Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery Are Here to Yell, Make You Feel Nauseous for FOX Sports

From Pereira & O’Dell New York comes a new spot already being hailed by SB Nation as “weird” and “gross.” Starring FOX Sports’ Big East basketball commentators Gus Johnson (who FOX has been marketing as an overly loud spaz, as though that was a good thing) and Bill Raftery (who announced he was bringing his trademark nonsensical “onions!” catchphrase from ESPN to FOX in November), the spot imagines what it would be like if this odd duo was to analyze childbirth.

In addition to SB Nation‘s glowing review, Sports Grid is boldly declaring the spot an “early contender for worst ad of the year.” But don’t just take their word for it! “Terrible commercial. A bit disturbing. Not funny,” says one YouTube commenter. “Fire the idiot who approved this commercial,” says another! Well, you know what they say: When Gus Johnson pounds a desk and causes a newborn baby to come rocketing out of his mother’s vagina, you’re bound to get a big reaction. Credits after the jump.

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Pereira & O’Dell Flies Into Birdbnb for Debut Airbnb Work

Pereira & O’Dell nabbed creative duties for Airbnb in September, and three months later, the San Fran shop is launching Birdbnb, their first campaign for the global travel renting company. To supplement Airbnb’s colorful site full of rental options, Pereira & O’Dell created a conceptual platform where artists built 50 birdhouse-sized renderings of actual listings. The finished products will be on display in Audubon Park in New Orleans December 16-22.

The official name of the campaign is “Every Traveler Deserves a Home,” and the 2:10 cut of the above video feels very homey, which is probably the best compliment I can give a travel rental commercial. The 4:30 version drags a bit, kind of like that nice older lady who rents you a room but keeps talking your ear off about topics you don’t care about (2:10 version here, FYI). She’s still kind, but you want to tell her to keep it brief, since, after all, you are the customer. However, selling this type of service does not lend itself to easy choices for advertising, and this effort finds a way to tell a story that makes travel rentals personal.

Credits bookended by some behind-the-scenes videos after the jump.

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Pereira & O’Dell Shows the Power of Skype with ‘Stay Together’

The onion alert is in full effect. Skype has been promoting their global capabilities with a “Stay Together” campaign produced by Pereira & O’Dell, and the fourth video in the series, “The Born Friends Family Portrait,” is a smart showcase of the program’s utility. Two girls, Sarah from Indiana and Paige from Auckland, were both born without fully developed left arms and formed a long distance friendship over the years. Sarah and Paige are now teenagers, and as you can see in the accompanying clip, finally met in-person. It’s touching and respectfully filmed.

The three prior videos cover similar stories – a father talking to his family still in Africa, a zookeeper in America keeping tabs on an animal family in Australia, and a two young cousins (common theme) closing the gap between Brazil and America. We should probably expect more tearjerkers from Skype, because these are the kind of tales that sell themselves. No misdirection or exploitation, just a documentary setup that has the right kind of appeal. Credits after the jump.

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