So, it’s no Chewbacca Mom—what is?—but the first fan-generated ad has landed for the megamillion-dollar toy line around Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, one of the most anticipated films of the year.
It’s a fairly epic video, done in stop-motion animation, that includes a sneak peek at a whole toy box of products from Lego, Funko, Hasbro and others. (Bobbleheads, construction toys and other swag had been under wraps until now—it all goes on sale this fall).
Last fall, Fox Searchlight gave away limited-edition Birdman action figures as part of its marketing for the movie. Now, the Best Picture Oscar winner is reopening in cinemas—and getting a dose of new marketing, including a commercial for those toys.
It’s a fun little morsel of ’90s nostalgia—a parody of old Saturday morning toy ads. And like the film it’s promoting, it’s a multi-layered gem. It has more cuts than the entire movie, though, and also has young children (certainly not the target demo of the R-rated film itself). This is surely a nod to the original Birdman cartoon from the ’60s and the subsequent Adult Swim reboot.
“Hey kids! You too can now defeat Birdman’s arch-nemesis The Condor with this spiffy Birdman Action Figure! Batteries not included,” says the YouTube page, which goes on to mention that Birdman reopens in theaters this weekend.
Check out the ad, but don’t get too close—it “smells like balls.”
And for more Birdman action figure goodness, check out BirdmanSpeaks.com—and click on the speech bubbles. But make sure you have headphones. This isn’t G-rated stuff.
The Lammily doll has the proportions of an average 19-year-old woman’s body, based on data from the CDC—unlike the Barbie doll, whose proportions will never be replicated by any actual human. But not only does the Lammily doll, created by 26-year-old Nickolay Lamm, have a normal waistline—she also comes with a sticker extension pack, in case you want to add moles or body scars or even cellulite.
It started as an art project, but interest grew for a “normal Barbie,” and now the Lammily doll is available for purchase.
“I wanted to show that reality is cool,” Lamm tells Time magazine. “A lot of toys make kids go into fantasy, but why don’t they show real life is cool? It’s not perfect, but it’s really all we have. And that’s awesome.”
To illustrate his point, he created a video transforming a Lammily doll into a Barbie doll via Photoshop—a clever play off videos we’ve seen dating all the way back to Dove’s “Evolution.”
Critics will surely point out that while Lamm is about reality and inclusion, the doll is only available as a white brunette. But Lamm has raised half a million dollars via crowdfunding, so hopefully we’ll see more dolls available, cellulite and all.
GoldieBlox is back with a charged ad aimed once again at tackling sexism in children’s toys.
The spot, which is structured much like Apple’s famed “1984” commercial, features young girls decked out in all manners of glitter and pink (you know, “girly” things) lining up to grab perfect Barbie-like dolls while a “Big Sister” drones, over and over: “You are beauty, and beauty is perfection.”
What is it about Orwellian spots and hammers? Why is smashing things to smithereens so satisfying? Anyway, you can guess the ending.
This time GoldieBlox taps Metric’s “Help I’m Alive” for its soundtrack, which is a little on the nose since the chorus of the song says hammer a bunch of times. Though the company must have been pretty careful with its song choice after what happened last time.
While the spot certainly isn’t perfect, it’s still such a thrill to see advertising that’s so passionate about throwing entrenched gender norms out the window.
This memorable ad from BBH New York humorously suggests that Mr. Sketch scented markers get their smell from actual fruit farts—as we see a blueberry cutting a squeaker inside a fantastical Roald Dahl-esque odor-extraction lab.
The flavorful flatulence infuses one of the venerable Newell Rubbermaid brand’s blue marker pens, and we’re led to believe this same method applies to apple, raspberry, cherry, lemon and other scents in the Mr. Sketch line.
“We wanted a simple, entertaining concept that people would get right away,” BBH group creative director Gerard Caputo tells Mashable. “And since the name of the product isn’t intuitive to the benefit, we wanted to do a little education.”
Smells like a gold Lion to me! At any rate, the ad should amuse kids of all ages, even if the pungent manufacturing process on display doesn’t pass the smell test.
Greenpeace takes a page from Chipotle’s marketing playbook—haunting animation plus a distressing cover of a well-known song—in its continuing assault on Lego for partnering with Shell on a set of Shell-branded Lego products.
Attacking a beloved brand like Lego isn’t easy. But if you’re going to do it, you need to do it right. And this spot, showing a Lego version of the Arctic drowning in a sea of oil, is incredibly well made by creative agency Don’t Panic—who, you’ll remember, also did the memorable Save the Children ad which brought the Syrian war to London.
The visuals in the Greenpeace spot are beautiful, and the ethereal cover of “Everything Is Awesome,” from The Lego Movie, is the perfectly ironic backdrop. Yes, it is angering people (check out the YouTube comments if you’re looking for a grand old time), but Greenpeace is rarely interested in making friends as it pursues its enemies.
You can debate whether Lego was right to partner with Shell—here is Greenpeace’s point of view, and here is Lego’s reply to the attack ad. But as a pure PR play, “Everything Is NOT Awesome” (which has topped 1 million views since Tuesday) is itself pretty awesome.
The newest high-profile member on LinkedIn probably isn’t going to write you a recommendation or endorse you for your propensity for tweeting any time soon. Probably because she’s plastic and can’t form sentences.
That totally sounds like insult, but that’s true. Entrepreneur Barbie has joined the career networking site. Her latest status is “My new business is ‘Dream Incubator’ where I act as a consultant, helping girls around the world play out their imagination, try on different careers, and explore the world around them. Our company tagline is ‘If you Can Dream It, You Can Be it!’ “
I dreamed I was a dinosaur. Never mind.
Entrepreneur Barbie comes with a tablet (tech savvy!), a smartphone, a briefcase (so business-y!), a pink dress (…) and a high ponytail. Reviews of Entrepreneur Barbie have been mixed. Jennifer Fleiss, co-founder of Rent the Runway—an ingenious service that lets you wear a Badgley Mischka gown and then return it—says on the Barbie site: “She is my idea of a go-getter girl and has encouraged me to believe that women can have it all: a career, a family and a great wardrobe.”
Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, told TechCrunch: “You can’t be what you cannot see. Having positive role models for dolls that are inspiring young girls to be entrepreneurs is exactly what we need to inspire a generation of young women to start running businesses.”
On the other hand, Salon calls her “a misfire attempt at inspiring girls.” Forbes says it’s an “affront to little girls.” And 16-year-old former TED speaker Adora Svitak believes she “encourages an unrealistic expectation of beauty grounded in narrow ideals—whiteness, thinness, a lack of hair and an abundance of breast tissue—instead of kindness, smarts, self-confidence or athleticism.”
Barbie’s LinkedIn resume is looking awfully impressive, and her profile boasts over 2,500 followers. I’ll keep my fingers crossed in hopes that her face will pop up on my profile in that creepy-cool “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” feature.
If you asked a group of women over 25 to name some toys they played with as kids, Barbie would certainly come up. Less so now if you asked a group of girls under 10. The iconic toy has long been a volatile topic in the toy industry, especially in the context of girls and body image. But now, Mattel is trying to control more of that conversation with The Barbie Project, an initiative that wonders: What happens if we just let kids play with Barbies?
Mattel clearly wants to make the point that parents are seriously overthinking Barbie. At the very top of the Barbie Project’s “About” page, text reads: “No other doll has sparked as much conversation as Barbie. But maybe kids don’t see Barbie the way adults do?”
The brand got two documentarians and a play specialist to go into people’s homes and actually film kids playing with their Barbies. “No scripts. No rehearsals. Just real kids, real parents, telling their stories,” says Mattel.
The two-minute launch video is fun to watch. There’s less hair/makeup/boyfriends than you’d expect, and more superheroes/gymnasts/veterinarians. I particularly enjoyed the little girl who beatboxed while Barbie broke down some hot moves.
Of course, documentaries are never truly unbiased, and I’m wondering if they’ll include clips of girls undressing Barbie and bewilderedly examining her anatomy. However, the Barbie Project experiment is being carried out on multiple platforms—Tumblr, YouTube and eight different mom blogs—so it’ll be interesting to follow the frank discussion surrounding the toy whose hair I once lovingly butchered with a pair of Fiskars.
If you asked a group of women over 25 to name some toys they played with as kids, Barbie would certainly come up. Less so now if you asked a group of girls under 10. The iconic toy has long been a volatile topic in the toy industry, especially in the context of girls and body image. But now, Mattel is trying to control more of that conversation with The Barbie Project, an initiative that wonders: What happens if we just let kids play with Barbies?
Mattel clearly wants to make the point that parents are seriously overthinking Barbie. At the very top of the Barbie Project's "About" page, text reads: "No other doll has sparked as much conversation as Barbie. But maybe kids don't see Barbie the way adults do?"
The brand got two documentarians and a play specialist to go into people's homes and actually film kids playing with their Barbies. "No scripts. No rehearsals. Just real kids, real parents, telling their stories," says Mattel.
The two-minute launch video is fun to watch. There's less hair/makeup/boyfriends than you'd expect, and more superheroes/gymnasts/veterinarians. I particularly enjoyed the little girl who beatboxed while Barbie broke down some hot moves.
Of course, documentaries are never truly unbiased, and I'm wondering if they'll include clips of girls undressing Barbie and bewilderedly examining her anatomy. However, the Barbie Project experiment is being carried out on multiple platforms—Tumblr, YouTube and eight different mom blogs—so it'll be interesting to follow the frank discussion surrounding the toy whose hair I once lovingly butchered with a pair of Fiskars.
Tutti Frutti! Play fruit est le nom de cette superbe série de créations réunissant de nombreux fruits de papier. Un rendu très réussi proposé par Mr.Printables, qui invite même à télécharger gratuitement les patterns de ces créations, afin que les petits et les plus grands puissent les faire eux-mêmes.
Four months after it began, the legal battle between GoldieBlox and the Beastie Boys appears to be winding down, as the band has agreed to drop its lawsuit against the toy maker over the unauthorized use of the song "Girls" in a commercial—in exchange for an apology and a donation to charity.
We sincerely apologize for any negative impact our actions may have had on the Beastie Boys. We never intended to cast the band in a negative light and we regret putting them in a position to defend themselves when they had done nothing wrong.
As engineers and builders of intellectual property, we understand an artist's desire to have his or her work treated with respect. We should have reached out to the band before using their music in the video.
We know this is only one of the many mistakes we're bound to make as we grow our business. The great thing about mistakes is how much you can learn from them. As trying as this experience was, we have learned a valuable lesson. From now on, we will secure the proper rights and permissions in advance of any promotions, and we advise any other young company to do the same.
So, the company is claiming its actions were simply based on inexperience—which seems like a stretch considering how quickly GoldieBlox got the lawyers involved originally, but at least the apology is out there. The undisclosed revenue donation will go to a charity selected by the Beastie Boys that supports science, technology, engineering and mathematics education for girls—which the GoldieBlox products also promote.
The fight began after GoldieBlox featured a reworked version of the song in an empowering girl-power ad that went viral online in November. GoldieBlox preemptively filed a lawsuit hoping that the song would be ruled a fair-use parody. The Beastie Boys then countersued.
A little bit lost in all the legal wrangling, though in some ways the point of the whole mess, is one simple truth: music really can make or break an ad. The GoldieBlox commercial, "Princess Machine," soared with the "Girls" soundtrack, but became a shadow of itself with a different song.
Le collectif Momot imagine des papertoys d’une grande beauté. En plus d’imaginer des créations de qualité, ces équipes coréennes s’amusent à rendre hommage à des grandes références de la culture populaire. La preuve avec ces Star Wars Paper Toys, jouant avec talent sur les différents personnages de la saga.
Meet Domestic Abuse Barbie, a doll that will not be modeling for Sports Illustrated or appearing in toy stores anytime soon.
Sam Humphreys, an artist out of the U.K., has transformed the iconic doll for her photo series called "What If?" The images, some of which could be seen as raising awareness of domestic violence (though the artist says they're "by no means intended to be used as an educational tool"), are based on a theoretical question: “What if we were to teach our children at an early age about the harsh realities that face some?”
On her website, Humphreys says the series is not for children, but she is demonstrating that life for some isn't as perfect as Barbie's life suggests. While some images depict Barbie with black eyes and a bloodied mouth, the series also "explores insecurity, loneliness, illness and addiction."
We often wonder: Who do the kids in our favorite ads become when they grow up? Well, Lori Day, founder of the Brave Girls Alliance, snagged an interview with the girl from the famous 1981 Lego ad (above left) that recently recaptured the zeitgeist—and your Facebook feed—as a protest against the Lego Friends line and the world of pink princesses in general.
Her name is Rachel Giordano. She's 37 now, and a doctor. In the 1981 ad, which we've written about before, she proudly shows off her own creative Lego creation next to the headline, "What it is is beautiful." The copy makes no mention of gender, and the toy is described as a "universal building set." The new Lego Friends line, on the other hand, comes with narratives intended to appeal to girls, like the Heartlake News Van you see Giordano holding in the other photo above, taken recently.
The product summary for the Heartlake News Van on the Lego site says girls can "get Emma ready at the makeup table so she looks her best for the camera." The toy comes with a news desk, but the van itself is mostly a makeup trailer with a huge vanity.
To those who wonder what the big deal is, and what's wrong with the recent developments in gendered toys, Giordano says: "I know that how I played as a girl shaped who I am today. It contributed to me becoming a physician and inspired me to want to help others achieve health and wellness. I co-own two medical centers in Seattle. Doctor kits used to be for all children, but now they are on the boys' aisle. I simply believe that they should be marketed to all children again, and the same with Legos and other toys."
I agree, but let's be frank. We still need the princess toys. My son would be heartbroken without his Tinker Bell.
Here's a fantastic ad stunt orchestrated by media agency PHD on Britain's ITV. On Sunday night, the TV broadcaster devoted a whole commercial break during an episode of Dancing on Ice to airing remade versions, done entirely in Lego, of four well-known British ads—to promote The Lego Movie.
See the entire ad break here:
The first spot was an abbreviated version of the famous 2012 Vinnie Jones CPR ad for the British Heart Foundation. That was followed by 30-second ads, remade practically shot for shot, for Confused.com, BT and Premier Inn. Short promos for The Lego Movie aired in between each of the spots, followed by a proper trailer at the end.
Most businesses can only dream of growing big enough one day to advertise in the Super Bowl. So when an 18-month-old startup finds itself running an ad in the game for free, there's no playbook to plan what happens next.
Game maker GoldieBlox recently won Intuit's "Small Business Big Game" promotion, which promised a 30-second ad valued at $4 million in this Sunday's Super Bowl. While GoldieBlox proved itself a savvy marketer with a successful Kickstarter campaign and a highly popular video about empowering girls to invent, the business also ran afoul of intellectual property law and took some heat from the public when it used the Beastie Boys track "Girls" without permission.
Given the odd path that's led GoldieBlox to the big game, it's hard to predict how its Super Bowl ad, created by longtime Honda agency RPA, will be received and how the company will evolve in the year ahead.
So we decided to ask GoldieBlox founder Debbie Sterling about the contest, the controversy and the mission that have all shaped her company's unique fate.
AdFreak: In some ways, it seems like you won a $4 million lottery, but it's not like you didn't have to work for it. How did you react to hearing you'd won the Intuit contest?
Debbie Sterling: It's almost hard to describe how I feel and how I felt the moment I found out we were the grand prize winner. I felt almost like it wasn't just a win for GoldieBlox; it was a win for girls around the world.
One hundred million people are going to see our message about empowering girls. It feels just incredible, incredibly validating that America voted for us and wants us for their daughters. It's not just an ad; it's almost like a revolution.
GoldieBlox seemed to have an early lead in the contest, especially when your video was going viral. Then the debate over the Beastie Boys track seemed to change the tone. Did you worry it would distract people from the contest and supporting your product?
There was a lot of misunderstanding in the media at the time. A lot of people thought that video was supposed to be our big-game commercial, which it wasn't. It was a really hard time for us as a company and me as an individual.
Soundtrack aside, that online video was pretty ambitious. How did it come about?
My team and I were having lunch at a Mexican restaurant, brainstorming ways to get girls interested in science and engineering. We came up with this idea to create a Rube Goldberg device out of toys.
We had remembered seeing the OK Go video, and we wanted to set it to a girl power anthem. We're a pretty small team, but we're really passionate, and we made it ourselves (with OK Go collaborator Brett Doar).
You can never know if something's going to go viral. We had no idea. We made a video we felt kind of encapsulated our mission and we hoped would spark some interest in kids.
As great as it must have been to see the video getting all this love and attention, it must have been jarring when the legal debate started and it all got so negative so fast.
It was a really hard time. The controversy around it, it took away from our mission. If you ever come visit GoldieBlox headquarters, you'll see we have written on the wall, "The mission is more important than the company."
The last I heard, the Beastie Boys had filed a countersuit looking for damages and fees. What's the status of the legal debate over the song? Is it still going?
There's still legal stuff going on.
So nothing's been settled?
I can't comment on any of the legal stuff.
Your team is small, and I'm sure allocating resources is a big part of your daily life. Between the Rube Goldberg video and the Intuit contest, how have you made time for product and R&D along with the marketing?
Our main focus is product. We put a lot of work into our product each day.
We think of our marketing and advertising almost as a product, too, in the sense that the videos we've been creating and the community we've been building on our Facebook page, on Twitter and elsewhere in social media, they're all kind of bubbling up to the same goal. In a way, it almost feels like our marketing and product are one.
For most global brands in the Super Bowl, there's a lot of debate about how many millions of products they'll need to sell to make the ad worthwhile, but obviously you're in a different situation. Do you have any sales goals or other metrics for how you'll define a win from your ad this Sunday?
For me, we've already won, because the ad sends a very clear message that girls deserve more than the "pink aisle" has to offer. Having 100 million people see that and talk about it at the dinner table, or have a dad encourage his daughter to invent something … that already is going to come out of this, and that's a win.
This time around it was free. So over the next year, you just have to set aside $5 million or so to buy your next Super Bowl ad.
Hahah, yes. I hope this is not our last Super Bowl ad.
Debbie Sterling graduated from Stanford University with a degree in engineering before becoming the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox. The company now sells three games available primarily through independent toy stores, Toys-R-Us and Target. She hopes to expand the brand into animation and video games in the near future.
DC Comics is using its covers to promote Scribblenauts Unmasked, a video game released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment last year, as well as a line of toys that will come out this month.
Dans la lignée du projet When Lego meets Star Wars, voici le reste de la série de l’illustrateur Vesa Lehtimäki mettant en scène les jouets et vaisseaux Star Wars de son enfant au fil des années et dans la vie réelle. Un rendu très réaliste avec « Star Wars Toys Look Like Real » à découvrir en détails dans la suite.
Brett Kern imagine des sculptures en céramique surprenantes. En effet, l’artiste américain met tout son talent à l’épreuve afin de faire paraître ces dinosaures comme s’ils étaient des ballons gonflées. Une illusion parfaitement exécutée, à découvrir dans une série d’images dans la suite de l’article.
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.
