Hasta La Creative!

Aspiring director/creative, Dennis Liu, has released his own viral video/commercial showcasing all the things a Mac can do. Basically, the video is set to the Bird & the Bee’s, ”Again & Again,” and acts as not only a music video for the band but as an interesting little DIY advertisement for Apple. It shows several of the computer’s programs and possibilities, including (but not limited to) Photo Booth, Stickies, Illustrator, Word, iMovie and iTunes. His video was even featured on the Unofficial Apple Weblog where they interviewed him about his video. I find it fun to watch, although at times everything moves slightly too fast for my eyes to keep up with (but we could also chalk that up to a long day at work and my eyes are sleepy). So check it out for yourself… as always, feel free to share your thoughts.

 

Technorati Tags: DIY, Apple, Mac, video, director, filmmaker, advertising, viral

I studied animation in school, so I have to admit I’m a bit of a sucker for just about anything animated, but the simplicity and effectiveness of this Brazilian anti-smoking campaign is uniquely impressive. The pinscreen-esque animation seems to speak to the message, which is so simple, it works, and provides proof that things don’t need to be complicated to elicit social change.

The simple smokingkillsmore campaign certainly uses a few cigarettes in the process, but the awareness and impact it has well makes up for it.

check out more, including the making of the installation pieces, at osocio.

I grew up watching Bob Ross… and come to think of it, Bob Ross may be the sole reason I studied art in college. Anyway, in case his officially licensed art supplies weren’t enough, Dutch production agency Comrad created this bizarre yet somehow poignant video for NoBELe Match.

NoBELe is a non-profit aiming to match young creatives and businesses for similar causes. A pretty cool effort, and a bizarre promo. But using Bob Ross is probably perfect for the target demo, and despite its oddness, it’s spreading like wildfire. I only wish there was some reference to Peapod the squirrel in the video. But I suppose that might be asking a bit too much.

Check out the rest of the NoBELe launch at Osocio.org

We are quite familiar with the integration of the movie the Transformers into most car advertising today and while some may like them, others use them as a point of reference to show other people why it would be best to use known brands.

There are two ways to which this type of advertising approach can be used. Positive in the sense that it gives life into the cars that are being sold today and negative for people who want to avoid a complicated and techie automobile when all they want is convenient transportation.

Whichever way you look at it, it all boils down to one thing; getting the eye of most car enthusiasts whether they will buy a car or not.

Technorati Tags: advertising, chevrolet, transformers, commercials, brands

You know when I think of troubled third world nations who need our help, I can only think of one celebrity who might be able to adequately convey the pain and suffering of living in a disaster ridden country ruled by a junta.

KIM KARDASHIAN!

Unfortunately, this ill-advised Public Service Announcement does less for the poor people of Burma and more for illiteracy. As. she. remembers. what. was. in. the. script.

I don’t watch their reality show, but I know Mom married Bruce Jenner, former awesome Wheaties spokesman and the man who spawned the “Princes of Malibu” (and “please make famous” Hills “star” Brody Jenner). So it’s like a perfect storm of fame-whoring suck.
. Dad on the other hand, was OJ Simpson’s lawyer. So in other words, everyone has a deal with the Devil

A sack of hammers could beat them all on Jeopardy.

I’m not against celebrity PSA’s per se, just ones where celebrities with no real higher education try to lecture me about stuff (looking at you DiCaprio) and to seem more caring than the common man just because they have more influence.

Here’s a good primer on what good PSA’s involve.

A good PSA, even if you don’t agree with the content.

Simple, straightforward, to the point, and fairly genuine, which I think is the key to a good PSA. Kim Kardashian couldn’t find Burma on a map with 3 guesses and an encyclopedia.

Technorati Tags: PSA’s, Burma, Kim Kardashian, Bad Spokespeople, Tom Hanks

We all know how it is to make the unique concepts in the world today and apparently, putting a touch of drama into the commercial advertising flicks we see today is something that will capture the attention of most consumers to date.

Products often have to create catchy storylines for them to get noticed. It all has to be in line with what the product has to offer and once compiled, you will find that your creative commercial can be a hit advertising medium especially if placed and targeted towards the proper audience it should be effectively exposed to.

Technorati Tags: clean, advertising, medium, commercial, concepts, drama, audience

When is it alright to put your logo on roaches? If you’re brand is Zoo York, you can do whatever ever the hell you want. Zoo York is challenging you to spread the word by any means necessary. As long as you don’t break the law or disrespect anyone. They launched the campaign with the help of their roach department to show that you can get as random as you want. Young skaters spray painted the Zoo York logo on some big’ol roaches and they let them loose in New York City. This is one of the more unique viral campaigns I’ve seen recently. Do roaches count as new media?

After the ABC series about Geico’s Cavemen, well, bombed, I was sort of hoping it would be the end of the cavemen altogether. My wish has yet to be granted and now the cavemen have entered the disco world. The new commercials show off their sweet dance moves, think “The Hustle,” and “Jazz Hands.” The purpose of the ads are to direct you to not one but two new viral sites from Geico - CavemansCrib.com and DancingCaveman.com. Visit the latter and you can even download your very own dancing caveman to put on your desktop. Hours of entertainment… or maybe just seconds. 

Technorati Tags: tv, commercials, Geico, cavemen, sitcoms, websites, viral, dancing, disco

Nike has always been a synonymous to sports, particularly basketball. So as far as advertising and commercial productions are concerned, it should not be surprising why Nike has aggressively sought the superstars of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to which they compose Nike’s Air Force 25.

Most of the young stars we see today such as LeBron James and Steve Nash lead the parade of leading hard-court heroes who have their own separate deals with other products today. Also, being superstars of their teams, they are brand names for their respective ball clubs as well. So if you are wondering why they are always being paid millions of dollars per month, there is more to their skills and that is called their market value towards their fans.

You might remember the Cadbury Gorilla spot we wrote about a while back. The question was posed:

Is it a worthwhile piece of content simply because it makes people watch? Or is it missing the boat because it has no connection to the brand?

Well, something as unique (and bizarre) as a gorilla drumming to Phil Collins is hard to top, but Cabral and Fallon have certainly done their best.

Both the drumming gorilla and this new spot share a bizarre semi-disconnect from the brand, and a similar feeling of enjoyment and satisfaction. And as touchy as I am at the use of Queen, this spot does it beautifully, just as the Gorilla did justice to “In The Air Tonight.” And then there’s the whole whole Cadburyesque purple sky, which is creatively beautiful.

Does it work? Can the “campaign” be continued successfully (and if so, does this accomplish it?) or was the drumming gorilla enough?