Hasta La Creative!

Undeniably stupid, but worth banning? That was the tough call facing Britain's ad watchdog as it dealt with 176 complaints over the spot below, for soft drink Irn-Bru. The plot, such as it is, involves a mom proudly showing off her push-up bra to her son's friends—much to the acute embarrassment of the son, and the slack-jawed awe of the friends. The soft drink is positioned, also stupidly, as an antidote to the embarrassment. Each time the kid takes a swig, he becomes blissfully mellow again despite his dire circumstances.

The Ad Standard Authority's ruling? It cleared the spot on all grounds, saying the interaction between the mom and the friends did not constitute irresponsible behavior. "We considered that the action relied on the mum being confident and attractive, but not consciously or overtly behaving in a sexualized or flirtatious way," the ASA said. "We also considered that the focus of the ads was the son's embarrassment at the effect his mum's appearance was having on his friends. Therefore, and particularly in the context of ads intended to portray a surreal and lighthearted comedic approach, we did not consider that the action or depiction of the female protagonist was sexist or demeaning and concluded that the ads were not in breach of the code."

For its part, Irn-Bru maker AG Barr said it simply wanted the ad, created by The Leith Agency in Edinburgh, to "stay true to the traditionally cheeky and irreverent sense of humor" of its previous ads.

Barton F. Graf 9000 just sent around this amusing case study outlining its social-media activity for Little Caesars during the week of July 4. Without giving too much away, let's just say the Twitter and Facebook campaign did very well—or, as the agency says in the email, achieved "astounding, almost Oreo-esque results."

We asked, and boy did you answer! Thanks for the 800 million+ fireworks set off last night in support of the DEEP!DEEP! Dish pizza!

— Little Caesars (@littlecaesars) July 5, 2013

Robinsons isn't the only British brand drafting off Andy Murray's historic win at Wimbledon yesterday. The Adidas ad above, posted to Twitter, is nice and simple and a worthy tribute. The tennis star's other sponsors, including Head and RBS, also congratulated their man on Twitter. Head even used the same headline.

Congratulations @andy_murray – 2013 Wimbledon Champion. pic.twitter.com/LfFO1m53C1

— Head Tennis (@head_tennis) July 7, 2013

Congratulations to @Andy_Murray for making history today. We're immensely proud to have supported you over the last 10 years #DecadeWithAndy

— RBS Group (@RBSGroup) July 7, 2013

British brands, understandably, don't have much to say around the Fourth of July—until now. Newcastle Brown Ale, among the cheekiest of U.K. marketers, has turned America's most patriotic holiday to its advantage by inventing a new, completely made-up holiday: Independence Eve on July 3. The idea of the tongue-in-cheek campaign, created by Droga5, is to "honor all things British that Americans gave up when they signed the Declaration of Independence," Newcastle says.

To mark the new holiday, the brewer is introducing the "Revolutionary Koozie," which will be handed out at bars around the country this evening. It features the British flag on one side and the American flag on the other. At the stroke of midnight, you're encouraged to turn your beer 180 degrees and go "from honorary British subject to proud American with the twist of a fist." The campaign extends to digital with a transformation of the brand's Facebook page and a series of daily GIFs highlighting the differences "between British America and American America."

"Newcastle is a very British beer, and needless to say, it doesn't sell that well on July 4. So why not establish it as the beer you drink on July 3?" says Charles van Es, senior director of marketing for Heineken USA portfolio brands. "Unlike the Redcoats in the 18th century, we're picking our battles a little more wisely. By celebrating Independence Eve, we're taking liberties with America's liberty to create a new drinking occasion and ensuring freedom on July 4 tastes sweeter than ever."

Van Es adds: "Like Cinco de Mayo or Thanksgiving Wednesday, Independence Eve is just another excuse to enjoy good times with good friends, but now with a new purpose. On July 3, we're lifting a Newcastle to our British heritage and the American freedom we all appreciate."

I'm not sure I'd swipe my passport through a vending machine, regardless of the reward, but perhaps I would if I were Canadian and needed a beer badly enough. Molson Canadian recently visited several European cities and placed fully stocked beer fridges in public places there. The catch? The fridges could be opened only by scanning a Canadian passport. Footage from the sites was then cut into the 90-second online ad below, from ad agency Rethink and director Jonty Toosey of Partners Film. A :30 broke on TV during the Stanley Cup Finals. The campaign also brings back the classic tagline, "I am Canadian."

It's a fun idea, and continues the trend toward more installation-based public branding and entertainment stunts. Coca-Cola has always done that very well, of course, but these days everyone's trying it—from Hot Wheels to those crazy Fantastic Delites stunts. Beer fridges that won't open are particularly galling, of course, and wondrous when they finally relent—as we learned last year with the JWT office fridge that only opens when everyone has done their time sheets.

Making-of video and credits for the Molson effort below.

CREDITS
Title: "The Beer Fridge"
Client: Molson Canadian

Agency: Rethink
Creative Directors: Aaron Starkman, Chris Staples, Dré Labre, Ian Grais 
Associate Creative Director: Mike Dubrick
Art Directors: Joel Holtby, Vince Tassone, Christian Buer
Writers: Mike Dubrick, Aaron Starkman, Matt Antonello, Dave Thornhill
Account Director: Ashley Eaton
Broadcast Producer: Clair Galea 

Production Company: Partners Film
Director: Jonty Toosey
Executive Producer: Aerin Barnes
Line Producer: Neil Bartley
Director of Photography: Bruce Jackson

Postproduction: Rooster Post
Executive Producer: Melissa Kahn
Editor: Marc Langley
Assistant Editor: Nick Greaves

Postroduction: Fort York VFX
Music, Sound Design: RMW Music
Producer, Composer: Steven MacKinnon

Colorist: Eric Whipp, Alter Ego

If there were a Crowd Pleasing Lions contest at Cannes, this Smart car commercial from BBDO Germany would have run off with it this year. It's all the more delightful because it was something of a surprise—a TV spot that hadn't been blogged and reblogged endlessly over the past year. It's a great little David and Goliath story about a Smart Fortwo that goes offroading, leading to all sorts of amusing sight gags—and a killer ending that had the crowd cheering loudly when it was screened Saturday at the Palais with the other Gold Lion winners. (It won gold in both Film and Film Craft.) The soundtrack is great, too—rounding out the ad's attitude perfectly. Smart, indeed.

The moon isn't made of cheese. It's made of lime. Corona and ad agency Cramer-Krasselt have put up a fun billboard in New York City which—on certain nights of the month, from a certain angle—makes the waxing crescent moon look like a slice of lime resting in a Corona bottle. The next public viewing of "Luna Corona," at 15th Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan, will happen this Friday and Saturday nights, if you're interested. For the promo video below, the agency trots out scientific types, who explain in hushed tones how difficult it is to get the precision just right for this. I'm not an astronomer, but wouldn't it be easy to line up the moon and the bottle throughout the evening by walking around with your camera to a different spot on the street? The billboard is cool enough on its own without making it seem too much like a true celestial event.

Cats get most of the Internet love, but bunnies can put on quite a show of devastating cuteness as well—as displayed in this new spot from BETC London for Ibis Hotels. The ad was filmed over two days in the Ibis London Blackfriars hotel, with 30 bunnies allowed to roam free in a top-floor hotel room. Supposedly the group snuggle on the bed was unprovoked. (Perhaps they cranked the A/C.) "We really wanted to highlight the ultimate comfort of the Sweet Bed by Ibis," says Neil Dawson, executive creative director, BETC London. "Bunnies snuggle up to each other and find cosy places to sleep. And what better evidence of the ultimate comfort of the Sweet Bed by Ibis than for the bunnies to seek out and sleep there on their own." Ornette Spenceley of Independent Films directed the spot. The music is a contemporary remake of "Hushabye Mountain" by Richard Hawley from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Full credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Ibis Hotels
Marketing & Distribution Director, Accor (UK & Ireland): Karelle Lamouche
Marketing Manager, ibis, ibis Styles, ibis Budget at Accor (UK & Ireland): Lisa Belloni

Spot: "Bunny Bed"

Agency: BETC London
Executive Creative Director: Neil Dawson
Copywriter: Clive Pickering
Art Director: Ciara O'Meara
Producer: Olly Chapman
Strategy: Andrew Stirk
Account Director: Zoe Hinckley

Production Company: Independent
Director: Ornette Spenceley
Exec Producer: Matt Minor
Producer : Charlie Stanfield
Director of Photography: Niels Reedtz Johansen

Editing company : Final Cut
Editor: Ed Cheesman
Post-Production Company: The Mill
Sound Studio : Factory
Music : Hushabye Mountain by Richard Hawley

A forensic artist drawing a picture of a baby Clydesdale shipping its pants? Now that would be a viral commercial supernova.

Dove, Budweiser and Kmart all rank near the top of Unruly Media's just-released list of the most viral commercials of 2013 so far. Those brands are joined by Pepsi MAX, Evian, Ram Trucks and more, as Unruly celebrates the commercials with the most pass-along value through the first five months of the year. And as the numbers show, it's been a very strong year for online video, as compared to 2012.

See the full list at this link:

The 10 Most-Viral Ads of 2013 (So Far)

Unruly counts shares of videos across social media—a metric that is often at odds with sheer view counts. For example, Microsoft's "Child of the '90s" video for Internet Explorer would place fourth on this list in terms of YouTube views (with more than 34 million), but its approximately 630,000 shares are good for only ninth place.

Conversely, Kmart's "Ship My Pants" and Budweiser's "Brotherhood" spots both have fewer YouTube views than Evian's "Baby & Me" or Pepsi MAX's "Test Drive"—but they rank higher on this list because of better share rates. (The top video on the list, however, leads in both views and shares.)

We left a couple of videos from Unruly's list off this one—including the Biting Elbows music video and the Miami Heat's Harlem Shake clip—to focus on brand advertising rather than more entertainment-based content.

Droga5 and publisher Hachette Australia recently bestowed upon Qantas frequent fliers an anachronistic little gift that will come in handy aboard Qantas flights when approved electronic devices must be completely turned off.

The agency's Sydney office packaged together a 10-book box set of previously published paperbacks "specifically edited to last just as long as each of Qantas's key routes." It's a fun idea, and Droga is playing the nostalgia factor to the hilt. "In this world of Kindles and iPads, it seems that the last bastion of the humble paperback novel is actually at 40,000 feet," says David Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5 Sydney. "You only need to look at the bulging shelves at any airport bookstore. Maybe it's the fact that everything seems so far removed from the real world up there."

All 10 books are by Australian authors: James Castrission, Tony Cavanaugh, Sean Fewster, Kimberley Freeman, Lian Hearn, William McInnes, Peter FitzSimons, Jack Marx, Rob Mundle and Roland Perry. The collection spans adventure, crime, women's fiction, literary, history and romance. The books are meant to correspond to the lengths of 10 popular Qantas flights (Sydney to Dubai, Melbourne to London, Perth to Singapore, etc.), with meals and other breaks factored in. Designer Paul Belford created a unique cover for each book.

"One of the greatest challenges in publishing is to remind people of the pleasure that reading brings, and that even though the online world is growing, there is still a romance in the printed page," says Fiona Hazard, publishing director of Hachette Australia. "At Hachette, we are always looking for new ways to bring stories and voices to life, so when Droga5 approached us to discuss this idea we jumped straight in. It's been great fun working with them to get this project off the ground."