Hasta La Creative!

LONDON – Keith Jones, the former group leader of UK services at Acxiom, is to join data management company Qbase as its first commercial director.

(TrendHunter.com) The tankless Neorest AH by Japanese Toto is a water-saving hybrid toilet that uses both inboard and outside water sources of about 5.5 litres per flush campared to the wasteful 13 litres used by traditional tank-type models.

Other features include warm water and gentle warm-air drying built into th…

LONDON – Unicef hopes to raise vital funds through the global rollout of its virtual gift-giving programme, Inspired Gifts.

Orbital founder Paul Hartnoll has created the soundtrack for the latest Volkswagen Golf ad by DDB.

(TrendHunter.com) The unique and sexy “Her” Chair by designer Fabio Novembre draws inspiration from the body of a curvy female. The design has the right curves and contours to hug your body for an exciting and comfortable rest.

The “Her” Chair, which is being produced by Casamania, is currently showcased at the Mila…

LONDON – Fun Text, a mobile phone application that combines the text-based content of SMS with the rich media of MMS, is to provide its service to customers of mobile phone network 3.

LONDON – A former college classmate of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is taking legal action against the billionaire entrepreneur, seeking to cancel Facebook’s legal claim to its name.

LONDON – Amazon will create 1000 new jobs in the UK with more to follow with the opening of its distribution centre in Swansea.

A Woman’s hand can heal, teach, inspire, and comfort.
It can also deliver a wicked head-slap when the ref’s not looking.

Advertising Agency: Garrison Hughes, Pittsburgh USA
Creative Directors: Bill Garrison, David Hughes
Art Director: Corinne Stenander
Copywriter: Michael Giunta
Photography: Corbis
Published: April 2008

Via ScampBlog comes this spot from Fallon’s UK office for Budweiser. The one thing that jumps out immediately is that it’s a :60 (when was the last time you saw a :60 in the US that wasn’t a launch spot for a major brand.)

The second is that it’s another in a line of UK TV spots that fetishize the rural American South (Levi’s UK advertising did a good job of this.) Not criticizing, but it’s always fascinating to see an outsider’s take on something uniquely American. To the Brits, the rural South is uniquely and authentically American.

Third is there’s no product sell. It’s a nice minute-long movie about a band that uses instruments made of Budweiser bottles. No lovingly lit pour shots, no hot chicks in bikinis and all the other clichés of American beer advertising. Shot by Harmony Korine, a noted avant-garde movie director best know for his debut film Kids, my only question here is what role did the agency actually play? Did they come to Korine with the idea “rural Southern band plays with instruments made from Budweiser bottles. Go.” Or did they have the basic action plotted out and Korine just added detail, tone and style? I sort of hope it’s the former.

For although many creative purists will look down on an agency for engaging a director at that stage, one of the biggest lessons we have to learn from the digital age is that it can’t always be about the copywriter and art director team anymore. That we need to engage and involve other people– be they technologists, user experience experts or film directors– early on and collaborate with them fully. The result can be something as charming as the spot above.