Hasta La Creative!

Nestea has huge cans.

That’s what we take from this latest campaign by Toronto agency Zulu Alpha Kilo, which chose to emphasize the size of said cans and the amount of precious cargo within by extending some of the most awkward possible moments for its teenage protagonists.

The agency, which most recently caught our attention with its brilliant “app to improve agency efficiency“, could keep going with this theme indefinitely.

The potential for embarrassing hilarity would be even greater if the client were, say, Four Loko. Unfortunately, that product as we once knew and not-quite-loved it is no more–and promoting it to its real-world target audience would have been illegal anyway.

Second spot and credits after the jump.

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Zula Alpha Kilo created a new campaign for Interac, promoting their e-Transfer service with a comical website containing historical parodies of various time periods.

The website has three videos featuring Dr. Trapasso, “Doctor of Money Transferology, a man who has dedicated his life to studying money.” Trapasso takes the viewer on a tour of three historical time periods where his mangled historical accounts demonstrate the “perils of archaic money exchange” in attempts at humor that mostly fall flat. One of these, featured above, features Leonardo da Vinci’s failed attempts at getting reimbursed for a pizza he fronted for Michelangelo. The other two videos are in much the same goofy vein, with accounts of the first Olympic games and the westward expansion of Canada.

“People resist change,” exaplains Shari Walczak, Executive Planning Director at Zulu Alpha Kilo. “We know that consumers are not in love with cheques as a form of payment. However, we are creatures of habit and need to be reminded that there’s a better way to exchange money other than cheques or cash,” said Shari, completely ignoring the existence of debit transactions.

Zulu Alpha Kilo’s campaign also includes “video pre-rolls, standard and rich media banner ads, along with paid and organic social media support to tease audiences with the absurdity of these stories” and will run until the spring. The creative is supported with a national digital media campaign handled by Media Experts, as well as a French adaptation for the Quebec marketplace developed by TANK. Stick around for credits and “Let The Games Begin” after the jump.  continued…

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For their latest campaign for Coke Zero,  Zulu Alpha Kilo, along with social media agency Dare, found real hockey stories online using social media and retold them with Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos. The newly released second film in the series, “The Trade,” tells Shawn Warford‘s story of being traded from the team his father coached.

At the beginning of the spot, Stamkos (as Warford) enters his father’s office and is told he is being traded. “You can’t trade me, I’m your son” he replies, followed by an annoying and completely unnecessary voiceover intrusion proclaiming “That’s going to be an awkward car ride home.” Between the terrible acting and gratuitous VO, this is where, if I wasn’t paid to write about it, I would stop watching this ad. To be fair, it does pick up a little bit from here, thanks largely to Bob the zamboni driver.

Bob explains why Kevin Wheeler gives the team exactly what they’re looking for and is the perfect trade. He goes on to enthusiastically extoll the virtues of the team’s new addition at length. A fed up Stamkos asks for the new jersey, which is when the spot slows down to tell us this is his “Moment Zero.” In the first game with his new team, he goes on to score five goals, each dedicated to exacting revenge for a different moment his father pissed him off.  ”It’s a moment he wouldn’t trade for anything,” says the annoying narrator in what is supposed to be the payoff. At least they (eventually) used Stamkos for what he’s good at (scoring goals) after what felt like an eternity of Stamkos struggling through what he’s terrible at (acting). I understand and appreciate the social engagement the “real hockey stories” angle brings to the table, but next time let’s have a higher ratio of hockey to stories. Or get a hockey player that can act, if such a person exists. Credits and the first installment of the “Moment Zero” campaign after the jump. continued…

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Taco Bell wants you to live mas. Corona wants you to live mas fina. If the trend continues, we’re one year away from Walmart telling us to live mejor.

Corona’s Canadian rebranding comes from Toronto-based Zulu Alpha Kilo and its Quebec agency partner, TANK. Let’s tackle all the moving parts: an English campaign with a Spanglish slogan for a Mexican company created by a Canadian agency. If you ever needed proof of NAFTA, there you go.

The debut spot, which runs sixty seconds, clearly targets younger demographics of drinkers and asks them to live life without regret. Surf, protest deforestation, look at aurora borealis, etc. While you’re experiencing the etc., you should also drink Corona. It’s silly to associate Corona with “the finer life,” but the commercial is well done and effectively sentimental, according to the viewer response on Youtube. I’d have to agree, even if there are no beaches.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

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