In case you forgot or never heard, nearly three years ago, a merry prankster left a rambling, sometimes scathing, often times amusing 17-minute-long voicemail for Big Spaceship CEO, Michael Lebowitz. At the time, it was intriguing enough that Lebowitz himself posted about it on his blog. Well, not sure if one Sam Hyde is the man behind the infamous VM, but whatever the case, the Brooklyn-based comedian and his Million Dollar Extreme crew have reposted the diatribe, which as you’ll hear is supposed to come from Lebowitz’s conscience. Though it was originally sent in 2010, the messages within, which promote Big Spaceship as “Chuck E. Cheese for people in their early 30s who wish they were in their late 20s” and a shop where folks are “programming Flash games” and “dropping bomb ass tweets,” don’t seem too dated. Whatever the reason for resurrecting the beast, it’s a decent lunchtime listen, though headphones are strongly recommended.
W+K Portland has unveiled “The Power of Hair” for Old Spice, the “newest, never-been-done-before interactive digital experience.”
The new site is an extension of W+K’s “For Hair That Gets Results” campaign promoting Old Spice’s new haircare and styling products, featuring the same anthropomorphic hair, and comes on the heels of the “Boardwalk” and “Meeting” spots Old Spice debuted late last month. Visitors to “The Power of Hair are greeted by a testimonial video with a young man extolling the virtues of Old Spice’s hair products. Predictably, this includes attention from the ladies and respect around the office. Less predictably, this includes Huey Lewis songs. “When you’ve got great hair like this, you’d be surprised by how many Huey Lewis songs it can play on the piano,” the now bald man says.
Visitors to the site are then asked to pick a Huey Lewis song, and the hair (which by now has slithered off of the guy’s head) will play them on piano, occasionally adding in some percussion. You can pick from among 29 of Lewis’ greatest hits, including “The Power of Love,” “I Want a New Drug,” “The Heart of Rock n’ Roll,” “Bad is Bad” and “Doing It All for My Baby.” It’s a pretty absurd idea (and yeah, we’re pretty sure no one has done this before), but then this is the kind of silliness we’ve come to expect from W+K’s work for Old Spice and a fitting extension of the “For Hair That Gets Results” campaign, complete with a perfect title. Give “The Power of Hair” a try above or at the site, and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…
Philly-based Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners created a site called “Ranch Love” which, through a series of highly scientific questions, matches up visitors with one of their employees and lets them send a Valentine’s message.
Created by “1,000 developers” in “10 minutes,” visitors to the site are met with a scary cupid man-child, told to choose to between being set up with a male, female, or a spectrum, and then answer a series of quirky “this or that” style questions to find their perfect RTO+P date with an ad man or woman who “won’t be able to go five minutes without checking their phone.” To answer the question of why they created the site, the agency says, “RTO+P believes in only the most sophisticated, scientific and highly calibrated means of matching people. So Happy Valentine’s Day and good luck finding your love match. Or lust match. Or…you know, whatever.”
So if you have a couple of minutes to kill, a warped sense of humor, and won’t be too frightened by the disturbing cupid man-baby, head on over to “Ranch Love” and find your match. Here are my results:
Yes, lovebirds, Louisville-based agency OOHology has created a poem generator called the GIT-LUV 2000, designed to give you “a little help initiating intimacy this Valentine’s Day.”
Visitors to the GIT-LUV site are asked to pick from a list of descriptions that best fits their love life, such as “Single, full of regret,” “I just bet my fiancee 50 percent of everything I own that love is forever,” and “Promised my new spouse that the third time’s a charm.” Then, GIT-LUV 2000 randomly generates a unique poem, although they are often slight variations of what you’ve already seen, and despite claims that it “actually creates unique poems every time” it wasn’t all that long until a repeat came up. Our tipster described the site as “Slightly creepy, slightly hilarious,” although I’d say it hits on the former with far more frequency. We’ve selected a few of our favorite poems below.
Philippines-based Ace Saatchi & Saatchi have a new Valentine’s Day campaign for Head and Shoulders, called “#FlakerDate,” that just may make you feel a little sick to your stomach.
“#FlakerDate” is focused around a long television spot featuring three guys set up on staged blind dates with an actress. That actress has an embarrassing dandruff problem that puts a damper on any romantic inclinations the guys might have. A hidden camera catches their reactions as her head scratching leaves dandruff on her clothes, the floor, the table, and even her food and drink (that’s when things get a little cringe-worthy). Needless to say, the guys are a little freaked out.
The spot has been gaining popularity on YouTube (currently up to almost 500,000 views), as well as being featured on a talk show, so Ace Saatchi & Saatchi definitely have people’s attention. If my reaction is any indication, they also have people feeling a little queasy.
George Ernst III, creative director at Tenthwave Digital, and Ricky Bacon, VP of engineering at Noise Marketing, are behind a new site called “What The Fuck Is My Brief?”
The site generates a random, ridiculous brief when you visit, followed by responses like “Get Spike Lee to direct that shit” and “I swear to God if you say ‘earned media’ I’m going to fucking cut you,” which, when you click on them, generate another brief. We’ve seen plenty of sites in a similar style before, but as these go this is one of the funnier ones. There’s also enough variety to keep you clicking for awhile. Check out some of our favorite briefs below, and head on over to the site for the full experience.
Chicago-based agency O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul wasted no time releasing their first campaign for Big Lots, after winning AOR duties for the company in late January.
OKRP worked with former Kmart CMO Andrew Stein(who was the man who of course led the infamous “Ship My Pants” campaign) on the new digital effort promoting the fact that Big Lots “ is now the official Hostess Thrift Shop.” The campaign, “#thriftisback” is centered around two Hostess-themed videos. “Mostess” is a 60 second spot featuring a group of choreographed moms dancing to a song name-checking Hostess treats. Yeah, OKRP definitely went the goofy route with this one. As tough as “Mostess” is to watch, the 90 second “Twinkie Time,” which features a car ride marred with an a capella Twinkie song, is just plain insufferable. (It could just be me, as I have a strong aversion to a capella, but I don’t think so.)
“Videos are emblematic of the kind of quick-to-market, impact-driven and unexpected work that we are doing for clients who need to turn around campaigns yesterday,” explains O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul CEO Tom O’Keefe. In addition to the videos, the campaign also features social media and digital marketing. Stick around for “Twinkie Time” after the jump (if you dare), and head on over to Big Lots’ YouTube page for more. continued…
The new site features a unique and unusual visual design that lends itself well to the brand’s “To the life less ordinary” tagline. On the site “a singular access point icon has replaced the fixed navigation, the logo surfaces only when necessary, and product-specific sections like “Drinks” are more about cocktail inspiration than a recipe archive.” The site invites viewers to scroll down the page for a cinematic experience, ending with a 1:06 video (featured above) that correlates with the rest of the site. That all of it is rather strange (in a very Nordic kind of way) and doesn’t make a ton of sense, again, completely fits the “life less ordinary” attitude the brand is promoting. Intended reaction (I’m guessing): “I have no idea what’s going on, but it kind of makes me want some vodka.” Check out the site for yourself, and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…
Ten years after Janet Jackson‘s “Nipplegate” fiasco (and 55 years after “The Day Music Died,” which reminds of simpler times when people were better at naming things), the Super Bowl has become one of the least controversial broadcast TV events. This year’s spots were, in two words, pretty dull. This morning, water cooler talk centered around what was perhaps Peyton Manning‘s worst performance in his storied career, with a few words spent on an adorable puppy befriending horses for Budweiser. Even GoDaddy, America’s idiot PG-rated smut peddlers, were commended by critics for this year creating a spot that was more about a harmless joke than it was about visiting their website to see if Danica Patrick really got naked. Booooorriiiinnnnnggg.
Now, imagine a world in which the above apparently “banned” commercial from Carl’s Jr. ran last night. Would that world be much different from the one that we currently reside in? Well, no, not really. But, at least some group of oversensitive moms in some rural town would have protested this commercial. I mean, do their five-year-olds really need to know that the world is a scary place where scantily dressed cowgirls suck on massive sausages for minutes on end without taking a bite? What about when that mayo or butter or whatever drops slowly onto her left breast? One might say it’s suggestive of semen, dripping slowly off of a large penis getting sucked off at a ranch. Yes, one might.
As for the origin of this spot, we’ve reached out to 72andSunny who tell us the spot was definitely not from them. Also, last we heard, Carl’s Jr. doesn’t make a breakfast sandwich with a comically large sausage stuck in its center. So, we assume it’s some prankster doing it on spec somewhere because he or she was bored. But, in the meantime, we’ll just pretend that this actually ran during the Super Bowl, and that we had something…ANYTHING…more to talk about today.
(Updated): We have no a brief statement from CKE Restaurants’ brand’s Carl’s Jr. on the spot:
On behalf of CKE Restaurants, Inc., parent company to Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But, we had nothing to do with this spoof ad.’”
Production company Henry & Aaron are behind this (intentionally) over-the-top public service announcement for the Learn for Life Foundation.
In the spot, some youngsters who skip out on school (we learn later) for a day frolicking at the beach suddenly start exploding, body bits flying everywhere. The message “This is what happens when you slack off” ends the spot, suggesting that skipping school dramatically increases your risk of spontaneous combustion.
Co-creator Henry Inglistold Uproxx that the spot he created with partner Aaron McCann was “about contradicting standard advertisements – it’s a bit of a f*ck you to advertising in general…It’s playing on those idealised commercials of people breaking free from their confines.” Set Yourself Free” also seems to be a self-conscious play on the historically anything-but-self-conscious ridiculousness of PSAs. Although “Set Yourself Free” is kind of funny, we have to wonder if the whole thing is just too ridiculous to get its message across — especially since, before they start blowing up, everyone seems to be having a really good time.
Looking for an alternative to a multi-million dollar Super Bowl ad? Enter “Digital Streaker,” a site which launched this past Wednesday, offering brands the opportunity to upload their logo and place it in front of a streaker’s schmeckel. Once you upload your logo, you simply select a site for the digital streaker to run naked across, and then you’ll receive a unique link to the site featuring your logo blurring out digital streaker’s man bits.
Don’t have a logo in mind but want to participate in this bit of Internet mishigas anyway? That’s cool, Digital Streaker also gives you the option to blur out his putz with a cat face, a dolphin, a shuttlecock, pancakes, Kim Jong-un, or a bowling trophy. You can also choose between cheerleader streaker, feathered boa wearing streaker, luchador streaker, and horse mask streaker. I went with luchador streaker with a cat wang, which I sent on over to the official Scientology website.
Well, credit Brazilian-based F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi for truly capturing that disorienting mix of horniness and fearfulness that comes with doing a bunch of drugs and then grinding up on a bunch of weirdos for a few hours. A new campaign for African and South American beer brand Skol (not to be confused with American chewing tobacco brand Skoal, which is still around apparently) advertises ‘The Summer Beats Festival,’ a series of 20 parties/concerts around Brazil that features the country’s best DJs.
What’s the appeal, your uncultured ‘Merican self might ask? Well, rumor has it that if you get fucked up enough and dance harder than anyone else, there’s a strong likelihood that you’ll have sex with a girl wearing a tiger mask, a guy wearing a rabbit mask, or (jackpot!) both at the same time. That certainly sounds fun, doesn’t it?
A collection of shorter sports promises that after your wild night of substance abuse and terrifying lovemaking, you get to relax on one of Brazil’s many gorgeous beaches, which may or may not be filled with floating piles of garbage. Then, of course, it’s out again for another night of intermittent bouts of crying and psychotic screaming. Woo! Two more spots, and credits, follow after the jump.
Been sleeping a little too well lately? Wish you could have some creepy nightmares instead of your usual, boring Angela Lansbury sex dreams? Horror Channel UK would like to help you out with that. They worked with Hamburg-based, BBDO Worldwide agency Interone to create “Night Terror,” a mobile app designed to give you nightmares.
Based on research showing that “the things we hear before we go to sleep and during the R.E.M phase affects our dreams,” the free app allows the user to choose from a list of horror stories, then place the phone next to their pillow and listen to the story as they fall asleep. When the phone detects that the user is in the R.E.M. phase of sleep (I’m not clear on how the app does this), “subtle story-related sound effects play to the subconscious,” presumably directing a nightmare in the user. Upon waking, the user can review his or her sleep cycle statistics, and share their experience across social media.
The app contains original stories as well as stories based on upcoming Horror Channel programming, so users of “Night Terror” can actually get a preview of future Horror Channel programming while asleep. The official launch date for “Night Terror” is scheduled for Feb. 28, at which time it will be available for free in both iPhone and Android formats. Credits after the jump. continued…
TPN Chicago is behind this new spot for Cricket wireless, entitled “More Classes,” featuring an annoying dude in a really lame hat. Annoying hat dude interrupts a cooking class to lecture everybody about how switching to Cricket Wireless will help them all achieve their New Year’s resolutions. The latest in the “bring up information about your product or service in a completely random setting” genre is tough to watch, even at 30 seconds. The main actor in the spot is supposed to be funny in a Seth Rogen kind of way (“When I was growing up, my mom, her menu had two choices: you take it or leave it”), but (this can’t really be stressed enough) just comes across as annoying. Almost as bad is the nonsensical #WhatsYourMore hashtag on screen for the duration of the ad (can’t imagine that one is exactly lighting up Twitter right now). I’m sure our comments section has a few things to say about this one…
The site is basically a compendium of ridiculous wearable tech ideas. Once you’re done reading one of them, simply click the pink colored text for the next ludicrous suggestion. Some highlights include: “T-shirt that posts to Facebook when you need a shit,” “Umbrella that glistens when it’s going to rain,” “Pair of earbuds that glows green when your ex is in the building,” and “Heart rate monitor that makes a vine when you’ve got a hangover.” O’Connell created the site, inspired by shitprideas.com, using WTF engine. Feel free to share some of your favorite entries in the comments section.
Do you like sake? Do you like throwing stars? Ever wish there was a place where you could go to pound sake and throw throwing stars? How about an indoor ninja throwing star range where they serve sake? That sounds like either the best idea ever, or a lawsuit waiting to happen, or both, right?
In what is surely the craziest publicity stunt you’ll hear about today, Whit Hiler, one of the Lexington, KY-based Cornett IMS masterminds behind beardvertising and “Kentucky Kicks Ass” announced that he was behind the crazy “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range.”Hiler and crew created “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range” because “Everyone loves throwing stars and everyone loves alcohol.” Hiler and Cornet decided to present their “establishment that allows people to pound sake and chuck throwing stars” to the world, presenting it as an establishment that would open in Lexington, Kentucky in the spring. Enlisted to aid Hiler in spreading this madness were “Kris Kross Ange on the design, Golden Nick Child on the video, and Shammy Shamick Gaworski on the web development.”
And spread it they did. The video makes use of YouTube’s “Best Death Scene Ever,” while the website quotes Wu Tang and, according to Hiler, Japanese curse words. They even created a fake Gmail account under the name Satou Watanabe (which has to be the coolest sounding alias this side of Throb Darshall) Soon everyone was talking, tweeting, and posting about the crazy new sake bar/throwing star range coming to Kentucky. For obvious reasons, most people wanted this to be real. The crew received articles from people asking how they could become a franchisee. Articles appeared in the likes of Gizmodo, io9, and Laughing Squid. Hiler even faked an interview with Yahoo, under another cool alias: Timothy San Bernardino.
Throughout the process, Hiler and crew got a lot of attention for Lexington and the agency in which they toil. But when can I really walk into an establishment, get shitfaced on sake and chuck throwing stars, you ask? Well, “maybe we’ll turn this joke into a reality and end up opening the world’s first throwing star range and sake bar later this year,” says Hiler. One thing is for sure though, as we mentioned above, Whit Hiler is a self-promoting ninja.
That’s what countless viewers will be asking when they see the teaser ad promoting Nestle’s new Butterfinger cups, the first new Butterfinger product in five years. Nestle has decided to do away with Butterfinger’s longtime mascot (at least for this campaign), instead opting for something “much more broad” that still keeps with the brand’s “clever, irreverent personality” says Butterfinger brand Manager Jeremy Vandervoet. We’re not sure what prompted the move away from the Simpsons, but the results of Butterfinger’s first Bart-less campaign in ages are a little bizarre.
The spot centers around a couple –Peanut Butter and Chocolate — sitting in the waiting room for “Happy Together Edible Couples Counseling,” following introductory text explaining that “The relationship between Chocolate and Peanut Butter is about to change.” As the couple is looked over by the ornery Fish and Chips, Chocolate asks, “Don’t you think it would be nice to try something new, and crunchy?” The 1:11 ad gets suggestive when the couple eye up a Butterfinger centerfold in Exotic Snacking magazine, and Cheese and Crackers emerge from the therapist’s office holding a comically large and strategically placed sausage. “The cup is about to get crunchy” reads the tagline, before the new Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups are revealed.
While this teaser is not the same as the 30-second spot that will appear in the Super Bowl, it should give you a good idea of what to expect, as the big game spot will reportedly feature the same Edible Couples Counseling theme. We also know what not to expect: Bart Simpson. Keep your eyes peeled during the Super Bowl for Dailey’s new work for Butterfinger, and let us know what you think of the new approach in the comments section.
Update: We’ve received notification that the agency behind this spot was Threshold, not Dailey.
We’ve been getting some tips over the last few days regarding the launch of ‘CommentSpy,’ a new website based on our own (AgencySpy, in case you needed a reminder of where you were). The site’s tagline, “Inside your comments. Derp inside” references our notorious comment section, which is apparently enough of a cesspool of hatred, profanity and self-loathing to spin off a separate site wholly devoted to it. Thanks, commentariat.
Initially, we were going to avoid writing about this thing for fear of being Inception-ed, but then we figured “whatever” and also “fuck it.” Plus, the site’s author(s) made funny twists on our names, which we were incredibly flattered by. So flattered, in fact, that we collectively LOL’d and blushed, batting our eyes in an innocent yet seductive fashion. Anyway, here’s a note we got commemorating the launch of CommentSpy from “kiran@commentspy.com”:
“Dearest Kiran, Bob, Erik & Jordan,
It is with great pleasure that I am emailing you all to announce the launch of CommentSpy.com, the premiere online destination for news from the AgencySpy comments section. We will be covering all the latest AgencySpy comments Monday through Friday, particularly the ones that are mean spirited, willfully ignorant, poorly constructed, racist, misogynistic, or ideally all of the above.
Keep an eye on the site in the days and weeks to come, and feel free to throw up a post about us!
Best,
Kiran Adithands
Throb Darshall
Erik Ostraw
& Jordan Derper”
If you visit CommentSpy.com, you’ll also be greeted by funny Photoshopped versions of our headshots. Finally, can I just say that “Throb Darshall,” is the best name of all? It’s like I have a 70′s detective alter-ego who occasionally makes dalliances into porn when I’m between cases. Thanks to whoever made this and meta world peace to you all!
In exchange for a lifetime supply of Doritos Los Tacos, Tyler agrees to get a tattoo…of a taco…on his arm. It’s relevant because Toronto Taco Bells decided to keep DLT on their menus permanently after a trail run. Aside from the unintended sexual connotations of a taco tattoo, Tyler fails to realize that in a few decades, it’s possible that Taco Bell takes the tacos off their menu (though we’ve been told they’re “permanent” in Canada). Not guaranteed, but possible, and then he has a tattoo of an obsolete offering from Taco Bell. Tyler is maybe 50 or 60 at this point and thriving as an MP in Toronto. If this scenario plays out, does Tyler still get the tacos for life? Would love to get a copy of his contract.
The spot itself, from Toronto shop Grip Limited, is not as exciting as the idea behind it. Fairly simple, guy walks into tattoo parlor, gets tattoo, confirms stereotypes by saying things like, “I’ve been a fan of Taco Bell since I was ten years old,” even though he looks about 26. I’d have to imagine the kind of person who finds this spot cool already eats Doritos Los Tacos regularly, has half-serious plans to move to Colorado or Uruguay, and is probably between the ages of 15-19. If not, then I’ve really overestimated the collective common sense of humanity. Credits after the jump.
Goodby Silverstein and Partners‘ latest work for Frito-Lay is a new campaign promoting Tostitos fajita flavored scoops! tortilla chips and Tostitos queso blanco dip — two products launched around last week’s 2014 Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl — as well as Tostitos cantina thin and crispy toritlla chips and Tostitos cantina chipotle salsa. Entitled “Bring The Party,” the campaign is centered around two new television spots: “Grandma” and “Speaker Dancer” (featured above).
Both spots focus on the over-the-top “O’Hare’s Party Repair” company, who bust in on boring parties to save them with their party expertise. It’s a goofy jab at classic, local home-repair ads that finds the company taking obvious measures like replacing lame snacks with the aforementioned Tostitos products, as well as more drastic ones, like removing grandma from the house for a day or installing a speaker dancer. I think someone forgot that grandmas buy Tostitos, too.
What sets the ads apart is the engagement they offer after the commercials are over. Both the phone number provided and the website are fully operational. At the Bring The Party website, you can find “Pocket Party Repair Tools” such as Conversation Escape Call, Pocket Dancer, and Party Foul Cards, as well as a list of other services. I think we’ve all been to a party that could have benefited from a few Party Foul Cards being handed out. The “Bring The Pary” campaign “also includes digital, social media, in-store activations and public relations.” Stick around for “Grandma” after the jump. continued…
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Daniel O’Connell
