Hasta La Creative!

You expect big-budget, slam-bang drama from Hollywood action movies. But doing simple banking chores like depositing checks shouldn’t make you feel like you’re trapped in an out-of-control Michael Bay production.

Ad agency Tierney develops that fun storyline in a trio of spots, using familiar cinematic tropes to illustrate how TD Bank provides a better experience for its customers.

“Floodnado” posits a violent deluge of Biblical proportions, but that’s no problem, because TD lets you easily make deposits online from your dry, comfy home. Why crash through shop windows and climb over rush-hour traffic to get to the bank, like the hero of “Closed in 60 Seconds,” when TD stays open longer? And if you’re planning a vacation with a spendy friendy, relax—TD’s mobile tracking will help keep you on budget, as it does for the lesbian couple in “Cash Me If You Can.” (Wells Fargo also used a same-sex scenario in its first ads from BBDO this spring.)

Benji Weinstein, via Tool of North America, directed the 30-second TD commercials, part of the ongoing “Bank Human” campaign. He keeps the pace brisk and the mood light, while the on-screen antics never overwhelm the brand message.

In a clever twist skewering Tinseltown’s facile casting requirements, the average folks in the spots morph into younger, stronger, hipper versions of themselves for the action scenes. These transformations are noticeable, but subtle enough that some viewers might hit replay to confirm what they’ve just seen. (No harm in that, eh, TD Bank?)

Related campaign elements—which in most cases also spoof Hollywood, TV and social-media clichés (from zombies to Kung Fu and dubbed cats)—include pre-roll videos on Hulu, as well as Web banners, BuzzFeed lists and quizzes. In addition, digital billboards in select cities will display personalized responses to viewers’ tweets.

Using multiple platforms underscores “our commitment to delivering leading omni-channel solutions without sacrificing the personal experiences” that keep customers satisfied, says TD CMO Vinoo Vijay. Moreover, he says, the bank strives to tell stories “that address fundamental human truths, recognizing that since our customers’ problems are big to them, they are big to us, too.”

OK, it's time to play "Tree, Not a Tree."

New York City has so few trees that people there might have forgotten what a tree is, exactly. At least, that's the tongue-in-cheek idea behind the New York Restoration Project's new campaign from ad agency Tierney.

The effort involves tagging objects around the city (especially in low-tree/high-traffic neighborhoods) with labels that read, "Not a Tree." Accompanying text says, "There aren't enough trees in the city. Let's change that," along with the NotATree.org URL.

"Yes, a Tree" tags will go on saplings planted as part of NYRP's MillionTreesNYC project. Text on those reads, "Thank you. This is exactly what our city needs."

The campaign also includes more traditional media, including TV, radio ("That little red thing on the sidewalk that dogs like to tinkle on? Not a tree"), print, billboards and online quiz banners. It runs May through June, which is prime planting season.

The New York Restoration Project, founded by Bette Midler, is recruiting New Yorkers as volunteers for MillionTreesNYC, which hopes to plant 1 million new trees by 2017.

More images and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: New York Restoration Project

Agency: Tierney, Philadelphia
Executive Creative Director: Patrick Hardy
Creative Director, Copywriter: Andrew Cahill
Art Director: Tracy Shinko
Agency Producer: Tom Adjemian
Editor: Aaron Hann
Project Manager: Ben Wollman
Account Director: Rick Radzinski

Postproduction: Shooters, Philadelphia
Producers: Rebecca Lyons, Matthew Licht, Eileen Dare
Colorist: Janet Falcon
Sound Engineers: Bob Schachner, Mike Taylor

Radio: Mister Face, division of Sound Lounge, New York
Executive Producer: Michael Schmidt
Producer: Torria Sheffield
Recording Engineer: Collin Blendell

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/ppHaving appeared a href=”http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2006/09/anyone_figured_.html”with an amphibious rodent/a on behalf of a sleep medication (Rozerem), as an unsuccessful a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7599xQs0GA”stovepipe-hat-toting job applicant/a (College Level Exam Program, circa early ’70s) and in innumerable tawdry tie-ins for annual Presidents Day sales, what latest commercial humiliation must our noble 16th president suffer? Have no fear,  Regis and Kelly have the answer. In a new spot from Tierney Communications, TD Bank features Abraham Lincoln fretting over pennies and ultimately walking off the set while the extremely unhelpful ad duo look on. Have Reeg and K.R. been advised that in 2009 the U.S. government will celebrate the 200th birthday of the Great Emancipator with, yes, a href=”http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/lincolnredesign/index.cfm?flash=yes”newly minted 1-cent pieces/a? Has the Toronto-based financial company forgotten that it was Lincoln who brokered a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair”an unlikely peace between America and Canada/a in 1861 (during the Trent Affair). Note to President-Elect Obama: Ad injury to your Honest Illinois forebear has been duly noted.brbrem—Posted by Jim English /em/pdiv class=”feedflare”
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