Hasta La Creative!

Advertising that makes fun of advertising is all the rage these days — and now thespian Malcolm McDowell has joined talents like Ewen McGregor, Ricky Gervais, and Anna Kendrick in essentially mocking the whole process, and their participation in it.

The veteran actor stars in two new spots for Lunchables, created by agency Mcgarrybowen and directed by Wayne McClammy (recently featured as one of Adweek’s ten Creative 100 directors). In both videos, McDowell is dressed like Steve Buscemi from his “how do you do, fellow kids” 30 Rock cameo, attempting to relate to today’s hip young people as he teaches them how to prepare Lunchables Walking Tacos.

Given his career has taken him from A Clockwork Orange to Entourage and Metalocalypse, his latest role — launched with more commercials from mcgarrybowen and McClammy this spring — might be a bit of an eyebrow-raiser. Maybe he had gambling debts no one knew about?

Then again, the ill fit is also the point. While no one as photogenic as the people in these ads — least of all McDowell — will ever actually eat a Lunchables Walking Taco, the videos are great. It’s clear that McClammy and McDowell are having tremendous fun with the material, which is all you need to make the basic concept work.

And really, is it fair to say that McDowell is slumming it here? He was in a Slipknot video, after all. That not to mention he broke the advertising seal back in 2013, starring alongside James Earl Jones in dramatic readings for Sprint — McDowell’s first commercials ever.

CREDITS

Client: Kraft Foods
Advertising Agency: mcgarrybowen?
Chief Creative Officer: Ned Crowley?
Group Creative Directors: Todd Brusnighan, Doug Behm?
Director of Content Production: Steve Ross?
Agency Producer: Mike Dahl?
Account Managing Director: Kate Burke?
Account Director: Ellen Cohen

Production Company: Hungry Man?
Director: Wayne McClammy?
Executive Producer: Mino Jarjoura

Editorial Company: Cutters
?Editor: Grant Gustafson

Visual Effects Company: Flavor
Final Color: Nice Shoes
?Colorist: Ron Sudul

Final Mix Company: Another Country?
Mixer: David Gerbosi

It seems odd that there’s never been a Halloween ad for Skittles. While the brand may not have the same kind of association with the holiday as, say, Reese’s, it still commands a good deal of exchange value for kids swapping trick or treat hauls. And yet DDB Chicago’s new Halloween spot, extending the brand’s “Experience The Rainbow” campaign, is the brand’s first foray into Halloween advertising.

As you might expect, the ad contains the level of weirdness associated with that campaign, and the brand’s advertising in general. When a boy finds himself stuck in a giant spiderweb, attempting to reach a bag of Skittles, his friend wonders what to do. Then a giant spider shows up, promising to help if he gets stuck, and thus begins a lifelong friendship…or does it?

The spot is rolling out as a 15-second broadcast spot and an extended, 45-second online video (featured above), and will run until Halloween. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Although you have to wonder how necessary advertising the next Madden game really is, considering how football/gaming bros pretty much spend all summer salivating in anticipation of the pigskin franchise’s next release, Heat has put together a pretty brolarious spot for EA Sports’ 25th anniversary of the franchise.

In the second spot of the “Born to Madden” campaign (following the Arian Foster/Marshawn Lynch opus), directed by Wayne McClammy, it is revealed that the real inspiration for the NFL careers of Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson was a summer camp pact made in their youth to one day beat each other in Madden, as each other. The spot highlights some of the hardcore training Kaepernick and Wilson underwent, all so they could make the NFL, rise to star status, and play Madden NFL 25 against each other. So far Kaepernick and Wilson’s Madden sessions have led to only minor injuries, including a mild concussion suffered by Wilson from a stray thrown controller.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Nearly three months after 72andSunny introduced us to “The Replacer”–aka Fargo baddie Peter Stormare–in its campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Revolution trailer, the agency has brought back the character, now with sidekick JB Smoove in tow, for its Black Ops II – Uprising promo. Jesus, how many entries are in this franchise? Anyhow, the newly formed dynamic duo embarks on several replacing adventures from serving as weatherman to fixing cable, with Stormare being his usual, somewhat menacing self and Smoove giving us the fast-talking delivery that we first came to know and love in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

We’re not sure what the budget is here, but as the Black Ops franchise expands, so do seem the timeframe and scope of the clips promoting it. But, if you have the patience for it (it is lunchtime on the East Coast, after all), don’t let us stop you from taking in this slightly entertaining, slightly grating clip. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.