The Ad Council and United Way have launched a new Ryan Murphy-esque spot on community engagement aimed at showcasing the organization’s successes in boosting high school graduation rates (for glee club members and non-members alike).
It’s part of the larger LIVE UNITED campaign, but it’s not related to the NFL Play 60 partnership aimed at encouraging kids to live healthier lifestyles.
Get ready for some classic rock karaoke:
It’s energetic, though the timing is a bit off (and we wonder how Alice Cooper would feel).
McCann New York and Lucky Charms have embraced the rainbow with a new social campaign for LGBT Pride Month.
The feel-good campaign, entitled “#LuckyToBe,” encourages people to use that hashtag to share what makes them unique and what makes them feel lucky. McCann’s accompanying video (featured above) introduces the hashtag while celebrating diversity. “We don’t all look the same, believe the same things, or love the same people. And that’s a good thing,” appears on screen in white text, accompanied by Lucky Charm’s colorful marshmallows. It’s a positive message, and people seem to be responding — including GLAAD, who posted about the campaign on their blog. You can see what people are saying using the #LuckyToBe hashtag on the campaign landing site, and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…
McCann New York has a new campaign for Chex Mix that attempts to bring attention to the lesser-known flavor variations of General Mill’s popular snack.
The integrated broadcast and social media campaign is rolling out now on national cable and YouTube, and will soon have Tumblr and Vine components. In the 30-second TV spot (above) roommates try to one up each other with DIY combo packs. The first roommate combines cheddar and honey nut flavors, while the second makes a belt with traditional, bold, and peanut butter. A third roommate goes the extra mile, however, and has them both beat with an over-the-top setup. The spot concludes with looping GIFs of the individual flavors. The GIFs will be hosted on a new Chex Tumblr site, and feature into a Vine-based game show called “Wheel of Variety,” which will “will offer hungry social media snackers who retweet Chex Mix tweets the opportunity to spin the wheel for the chance to be introduced to a Chex Mix flavor.” Stick around for credits and a closer look at the GIF loop. continued…
McCann Erickson has launched an integrated social media campaign called Not-So-Super to raise awareness about sex trafficking for the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition.
“Sex trafficking is commonly perceived as something that happens far away, in other parts of the world. We are eager to try to change that perception.” said Tom Murphy, co-CCO of McCann New York. Because of this, it’s all too easy for people to dismiss the sex trafficking epidemic as something that doesn’t concern them, but it’s a very real issue much closer to home than many suspect.
McCann’s “Not-So-Super” campaign shines a light on the sex trafficking epidemic happening in New York, elsewhere in this country, and all over the world. “It is the buyers of commercial sex who drive such a high demand that girls as young as 12 are trafficked across state lines to meet it. We need to address the day in and day out demand to bankrupt this so-called business model and put an end to the buying and selling of young girls once and for all,” says Sonia Ossorio, President, National Organization for Women – New York City. So McCann is hoping their campaign can help curb the demand for commercial sex, which spikes around big events like the Super Bowl, that leads to the exploitation of women and children by pimps and sex traffickers.
At the center of the campaign is the “Not-So-Super” website and the above video, a harrowing look at the victims of sex trafficking and the increased demand placed on sex workers during the Super Bowl and other big events (accompanied by an increase in the likeliness of physical abuse at the hands of their clients and pimps/traffickers). It’s hard to watch, especially on the Friday going into Super Bowl weekend, but it’s an important message that needs to be shared and a stark reminder that some dread the impending arrival of the big game. The website also offers a telephone hotline for people who are or may know victims of sexual trafficking, and a variety of other resources. The full campaign will “span film, print, street activities, a website and twitter initiatives.” Hopefully, “Not So Super” can help make a difference for victims of sexual trafficking at one of their most vulnerable times of the year.
Jose Cuervo is introducing its new Cuervo Cinge — “Cuervo with a cinnamon sting” – with a new animated spot by McCann NY and Elastic.
Directed by Andy Hall, “Get Stung” is pure eye-candy. The spot is well-animated, with a very appropriate red-tinted effect throughout (because cinnamon, get it?). There’s not a whole lot to the 30-second spot: scorpion walks into a bar, drinks tequila, sets bar on fire. But then there doesn’t have to be. Why the bartender serves tequila to a scorpionis never really explained, but suspension of disbelief, right?
As an introduction to a new product, the spot works well. If you like the idea of cinnamon-flavored tequila, this ad will make you excited to try it. If not, you can still appreciate the artistry that went into animating it. I’m rarely going to have something negative to say about a simple, well animated spot about liquor. I wasn’t crazy about the “Get Stung” tagline at first, but they make it work with the whole “sting of cinnamon” description and it serves its function as a way to help people remember the product.
It’s a departure from McCann’s “Have a Story” opus starring Kiefer Sutherland, and a welcome one. Perhaps the “be more interesting, be different…” approach typified by certain Dos Equis ads is finally on its way out. Hopefully this simple, elegantly animated approach from McCann spreads beyond their other work for Cuervo and starts a new trend in boozey advertising. Credits after the jump. continued…
Kiefer Sutherland’s voice is somehow simultaneously soothing and forceful. His gravelly intonation, coupled with his beautifully weathered face, is completely convincing regardless of the words involved. In this Jose Cuervo spot created by McCann Erickson New York, Sutherland’s ultimate message is, “Have a Story.” He pushes a shot across the bar to us and then we follow him for an impromptu concert, a spontaneous tattoo, a brief lover’s brawl, and some bonsai clipping.
It’s not the first time Sutherland’s channeled his 24 character, Jack Bauer, though Cuervo’s spot is a subtle representation. For Acer of course, he got jazzed about a new Dynamite Cupcakes business, obviously involving explosions and suspense.
This is the classic alcohol campaign (be more interesting, be epic, defy expectation, blah blah), but Sutherland pulls it off gracefully. And since ‘story’ has been a buzzword of late, McCann did well to incorporate in this effort for the tequila fave. Let’s take that shot.
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