Hasta La Creative!

In the latest ad alluding to the 2016 Presidential Election, 180LA mocks Donald Trump and his border wall plan in “The Wall” for camera company 360fly.

The spot imagines a future where Trump is president and his border wall a reality, as Trump gives a self-congratulatory speech at the wall’s unveiling. An audience member, meanwhile, uses a 360fly camera’s 360-degree capabilities to capture all the action that Trump seems oblivious to.

While Trump is both an obvious and deserving target for satire, this particular parody falls a bit flat, although the actor portraying Trump does seem to have some of his mannerisms down and the speech does fit the familiar pattern from the prospective GOP nominee. Anything Trump-related is likely to garner its fair share of interest, and while there’s a certain risk it could obscure, rather than highlight, the brand in question, 180LA ties things to 360fly well with the “Get a broader perspective” tagline.

“The idea of building a wall is so narrow-minded, it deserves to be lampooned,” 180LA CCO William Gelner told Adweek. “And it’s perfect for making the point about the importance of having a bigger perspective, which is the promise of the camera. Essentially, this is just a product demo spot dropped into the middle of a highly charged political issue. The spot demonstrates just how ridiculous and narrow-minded the notion is of building a wall. Broaden out a little—life’s too big for one perspective.”

Credits:

Client: 360FLY
CEO: Peter Adderton
Chief Marketing Officer: Todd Waks
Chief Creative Officer: Scott Anderson

Agency: 180LA
Global CEO: Mike Allen
Chief Creative Officer: William Gelner
Creative Director/Art Director: Adam Groves
Creative Director/Copywriter: Zac Ryder
Managing Director: Chad Bettor
Head of Production: Natasha Wellesley
Executive Producer: Calleen Colburn
Brand Director: Mike Slatkin
Head of Business Affairs: Loretta Zolliecoffer

Production Co.: MJZ
Director: Mike Maguire
President: David Zander
DP: Bob Richardson
Sr. Executive Producer: Eriks Krumins
Line Producer: Tracy Broaddus
Production Designer: Alexis Ross
Stylist: Ric Renae Hughes
Shoot Location: Big Sky Ranch, Simi Valley
Shoot Date: May 9, 2016

Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Rick Lawley
Executive Producer: Joni Wright
Producer: Jennifer Mersis
Assistant Editor: Lauren Richardson

Online/VFX: The Mill NY
Executive Producer: Sean Costelloe
Producer: Jacqueline Sand
Color Producer: Diane Valera
Colourist: Adam Scott
VFX Supervisors: Jade Kim, Steve Cokonis
2D lead: Jade Kim
3D lead: Wyatt Saverese
2D artists: Sung Eun Moon, Alex Wysota, Mina Mir, Yoon-Sun Bae
3D artists: Christine Kim, Todd Akita, Cole Clark, Tim Kim, Ivan Joy
Finishing artist: Lee Towndrow
Recording Mix
Recording Studio: Eleven Sound
Mixer: Jeff Payne
Executive Producer: Suzanne Hollingshead/Melissa Elston
Assistant Mixers: A.J. Murillo, Jordan Meltzer
Music/Sound Design
Music Co: We Are Walker
Sound Design: Beta Petrol

180 LA crafted a holiday effort for Expedia entitled “Santa Flies Coach,” where Kris Kringle ditches the sleigh and travels around the world via more conventional means.

Santa visits Honolulu, Tokyo, Dubai, Paris and Dublin en route to his final destination. Everywhere he goes people are, of course, delighted to see the jolly, white-bearded symbol of Christmas, but viewers may be wondering by now why exactly Santa has ditched his sleigh. The spot takes a heartwarming turn with that reveal as Santa arrives at his final destination: “For one week Santa flew around the world, because now the points we earn traveling can be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital” appears onscreen as Santa visits patients at the hospital. It’s a heartwarming message, made all the more so by its unexpectedness in the wake of the cheery beginning of the ad. And the reveal, rather than feeling cheap, offers a satisfactory explanation furthering our understanding of what preceded it. A lot of holiday efforts shoot for this kind of feeling, but few attempt to actually motivate viewers toward specific charitable action, which makes “Santa Flies Coach” all the more admirable. (more…)

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Confession: we’re still not quite sure what Zumba is.

Many face the same dilemma despite the fact that the company “counts 15 million weekly dance class participants in a 180 countries worldwide.” For this reason, Zumba enlisted 180LA to remind viewers what it’s all about, and the resulting spot — which debuted yesterday — is energetic enough to qualify as a public health hazard:

The main concept here is to promote Zumba to the public at large rather than catering to the sort of “gym junkies with unattainable bodies” that you might meet at, say, a Diplo set in L.A.

For the record, we also appreciate the presence of “nightclub bouncer” and “pudgy middle management dude” to subtly counter the idea that Zumba is a strictly-for-women phenomenon.

More info and credits below.

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After their amusing spot featuring a basketball player juggling a couple of extra balls, Boost Mobile and 180LA are back together once again, this time emphasizing the savings Boost customers can get. In three short videos, we see various stealing scenarios: a man on the subway gets pickpocketed, a city guy leaps over fences to evade a mugger, a woman has her purse snatched on the sidewalk. But by the end of each ad, the victim has money handed back to them, showing that “Boost Mobile puts cash back in your pocket, literally.”

It’s a good concept, and the little song that shifts each scene into celebration coupled with the actors’ yay-I’m-richer-than-I-thought smiles makes these spots sweet. I only wish they could have cast at least one white thief. Sure, they’re all good guys in the end, but these spots still reinforce tired racial stereotypes. We can do better.

Credits and the rest of the videos after the jump.

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In light of the “no homo” press conference from Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert, this new Boost Mobile basketball spot from 180LA may strike some sensitive nerves. However, the humor is handled with enough subtlety to tiptoe around accusations of offensiveness. There’s also a really well-timed nuts joke that might make you chuckle if you are into such sectors of comedy.

In the commercial, one unlucky defender gets posterized on in a pick-up basketball game, and to make things worse, his face gets an up-close view of the sweaty dunker’s crotch. For those who aren’t basketball aficionados, there was actually a name for such a move – balls on your head – that became popular in the 1990s when young NBA players like Darius Miles would dunk on a guy. After the dunk, the player would run down the court celebrating like this (I’m not making this up). Whether Boost Mobile knows it or not, they are bringing back forgotten basketball treasure. The commercial is probably making some subconscious statement about the intersection of black, gay, and youth cultures, but as a consumer product, it’s really just funny. You see, Tyler, the Creator, it’s possible to make an effective ad without relying on stereotypes. Credits after the jump.

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