Hasta La Creative!

OnStar’s not only going for saving your life when you have a severe crash, but it also plays your favorite movies, which, depending on the situation, could potentially lead to distracted driving. Which is okay but OnStar will have you covered.

What happens when you merge the bizarro Terry Crews Old Spice commercial style, with the sleek tongue-in-cheek cool of Isaiah Mustafa Old Spice commercial style? Thankfully, you don’t get a Fabio style Old Spice campaign, just a chain of cleverness, randomness and hilarity. Listen carefully and you’ll find that cloned Scottish Terry is playing bagpipes on that seven-Terry motorbike ride. Cute touches galore, like the old spice bottle actually has a skeleton, and smooth Isaiah switching from an axe to a paddle in a blink – fans of the Old Spice ads will love this.

Some of us are over it though. This campaign is nudging ever closer to its sell by date, which is a shame in itself as it was so fresh when it first began. It’ll never be predictable, and marrying the two opposites is exactly where they should be now. In fact – somewhere I think someone is trying to sell a full length movie with these two characters.

Hey, Southern California business owners: you can augment your existing system with solar water heating has substantial environmental, efficiency and financial benefits in the form of rebates and savings. Also the world the dude is walking in is pretty trippy. Like half-green screen SFX and half soundstage. Like a 90’s movie about virtual reality.

“And why is your dad handcuffed? He looks scared.” Pervy mom. Shoulda used a printer. I highly approve of this ad.

Oh, Father. Deciding not to print the eulogy speech. Relying on your tablet with three percent battery. And then hilarity ensues. Loved the casting on this spot.

Now, I’m not a huge fan of behind the scenes clips, but since I didn’t quite grok how the Laser Street Stave Driving worked, I had to watch this. On a disused runway lined with more than 350 projected mapped motion and audio sensitive lasers and lights, the front-man will.i.am and stunt driver Niki Faulkner battle against speed and rhythm to conduct and navigate a trio of striking Lexus NXs’, with the goal of hitting the laser ‘targets’ at the correct tempo to synchronise with the music. It pleases me immensely to see that a team of sixty-five technicians worked for over seven days to build the rigging for the lights and motion sensitive lasers, designed by Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), instead of using CGI only. It looks like they had fun!

Speaking about the video, will.i.am said: ”Working with the stunt guys to hit the laser targets in time with the music wasn’t easy to get right but the result was awesome. The combination of technology, design and music in this project was out of this world.”

MLF Creative Director, Barnaby Steel said: “Together with Lexus, we’ve created a huge musical game with three stunt drivers as the players and will.i.am as the conductor. Music is brought to life when the cars hit beams of light that are motion sensitive at the correct time and rhythm. It’s basically like a giant laser harp with cars instead of fingers. The challenge for will.i.am and the drivers was to navigate the light points on tempo. When they fell off beat and triggered notes off tempo, the system would have to restart.”

Alain Uyttenhoven, Head of Lexus Europe, said: “We’re projecting that the NX will represent one third of all Lexus sales across Europe this year, so it feels only right that we’ve created something as bold as this event with will.i.am – something that truly embodies our brand philosophy of Amazing in Motion!”

With titles like “Closed in 60 seconds” and “Cash me if you can” and this “Floodnado”, TD Bank brings cinematic drama and exaggeration to everyday humdrum banking. Re-enacting real customer stories with Hollywood flair, it’s just the kind of whimsy that makes a soulless bank seem a little friendlier.
The best part is that the actors playing the parts of the customers in their testimonials are a better, more “Hollywood”-looking version of themselves. Just like when you say “in my lifetime Movie I want Amy Adams to play me”.

This gamescom (The European E3 if you would) saw the release of Halo’s Halo Wars 2 trailer, coming fall 2016, and simultaneously on Xbox one and Windows 10. This new iteration promises to be an exciting new strategy game packed with fast-paced action, massive battles, and an all-new Halo story. Let’s hope there’s an actual story there. We all know how Bungie’s other sci-fi shooter Destiny played out.

Gatlin T. Wolf III embodies everything Ole Smoky stands for: living in the now, taking chances, and instigating mischievous behavior. The goal of the campaign is to reach out to a broader audience, therefore the brand wanted to create a character that relates to millennials. With his dapper style and confident aura, Gatlin represents the modern drinking man. Also, he’s a wolf, yo. When he howls you’l wake from your couch potato slumber and rush to the bar to party.

“Ole Smoky Moonshine is all about taking chances and having fun,” says John Cochran, CEO of Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine. “Gatlin is going to encourage consumers to live a little on the wild side by firing them up to try our moonshine. Who wouldn’t want to take a shot of moonshine to kick start the night?”

This second phase of the campaign will include three 15-second vignette videos, created by Standard Time, a Los Angeles based creative shop. Each video begins with ordinary people going about their daily lives until the call of the wolf.

“The inspiration behind the wolf is the red wolf that roams the Appalachian Mountains”, explains Michael Sharp, founder of Standard Time. “He represents the instigator of good times. We all have a wolf inside of us that we want to let out, and Ole Smoky Moonshine’s Gatlin T. Wolf III will do just that.”

The first of the three videos launched today through digital agency, VaynerMedia, a bicoastal shop that manages the brand’s social and digital media planning. The remaining videos will be released in the weeks to come.

“Because we are going after millennials with the new campaign, we are utilizing digital strategies to reach this target audience,” says Matt Seigel, VP and Head of LA at VaynerMedia. “This will help ensure Ole Smoky Moonshine stands out from its competitors.”

Yasiel Puig has walkup music during home games. And during staff meetings. Stan Verrett tries some of his own with hilarious results.