Breaking a bottle over somebody's head is one way of using beer to deliver a message. Now, Andes has developed a less violent option.
Just scan the QR codes—remember those?—on an Andes label to download an app that lets you record a short video and assign it to that bottle. Give the bottle to someone, and they can play the video by scanning the same code. The messages live in the cloud, and they self-destruct once they're played. (Not that you'd record anything actionable at a party or bar, where you might get wasted and decide to try this whole bottle-video thing.)
"Message in a Bottle" is the latest in a series of innovative ideas for the Argentinian brewer from Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi. Depending on your level of alcohol consumption, you may recall campaigns featuring wacky gimmicks like a teletransporter and friend recovery unit. Such efforts fuse advertising and technology in silly but creative ways to give users a novel experience in the offline world.
For this latest installment, Del Campo launched a pair of amusing ads to illustrate that "It's easier to say it with Andes." Messages range from "I only married you to get citizenship" and "I've been stealing your wifi for a year" to the revelation that your mom and best bro are hooking up.
Actually, you may have to bop yourself in the face a few times with a bottle to process that one.
More top publishers are opting into programmatic ad networks to sell premium advertising.
Varick Media Management recently signed deals with Time Inc., News Corp., American Media Inc. and Wenner Media and will help them sell ad units that feature photography, videos and other types of media for their websites.
"There still is a large segment of the market that views programmatic as the remnant stuff," said VMM vp of product strategy Jim Caruso. "But it can be used as a holistic part of your strategy."
Currently, real-time bidding programmatic rules the market, making up $9.25 billion out of the $10 billion industry. But, direct programmatic buying is taking over more of the space, growing 850 percent in 2014 to make up $800 million of the pie.
One of the benefits of going programmatic is that publishers can access data that they wouldn't get via traditional ad buying, Caruso explained. VMM can combine its data with publisher first-party data to guarantee better hit rates for key audiences. Not only do people get the right ad at the right time, they see high impact creative that can be targeted across a media company's family of sites.
"I think that everyone should move to automation because it's more efficient," Caruso said.
Patrick Dolan, evp and COO of the IAB, added that programmatic marketplaces aren't really about what type of ad content is being sold, but about the process. He isn't surprised by the growing number of media companies shifting to automated buying.
"Adoption of these transactions and strategies will continue to grow in the coming year and the (IAB) Programmatic Council will continue its focus in these areas," he said.
Altimeter analyst Rebecca Lieb said that it was natural that publishers would want scalable and more efficient ways to purchase premium inventory, but cautioned that not everyone views programmatic as favorably as VMM does.
"As in the physical world, terming something premium implies there's a level of thought and manual attention that's almost antithetical to the concept of 'programmatic,'" she said. "Definitions of these terms vary, of course, but there's no doubt that 'premium programmatic' is a trend still in its very early stages of development."
It's a sign of the times that some freelance directors can make a gay-themed spec ad for a major brand, and that brand not only doesn't go ballistic and have it taken off YouTube—it goes on the record saying it rather enjoyed it.
The Merkin Bros. filmed the spot below, which has gotten a couple hundred thousand YouTube views since mid-December. The title says it's a "leaked" ad, though of course it's clearly spec—the production values, particularly the sound, aren't on the same level as a real Taco Bell ad.
And while the gay theme seems a bit forced, the ad is likable enough.
Taco Bell liked it, anyway. "We didn't create this ad, but we can see the people who did share the same Live Mas passion for our brand—and our breakfast—as we do," the brand told Mediaite."Although we cannot condone unauthorized use of our intellectual property, we are impressed with their work and would be open to meeting with them."
That last sentence is a bit schizophrenic, but this is obviously a win for the Merkin Bros.
"The piece was shot in one day with a minimal amount of borrowed gear. We've been shooting guerrilla style for so long, we pulled off filming in an actual Taco Bell without being noticed," Austyn Jeffs, who's part of the Merkin collective, tells AdFreak.
Of the spot's gay theme, he adds: "We don't have any lofty, grand thesis, but it sometimes feels advertising permits only a narrow lens for a country that's so wonderfully diverse. It was a fun social experiment, and we didn't quite realize it would get such a strong reaction, and we're really happy with the response. We're ready to see advertising on the whole to be a lot more inclusive—and we're such big fans of Taco Bell, thought it would be a understanding company to partner those ideals with."
DDB Stockholm and copywriter Magnus Jakobsson, masters of surreal McDonald's marketing, are back with another quirky long-copy print ad narrated by McDonald's food.
You may remember their defense of cheese, narrated by cheese, from 2012. (As if cheese needed any defense.) Well, now they've moved on to the lowly pickle. Or rather, the formerly lowly pickle, as this particular chatty gherkin—like him or hate him—has risen above his station by being included in McDonald's burgers.
Click the image below to see a larger version of the ad.
The copy feels a little stilted this time around, particularly compared with the more amusing cheese ad. And some people will see the whole concept as little more than a creative wank. Still, it's always nice to see a major marketer doing something legitimately offbeat—even when it doesn't quite work.
Can't we all just get along? McDonald's thinks so—and pushes global harmony hard in its new brand campaign, which refreshes the long-running "I'm lovin' it" tagline by putting more focus on the lovin'.
The animated launch ad from Leo Burnett is called "Archenemies," and features pop-culture foes suddenly finding peace. We get cameos from Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West; Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner; Pacman and Ghost; Batman and the Joker; Bears and Packers; etc.—all of whom are in a remarkably forgiving mood. (Even Democrats and Republicans are seen embracing, so, you know, don't take the message too literally.)
"Choose Lovin', " says on-screen text, followed by "I'm lovin' it."
McDonald's has never really leaned that hard into the idea of love—not like Coke has done lately with happiness, for instance. It's often focused on the "I'm" and "it" parts of the line instead of the "lovin' " part. But the brand thinks the time is right for a shift.
"We recognize, and our customers do too, all the negativity that surrounds daily life and we are choosing to celebrate lovin' more," it says in a statement. "McDonald's is in a unique position to use its scale to bring back the positivity with more uplifting content and conversations in the lovin' spirit."
More than anything, "Archenemies" feels like Oreo's "Wonderfilled" launch spot from a couple of years back—just with more subdued animation and a cute though not-quite-as-catchy tune. (Here it's the 2010 track "Love Is Endless" by Mozella.)
Of course, McDonald's carries a lot of baggage that can get in the way of this message of love. (Put more bluntly, a lot of people hate McDonald's.) But the brand feels like it's on to something here. The refresh will include new uniforms, new packaging, new signage in restaurants and a new focus on being more responsive in social media—which is in line with the transparency campaign it's been running lately.
"Each day, we hope to do our part to put just a little more lovin' in the world because a little more lovin' can change a lot," the brand says. (This doesn't mean always being sappy or soft-sell, either. Another newly released spot, for the Big Mac, posted below, immediately takes a playful dig at vegetarians—and couldn't be more product focused.)
Can "I'm lovin' it" really become "We're all lovin' each other"? It's a gamble for a brand with so many haters. But bringing the tagline into better focus could unlock some interesting creative ideas. Here's hoping they're wonderfilled.
CREDITS
Client: McDonald's
Agency: Leo Burnett
See full credits at the bottom of this story.
The Big Mac spot:
McDonald's U.S. CMO Deborah Wahl explains the brand refresh:
In-restaurant signage:
New packaging:
CREDITS
Client: McDonald's
Agency: Leo Burnett
Campaign: "A Little More Lovin' Can Change a Lot"
Spot: "Archenemies"
Chief Creative Officer: Susan Credle
Executive Creative Director: John Hansa
Creative Director: Tony Katalinic
Interactive Creative Director:
ACD/Copywriter: Jonathan Fussell
ACD/Art Director: Robin Laurens
Group Executive Producer: Denis Giroux
Senior Producer: Bridget Rose
Account Director: Jennifer Cacioppo
Account Supervisor: Jennifer Klopf
Account Executive: Krystle Wahnschaffe
Planning Director: Sarah Patterson
Strategist: Claudia Steer
Production Company: Buck TV
Buck Executive Creative Director: Ryan Honey
Buck Executive Producer: Maurie Enochson
Buck Sr Producer : Nick Terzich
Buck Coordinators: Kaitlyn Mahoney, Anica Cramer
Buck Creative Director: Josh Harvey
Buck ACD: Jenny Ko
Buck Animation Designer: Ariel Da Costa
Buck Designers: Yuki Yamada, Gunnar Pettersson, XoanaHerrera, Jenny Ko, Kenesha Sneed, Trevor Conrad, Joe Mullen
Buck Animators: Ariel Da Costa, Esteban Esquivo, Tak Hosogane, Nick Petley, Daniel Couthino, Chris Anderson, Moses Journey, Justin Mays, Alex Perry
Music: "Love Is Endless" Performed by MoZella written by Maureen Anne McDonald and Tim Myers
Music Company (editorial, FX, 5 notes): Comma Music
Audio: Another Country, John Binder
The checkout screen at the gas station knows more about you than you think.
Illustration: Shaw Nielsen
As the gas station clerk scanned each of the snacks I purchased during a recent road trip with my family, the screen recommended various other items based on my demonstrated preferences. This seems simple and normal to most of us. However, when you take a step back and think of all that is going on behind the scenes—and screens— it's amazing. The screen is connected to the point of purchase, which is tied to an algorithm that generates recommendations based on inventory and pricing systems that take into account what is in stock and within my reaching distance. I didn't have to get out of line to grab the items I might have otherwise forgot, and the store's sales go up, all in seconds.
What has traditionally been among life's more mundane routines, paying for gas and snacks is now a moment that matters. Behind the curtain is a CMO who has connected seemingly disparate systems and data to create a customized experience for me, rather than a mundane transaction.
I've been to enough industry conferences in the past 24 months to know that most CMOs and their agency partners are scrambling to implement data systems and customer intelligence solutions to fulfill this new job description. Whether it's a new mobile app, a multichannel content strategy or a cloud-based analytics suite to measure campaign performance, CMOs are trying to figure out how it all fits into the marketing mix and how to raise top-line sales.
It's not enough to focus on the big picture and rely on other teams to cover off on what used to be called "below the line" activities. Today's CMO has to have a handle on everything that touches the marketing cycle. CMOs need to know if and what traditional advertising, digital advertising, social media and mobile marketing their customer is exposed to. They need to understand analytics, psychology and media planning and buying. They also need to have a basic understanding of IT and how to fit all these dissimilar nodes of information together to paint a complete picture of their customers.
One common mistake organizations make in generating these moments is to appoint separate roles to govern the digital aspects of marketing, from the operational level on up to senior executives with titles like Chief Digital Officer and Digital CMO. The fact is that today nothing in marketing should lie outside the digital domain. Traditional marketing efforts around creative strategy, broadcast, print and direct mail are infinitely more effective when informed by the same insights that drive your digital strategy.
The insights CMOs gather from one discipline should inform the other. Where do those insights come from? Data.
Every marketing initiative a CMO executes has to be bound by and grounded in data, and the modern CMO should be at the table with the CIO and other key stakeholders including legal and risk management to ensure their company uses consumer data effectively and responsibly. This is a task of increasing importance and difficulty. Marketers often grab for the first tool they can find to solve a problem without due consideration for long-term issues like security, compatibility and consumer trust. Compounding the issue is the fact that many marketing and sales tools are immediately available through my cloud, allowing them to be adopted without a capital expenditure or lengthy deployment process.
That convenience is seductive, but if CMOs are not careful and don't optimize for the consumer experience, the cost vs. benefit balance can be thrown out of whack and lead to long-term consumer pain. Also, data from these discrete systems can also turn out to be incompatible or inaccessible. Lastly, cost will be the least of your problems if data security becomes an issue. The old adage, "hurry but don't rush," must become a key CMO mantra.
Wherever you look, the walls between IT and marketing are coming down. CMOs who separate marketing from consumer activity, online media from offline, or a cash register from the consumer do so at their own peril. Successful CMOs are the ones who transform those once overlooked moments—like a gas station checkout—into something customized and personal, a moment that matters.
Frank Holland is corporate vice president of advertising and online business for Microsoft.
When we heard the news that Rogue was releasing Sriracha Hot Stout Beer, we were intrigued. We promptly ordered a six-pack to find out how this bizarre flavor combination would taste.
Being a fan of both Huy Fong's staple hot sauce—and well, all beer—I was eager to crack one. My initial thoughts? The bottle features an absolutely perfect version of the iconic sriracha rooster label, updated with Rogue's language. Get a bottle for your hot-sauce-loving friends, and they'll decorate their cubicles or man caves with it.
Taste-wise, it's definitely drinkable. It's a rich stout with a tiny kick that hits you after the aftertaste. Would I order one in a bar? Um, if I saw "Sriracha Beer" on a menu anywhere, I'd order one in a heartbeat. Would I order a second one? Probably not. A session beer it is not. But it's a reasonable guess that Rogue doesn't think so either, given that the drink is only sold in single 750 ml bottles.
But don't just take my word for it—we invited some members of the Adweek team to taste test this spicy beer in the video above.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015, Gatorade put together quite the impressive highlight reel, featuring 50 memorable sports moments from the past half-century—all in 60 seconds.
The spot, from TBWA\Chiat\Day, broke on Christmas Day and will continue airing through next Monday's college football championship game.
Directed by HSI's Brendan Malloy and Emmett Malloy, it opens with footage of the 1965 Florida Gators football team, the birthplace of Gatorade. From there, it counts up to 50—the players are heard chanting as they do push-ups—with a different sports figure or moment seen on screen, relating to each number.
It's pretty hypnotic. In fact, it's hard to take it all in, which may actually help keep people engaged over multiple viewings. And speaking of which, we get to see Michael Jordan no fewer than four times, as befits the brand's first sports endorser. He gets Nos. 23 and 45 (his two NBA jerseys), as well No. 6 (NBA titles) and No. 38 (his points in the famous "Flu Game" in the 1997 finals).
CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day
Chief Creative Officer: Stephen Butler
Executive Creative Director: Brent Anderson
Creative Director: Renato Fernandez
Creative Director: Gustavo Sarkis
Creative Director: Mark Peters
Associate Creative Director: Doug Menezes
Executive Producer: Sarah Patterson
Integrated Producer: Garrison Askew
Executive Project Manager: Karen Thomas
Project Manager: Mark Diaz
Managing Director: Peter Ravailhe
Brand Director: Sarah Lamberson
Brand Director: Simon Nicholls
Brand Manager: Robyn Morris
Associate Brand Manager: Ralph Lee
Sports Marketing: Erika Buder
Account Group Assistant: Samantha Sabine
Group Planning Director: Scott MacMaster
Planning Director: Martin Ramos
Senior Planner: Rebecca Harris
Planner: Matt Bataclan
Director of Business Affairs: Linda Daubson
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Laura Drabkin
Talent Payment Manager: Mirielle Smith
Senior Traffic Manager: Jerry Neill
Production Company: HSI
Directors: Brendan Malloy and Emmett Malloy
Executive Producer: Roger Zorovich
Producer John Hardin
DP: Tim Hudson
Stock Footage Research : Stalkr
Editorial: Whitehouse Post
Executive Producer: Joni Williamson
Producer Jonlyn Williams
Editor: Charlie Harvey
Assistant Editor: Devon Bradbury
Post EFX: Carbon
Executive Producer: : Marlo Baird Kinsey
Creative Director: Chris Noellert
Flame: Chris Moore, Pete Mayor, Michael Vaglienty
Graphic Design: Ryan Wehner
Associate Producer: Nick Vassil
Music: Beacon Music
Sound Design : Barking Owl
Final Mix: Lime Studios
Mixer: Rohan Young
You might remember Newcastle Brown Ale's antics around last year's Super Bowl—a little stunt from Droga5 called "If We Made It" that imagined what a Newcastle Super Bowl ad might have looked like if they could have afforded one.
Given that success, Newcastle obviously had to screw with this year's game, too. And so it begins its 2015 Super Bowl ambush with the video below—in which the brewer, which still doesn't have $4 million lying around, pretends to crash a certain "Crash the Super Bowl" contest by a certain unnamed snack maker (OK, Doritos), so that it can get on the Super Bowl for free.
Newcastle's fake Doritos ad, also made by Droga5, is amusingly bad—which frankly is a step up from some of the actual Doritos finalists, which are short on the amusing part. It's full of stupidly obvious Newcastle product placement, in keeping with the brand's ethos of undercutting typical marketing tactics. There's even a case study (see below) about the "failed attempt to infiltrate a snack chip contest."
"We had such a good time almost making that Huge Sports Match ad last year, we decided we'd stop at nothing to finally make our way into the Really Large American Football Contest in 2015. Even if we still can't afford it," the brand tells us.
It's a bit of a convoluted premise—Newcastle's meta anti-advertising stunts often have a kind of pretzel-like structure to them. But the brand confirms there's more silliness to come in the next few weeks, so it should be fun to see what else they have in store.
CREDITS
Client: Newcastle Brown Ale
Campaign: Newcastle: Chores. A beer ad disguised as a snack chip ad.
Title: Chores
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Scott Bell
Senior Art Director: Dan Kenneally
Senior Copywriter: Ryan Raab
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Senior Broadcast Producer: David Cardinali
Broadcast Producer: Bill Berg
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Head of Strategy: Chet Gulland
Strategist: Nick Maschmeyer
Social Strategist: Rebecca Russell
Communications Strategist: Kevin Wang
Group Account Director: Dan Gonda
Account Director: Nadia Malik
Account Manager: Ashton Atlas
Client: Heineken USA, Newcastle Brown Ale
Senior Director, Portfolio Brands: Charles Van Es
Brand Director: Priscilla Dohnert
Brand Manager: Brett Steen
Production Company: Droga5 Studios | Film
Director: Mike Long
Line Producer: Jessica Bermingham
DP: Brian Lannin
For anyone who thinks playing ice hockey strapped into a sled is easier than playing it standing up, Gatorade would like to set the record straight.
Last August, the sports brand (with help from TBWA Toronto) enlisted NHL players like Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers to surprise the Cruisers, a team of sled hockey players, with some fresh—and, a new video shows, relatively amateur—competition.
The concept is something like a cross between Guinness's 2013 "Basketball" ad, which saw able-bodied men strap themselves into wheelchairs for a game of hoops with a disabled friend, and a 2012 Budweiser reality-style spot in which the brand treated recreational ice hockey players to the pro treatment, like stands full of screaming fans.
Scott Hartnell of the Columbus Blue Jackets add some extra credibility—and a little comedy—to the proceedings, when he nearly eats the ice. But mostly it's nice to see the sledge hockey players get a chance to face off and trash talk with some of their icons—and ultimately, get their own moment in the spotlight.
Perspectives from the players:
Perspectives from the sledge athletes:
Highlights of the game itself:
CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWA Toronto
Executive Creative Director - Allen Oke
Creative Director - Gerald Kugler
Creative Director - Rodger Eyre
Writer – Robbie Percy
Art Director – Caitlin Gauthier
Producer - Lauren Sloan
Account Supervisor - Andrew Harris
Account Director - Patrick Lemoine
Director - Lionel Coleman
Line Producer - Adam McCloy
Production House - Wilfrid Park
Exec Producer - Tuula Hopp
Editor - Ross Birchall @ Saints
Post Producer @ Saints - Stephanie Hickman
Transfer - Tricia Hagoriles @ Alter Ego
Audio/Music - Adam Damelin @ The Eggplant
Producer @ Eggplant - Nicola Treadgold
Online Editor - Sean Cochrane @ The Vanity
Exec Producer @ The Vanity - Stephanie Pennington
Shirley Mukerjea - Director of Marketing - Gatorade
Sean Cauterman - Associate Marketing Manager - Gatorade
NHLPA
Devin Smith - Director, Marketing and Community Relations
Paul Drake
SDI
Dave Adams - Account Manager
Theresa Martel - Client Services Director
McDonald's really wants people to think it cares about community. But go figure, not everyone is convinced.
The brand's new ad from Leo Burnett, which aired Sunday during NFL games and on the Golden Globe Awards, focuses on McDonald's franchises that have, over the past 20 years, used their roadside signs to support, celebrate or otherwise acknowledge local and national events, both happy and tragic—everything from 9/11 to the homecoming of troops to a nearby base to Boston's spirit in the wake of the marathon bombing to the 30th wedding anniversary of a couple who've celebrated every year of marriage at a McDonald's. (The campaign includes a Tumblr page that explains some of the more specific examples.)
The centerpiece spot, part of a broader brand refresh that began with the quite well-liked "Archenemies" ad, got a less-than-enthusiastic response on Twitter during NBC's Globes telecast."McDonald's is presenting itself as the face of corporate kindness? PAY YOUR EMPLOYEES A LIVING WAGE," said one detractor, in a post retweeted more than 80 times. Said another,"@McDonalds I just threw up in my mouth watching your commercial… Desperate attempt to rescue your image."
To be fair, some viewers enjoyed the spot. "This McDonald's marquee sign is fantastic!" tweeted the handle of Des Moines radio station Star 102.5. But the backlash around the fair pay debate is predictable, given the high profile of the recent Fight for 15 protests. And that makes a sign like "Keep Jobs in Toledo" seem kind of tone deaf, even if it technically refers to a nearby factory at risk of closure.
Plus, the soundtrack—a children's choir covering indie pop band Fun's "Carry On"—makes such a clumsy grab for the audience's heartstrings that it's hard not to think of crocodile tears. In the words of another viewer, "I'm not lovin' it."
See more of the Twitter reaction below. What do you think of the ad?
LOVIN' IT
Call me a chump, but I loved that McDonald's ad. #GoldebGlobes
Newcastle Brown Ale keeps finding new and interesting ways not to appear on the Super Bowl. This year it's already tried crashing the Doritos contest (sort of). And now it's gotten Aubrey Plaza on board to introduce a truly, audaciously stupid idea: getting small brands everywhere to all go in on a Super Bowl spot together.
"Instead of blowing Newcastle's marketing budget, let's team up to blow all of our marketing budgets!" the 30-year-old Parks and Recreation star says in the video below about Newcastle's so-called "Band of Brands" idea.
Because what could be more compelling for any brand than to share 30 seconds of airtime (price tag: $4.5 million) with 20 or 30 other brands?
Interested parties should head to NewcastleBandOfBrands.com, where you can, according to Plaza, "find out how our brand can help your brand help our brand, most importantly."
The agency recently relocated its New York headquarters from the NoHo neighborhood to 120 Wall St., the hub of the Financial District. The new facility spans 92,000 square feet and five floors, including two penthouse floors, and houses 320-plus employees who work with clients such as Chobani, Honey Maid, Newcastle Brown Ale and Under Armour.
In the video above, group account director Steven Panariello walks us through Droga5's new office.
Following in the footsteps of other omnipresent consumer brands with something arty to prove, Pepsi MAX made a huge mess with mousetraps and Ping-Pong balls for a video it calls "Chain Reaction."
With the help of London filmmakers HarrimanSteel, a perfect grid of mousetraps was laid out, with a Ping-Pong ball balanced on each one. After all that work, a single ball was launched under some of the most dramatic lighting I've ever seen to upset the whole display. The ball then rolls down a big science-museum funnel into another Ping-Pong ball/mousetrap installation, this one with colored spheres.
All this happens to the beat of music that sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks' take on dubstep, and I don't know how to feel about that at all.
I shouldn't like the more pretentious visual choices being made here, but I do, because it's fun to watch huge companies clutch their pearls at the thought of being a constant, low-humming presence in the back of consumers' minds. I'm not sure it justifies the filmmakers hugging at the end like they've landed a rover on Mars, though.
Tostitos would like you to know that Chip Kelly, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, is not the official chip of the NFL—because Tostitos is.
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is out with a new series of 10 pre-roll ads, 15 seconds each, riffing on the pun. Chip Kelly, the story goes, is not happy about the lack of respect.
Overall, they're pretty cheesy, which is appropriate, because who doesn't love nachos? But the highlights are probably Kelly getting kicked out of a shopping cart, an Eagles player following calls from a bag of Tostitos, and a security guard strong-arming the campaign's announcer.
The spots mark Kelly's advertising debut, though—so at least he can add that to his résumé.
Deutsch LA unleashes some potent adorbs for Dr Pepper in this ad starring a super-shaggy "mop dog"—a Hungarian herding pooch known as a Puli with a dreadlock-style corded coat.
Try as it might, our lovable hero just can't seem to fit in. The stray hitches a ride with a Dr Pepper delivery dude, played by Domingo Molina, who memorably essayed a villain in early episodes of Breaking Bad, and they head for the pound. Will the guy keep the misfit pooch, validating the brand's new tagline, "Always be one of a kind," and giving us a three-hanky happy ending? C'mon, Krazy-8, what's your play?
This stuff is hokey and sentimental, manipulative in the extreme—one more example of a brand taking the easiest route to play on consumers' emotions. (Why not just drive the beast to the Super Bowl so it can frolic with the cuddly canine commercial stars from Anheuser-Busch and Go Daddy?)
That said, director Simon McQuoid of Imperial Woodpecker unfurls the tale, and the tail, with understated aplomb. And that scrappy scamp is so darn cute … sniff … I can barely see the screen as I type this.
Oh man, that mop dog will wring every last tear from your eyes.
Bud Light on Friday released the 15-second teaser below for its upcoming 60-second Super Bowl commercial, in which—as promised—a man accepts a challenge to play a crazy, life-size game of Pac-Man.
As seen in the teaser, the dare is written on the label of his Bud Light bottle. That ties into a new Anheuser-Busch packaging campaign that began in December, in which Bud Light bottles now come with almost 50 different "Up for Whatever" messages to inspire drinkers to be more spontaneous and fun.
In the full 60-second Super Bowl spot, titled "Coin," from EnergyBBDO, the man follows the hint on his bottle and "finds himself in a giant Pac-Man maze, having the time of his life," says the brand.
The work builds on Bud Light's buzzy 2014 Super Bowl campaign "Epic Night," which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Don Cheadle and took the brand away from its usual scripted jokes and into dynamic real-life stunts. This year's campaign will be supported by a three-day House of Whatever event in Arizona, near the site of the Super Bowl.
In addition to the Bud Light spot, A-B plans to air two 60-second Budweiser ads (one of them a sequel to last year's chart-topping "Puppy Love") on the Feb. 1 Super Bowl telecast.
Lots of big brands are all about distilling their essence down to a single basic universal theme. For Coca-Cola, it's happiness. McDonald's is trying to go with loving. And now Oreo is zeroing in on the concept of play—in new ads and in consumers' lives.
The Mondelez brand on Tuesday launches a new campaign (still under the "Wonderfilled" platform) called "Play With Oreo." "Fans have always played with Oreo in a number of unique ways by twisting, licking, dunking, rolling, stacking and dipping the cookie. Now, the brand is on a mission to inspire imagination and play around the globe, not only with the cookie itself, but in consumers' everyday lives," Oreo tells us.
We'll see how that plays out. The campaign begins with a new animated "Wonderfilled" commercial from The Martin Agency featuring music by the French electro-pop duo Yelle. The ad, which breaks next Monday in the U.S. in 15- and 30-second formats, will run in more than 40 countries, including China, the U.K., Indonesia, France and Argentina.
Also great news for Oreo fans: Just in time for Valentine's Day, the brand is rolling out Red Velvet Oreos with cream cheese-flavored centers—the first new Oreo cookie flavor since the debut of the Golden OREO. They hit store shelves on Feb. 2 for a limited time, or you can visit OREORedVelvetRope.com for a chance to get an early taste.
Credits for the TV spot below.
CREDITS
Client: Oreo, Mondelez International
Vice President, Global Biscuit Category: Jason Levine
Vice President, Brand Strategy and Communications: Jill Baskin
Senior Director, Oreo and Chips Ahoy: Janda Lukin
Oreo Global Brand Manager: Flavio Ackel
Oreo Senior Associate Brand Manager: Kerri McCarthy
Agency: The Martin Agency
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
Senior Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Jorge Calleja
Vice Presidents, Creative Directors: David Muhlenfeld, Magnus Hierta
Vice President, Group Planning Director: John Gibson
Strategic Planner: Gigi Jordan
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Account Director: John Campbell
Senior Vice President, Group Acct Director: Darren Foot
Vice Presidents, Account Directors: Leslie Hodgin, Britta Dougherty
Account Supervisor: Molly Holmes
Executive Vice President, Managing Director Production, Development: Steve Humble
Producer: Heather Tanton
Junior Producer: Maggie Shifflett
Group Project Management Supervisor: Giao Roever
Business Affairs Supervisor: Juanita McInteer
Production Company: Brand New School
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Managing Director: Devin Brook
Head of Production: Julie Shevach
Producer: Johnna MacArthur
Designers: Andrés Rivera, Jeffrey Welk, Jungeun Kim, Lindsey Mayer-Beug, Serge Kirsanov
Computer Graphics Director: Russ Wootton
2-D Lead: Mark French
Technical Director: Dan Bradham
3-D Animators: Carmine Laietta, Jon Burke, Spyridon Serbos, Sam Crees
3-D Artists, Cell Animators: Jeff Bryson, Morten Christensen
3-D Lighting: Michael Lampe, Sylvia Apostol
3-D Modelers: Atsuki Hirose, Scott Denton, Young Lee
3-D Riggers: Jason Bikofsky, Jonah Austin
2-D Compositors: Jeen Lee, Jeff (Dragon) Billon
Storyboard Artists: Fred Fassberger, Tung Chow
Assistant Editor: Tyler Byrnes
Music Composition, Lyrics: David Muhlenfeld, English Major
Music Production, Mix: Duotone
Engineer: Aaron Mirman
Producer: Lissa Farquhar
Executive Producer: David Leinheardt
Final Master: The Lodge
Voiceover Talent: Yelle
Music Supervision: Aaron Mercer, Wool & Tusk
Public Relations: Weber Shandwick
Media: MediaVest
Social: 360i
Jan Brady would be shocked to see how grumpy her sister has become in Snickers' teaser for its Brady Bunch-themed Super Bowl ad. Indeed, she's so grumpy that she's turned into Danny Trejo, angrily brushing her hair (and counting the brushes, as the character used to do) in front of a mirror as her mother calls from downstairs.
The full 30-second spot, by BBDO New York, is expected to continue the brand's "You're Not You When You're Hungry" campaign—so apparently Marcia is so hungry, she's acting like Robert Rodriguez's favorite anti-hero.
This will be Snickers' first Super Bowl spot since 2011, taking the place of M&M's, which has enjoyed Mars' slot in the Big Game spotlight in each of the past three years. Snickers' 2011 spot starred Roseanne Barr and Richard Lewis. Its 2010 spot famously had Betty White playing football—it was one of the most-liked ads of that game, and is generally credited with reviving the actress's career.
Not everyone loves Super Bowl teasers and full ads being released early—many think it spoils the surprise. But Mars is assuming enough people will want to see the full Trejo spot early that it's made a little contest out of it.
"Fans can ask to have the spot released early through a number of social media activities, and if consumers generate 2.5 million social media engagements before kick-off on Feb. 1, Snickers will release the entire 30-second spot early," the brand tells us.
So, this is why Newcastle Brown Ale hired Aubrey Plaza as its 2015 Super Bowl endorser: Her perma-sarcasm and lack of energy make her the world's worst spokeswoman—or if you like, the world's best anti-spokeswoman.
The brewer and ad agency Droga5—who specialize in deflating marketing's overblown self-importance—continue their march toward the industy's most overblown, self-important night by having the Parks and Recreation actress sullenly and amusingly milk a cow. This part of the brand's email to us sums up the approach pretty well:
You can't make an overblown Big Game ad campaign without releasing a semi-controversial clickbait video ahead of time to prime the pump and get people "excited" about the coming advertisement. (As excited as Aubrey, even.)
Newcastle is actually buying a regional Super Bowl spot this year. In an earlier video with Plaza, it announced a plan to crowdfund that spot with a bunch of other brands.
"In exchange for a small contribution, any brand can join Newcastle's team and have its logo and messaging featured in an actual Big Game spot," the brand says. Today is the last day for interested companies to submit their "Band of Brands" proposal for consideration at NewcastleBandOfBrands.com.
"At first we tried to sneak our way into the Big Game by entering a popular commercial contest put on by a certain snack chip brand, but that didn't work out for us. Now we're trying to leverage 'strength in numbers' to see what that does for us," said Priscilla Flores Dohnert, brand director for Newcastle Brown Ale. "Everyone loves a great underdog story. What's more 'underdog' than being short on cash and not having the right to advertise during the game?"
