Lance Reddick Introduces Cree LED Bulbs for Baldwin&

Lance Reddick, who you should know as Lieutenant Daniels on The Wire, takes center stage in Raleigh-based agency Baldwin&‘s new campaign for Cree LED Bulbs, entitled “The Room of Enlightenment.”

The digital campaign features Daniels Reddick in a series of loquacious spots extolling the virtues of LED bulbs, which compare favorably to the incandescent ham fryers you grew up with. Relying on solid copywriting and Reddick’s excellent delivery, the spots are memorable without any frills or fancy production touches. The campaign comes on the heels of a recent incandescent bulb ban, with stores still trying to sell their remaining stock of the soon-to-be relics. One spot, “Gray Market” (featured above) pontificates that there will soon be an illicit market for incandescent bulbs where you may find yourself  “trading jugs of grandpa’s porch juice for bulbs out of a rusty hatchback from a guy with a tattoo on his forehead who goes by the name of Rattlesnake.” In other, clever spots, Reddick uses a competitor’s oddly-shaped bulb as a ping-pong paddle, and talks metaphorical money goats. Stick around for a couple more spots, along with campaign credits, after the jump. continued…

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New W+K NY ‘DaDaDa’ Spot Combines New with Familiar for ‘SportsCenter’

ESPN’s latest W+K New York-created spot for SportsCenter is a bit of a departure from their usual advertising style. In the 1:01 spot, ESPN spotlights their trade mark “da da da” (you’ll know it when you hear it) spoken by a wide range of athletes (such as Maria Sharapova, Bubba Watson, RG III, Clayton Kershaw and Patrick Kane) in different situations.

Not centered around a comic premise, “DaDaDa DaDaDa” lets the highlights from many different sports, including ones you don’t care about (lacrosse, anyone?), do the talking for a majority of the spot — perhaps not a bad strategy (except for the lacrosse), considering that is why most people tune in to SportsCenter.

“Da Da Da” is also a departure in that it’s the first ESPN commercial in ten years to be shown on other networks, such as during NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Presumably a response to SportsCenter’s declining audience — and perhaps a reaction to new competitor Fox Sports 1 — the spot attempts to bring in new viewers by running on DirectTV, Adult Swim, Spike and Comedy Central. Whether or not the expensive spot can help SportsCenter fight the declining viewership brought on by the increased ease of finding sports highlights online remains to be seen. But lacrosse players everywhere are cheering. Credits after the jump.

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Bacardi, OW Get Revolutionary with Rum

You rumdrinkers out there might not have known this while pounding down eight dollar shots at trendy bars, but Bacardi Rum has quite the historical significance. Think Cuban Revolution, Spanish-American War, and the Rough Riders. I don’t remember learning about any of these connections in social studies class – hmm, I wonder why, board of education? – but thanks to OppermanWeiss, “¡Vivimos!” the history of Emilio Bacardi Moreau and his company’s revolutionary roots will be on display in the coming weeks with a cinematic spin.

The above clip is the second ¡Vivimos! spot from OW and director Jake Scott, featuring a handsome and thinly mustachioed version of Emilio Bacardi Moreau set to a grainy image filter. The video does embellish a bit, making it appear as if our Bacardi hero was going to be gunned down spaghetti western style. Truthfully, or at least according to the Bacardi website, Bacardi Moreau was exiled from Cuba to North Africa twice, but who are we to nitpick with an actiony marketing campaign 115 years after the fact? Also be on the lookout for the ad in movie theaters, because Bacardi and Screen Vision partnered to put the clip on 100,000 screens across the country. And if you are really into Cuban revolutions, the brand is unrolling added content through Shazam, so everyone can also vivimos with their smartphones out.

Credits after the jump.

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