informational and appealing. However, these two new spots, “Fear Not Question” and “Swagger,” drop the comparison technique for an unconvincing plea for Nabi to be a lifestyle brand.
“Fear No Question” presents the Nabi brand as classroom-friendly, going right after a parent’s sense of idealistic learning, so in turn, that parent will go right for his/her wallet. It’s a boring and safe play that may have worked out if Draftfcb hadn’t already launched the Kindle attacks that are much more memorable.
“Swagger” goes straight after the kids. Promoting Nabi headphones – think Beats for kids – the spot shows a little kid walking down a school hallway in slow-motion as he gives headnods to his friends and long stares to the girl he probably has a crush on. This is more Fubu than Fuhu. This is also just a bad commercial, corny and overdone, even for a children’s market. The tagline of “Everyone Needs a Theme Song” actually has a nice ring to it, but the visual execution is too silly. The clip almost plays like a mocking comedy skit of itself.
At 30 seconds, both ads are easy to watch and easy to forget. ”Swagger” and credits after the jump.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
The contract is vital for Al Jazeera because Time Warner Cable supplies television to millions of households in New York and Los Angeles, essential markets for cable channels.
| |
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
