Hasta La Creative!

Daiya is a cheese substitute but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t cheesy. In this fake sitcom we see a wife who has made a pizza with Daiya and her husband says to her “Pizza? Now that’s a thing I enjoy,” followed by 50 seconds of studio laugh track. I guess it could have been funnier if the opening dialogue was even halfway approaching the husband making a joke, but instead, no, it’s just bad acting and innocuous dialogue followed by 50 seconds of laughing. It’s a very nice take on the cheesiness of sitcoms. The upshot is that now I know Daiya is pronounced like Day-Ah, and not Die-ah, so at least I learned something.

Vulcan couple needs to move because they don’t have enough room for themselves and their pet. Thankfully Rocket Mortgage from Quicken Loans makes it totally easy to get a mortgage.
Totally easy, that is, unless you try to use the app like we did here at Adland. It’s a bit more than “one easy touch of a button.” But you know. How many times is something really easy?
If you didn’t already realize this commercial has a promotional tie-in to Star Trek And Beyond which comes out on July 22nd.

From cheeky chimps and anthropomorphic dogs to farting horses, moms with wide hips and bikini car washes, Bud Light has consistently been the low-brow humour brand, with occasional gems. Ballbusting is classic Bud Light humor, sometimes ass busting.

When Wieden & Kennedy wheeled out the two most uncharismatic comedians for the tired ad cliché of election year “The Bud Light Party” idea during the Super Bowl I made no qualms about hating it. It doesn’t matter if I do, as I’m more of a wee heavy, stout or award winning pilsner drinker and the swill with the low-brow image is obviously targeted to those who still laugh at dick jokes.
That’s why this ad seems so odd. There’s no cut the cheese juvenile humor in sight, instead the two most overrated comedians are harping on about the gender pay gap, and trying to make this topic funny. This is the advertising equivalent of “How do you do, fellow kids.”, jumping on the recent media hot topic with the current media darlings, while completely ignoring that the target still thinks french maid outfit mixups are hilarious.

Perhaps it was the sudden media backlash that Bud Light received for their cheeky “up for anything” line they received last year. People read it as a rape joke, instead of the obvious extension of the campaign’s proposition. Maybe that made Bud Light wander down the gender pay gap topic to show themselves “hip”. Yes, lets talk about the “pay gap,” where young men pay more for their car insurance than any other age and gender group, shall we? Since they are the very same young men who are the drinkers of this brand.

I keep repeating myself ad nauseam, but insulting your consumers does not increase your market. Bud Light sales have been declining to a low single digits in 2015, with no change in sight, Wieden & Kennedy might want to reconsider the tactic of using comedians who get more articles written about them, than audience asses in movie theatres. When Starbucks wanted us to “race together” it backfired as well, because sometimes all we want from a beverage is branded jokes and a quench of thirst – not a lecture.

Not every brand can lend itself to social issue advertising, but when all that your strategist has is a hammer, every brand problem apparently looks like a nail. Results? Right now this ad is overwhelmingly voted “dislike” and they had to shut off comments to it on youtube. I’d hashtag it #fail but it’s not 2007.

Crystal Geyser spring water is always bottled at the mountain source. Drones were used to capture footage from the Mount Shasta and Mount Whitney springs racing along until it ends up in the hands of a woman enjoying a bottle on the beach. Pretty neat looking effect. And it also gives a very specific USP– Crystal Geyser really is bottled at the source.

In this installment of The Real Gummies Of The Black Forest, the daughter’s caught her parents getting all hot and bothered with each other and just knows she’ll need therapy as a result. Very silly stuff.

Although it serves a state with a population of less than 1.5 million people, First Hawaiian Bank is intent on reaching its audience with the sophistication of an international financial powerhouse. Teaming with Honolulu agency MVNP and Los Angeles-based production company Accomplice Media, FHB has launched an ambitious branding campaign centering on people coping with life’s milestones. Rather than pushing specific retail services—as most regional banks do—these funny, beautifully-produced spots aim to forge an emotional connection with Hawaii residents from all walks of life.

For its P-Zero tires, Pirelli wants us to follow our own roads. Whether that means actually reading a real book, not wearing a man bun (please, God) eating a sammy at a food stall dressed in your high fashion wear, not having a tattoo or more– be yourself, follow your own road, etc. The only scene that doesn’t work for me is the proverbial “imaginative kid” who wants to fly– it seems like a mismatch in a spot that is basically telling you not to follow trends. Still, it’s well shot and fun.

John McAfee has now CEO of MGT, a publicly traded company that started as a penny stock and is now above 3 dollars. Back in May, MGT, owner of some online and mobile video games, also acquired some assets from a cybersecurity firm called D-Vasive, oh which McAfee also backs. MGT will essentially become the cybersecurity answer the world needs. And if today’s news about Hillary Clinton’s hacking problems are enough to attest, we do need better cybersecurity. McAfee’s been steadily promoting MGT on his Twitter account, for a minute now. But today marks the the first ad launch. Much like McAfee’s “Exit Politics” ad in which he launched a bid to run for President on the Libertarian ticket, this ad continues in the same vein.
In this case, your right to privacy, which can only be achieved through proper data management, i.e. cybersecurity, i.e. by securing your doors. Much like the McAfee for president spot, this has a very Crystal Method/Matrix/Cyberpunk feel to it. While the ripped-from-the-headlines news about hackers stealing our identity, privacy, finances, are very real problems, MGT, is planting a stake in the ground as being a real solution. Even if it isn’t exactly spelled out what the solution is in the ad. But that’s just as well. McAfee may be an eccentric genius with a capital E but I’ve heard a lot of his interviews and read his articles, too. And I would dare say one of his greatest strengths is the art of cogent plain speak as much as anything else. Lightning struck once for the guy. No reason it won’t strike a second time.

Oh what a fantastic trailer this is for Halo Wars 2. Know your enemy indeed. Captain Cutter now face a new faction known as The Banished and their warlord Atriox. Set to The White Buffalo’s brooding “I know you,” the two leaders moving toward their fate surrounded by battle is quite powerful. Unlike say, the jokey, hokey Destiny spots, this goes for the emotion and reveals an actual story. And while the “pull out to reveal scope and magnitude of battlefield” is near cliché by now it still gets me every time.