Specs
Who Co-founder and ecd Darren Craig and content division co-head Jonathan Craven
What Production company and creative agency
Where Los Angeles, Chicago, Nashville and London

Few companies have made as big a bet on the burgeoning virtual reality space than The Uprising Creative. The Los Angeles-based production house last fall launched Vehiclevr, a content studio exclusively dedicated to virtual reality. That goes along with Uprising Creative's mission to be all things to brands, including Beats by Dre and Perrier. "We're able to execute really unique integrated campaigns that usually agencies would have to go to several different companies to accomplish," said Jonathan Craven, co-head of The Uprising Creative's content division. During SXSW, Vehiclevr provided a "4-D Immersive Reality Budweiser Brewery Tour" that was part of an Anheuser-Busch experiential marketing campaign. The tour placed attendees at A-B's St. Louis brewing facility, allowing them to see, hear, smell and, yes, taste how Budweiser is made.

This story first appeared in the May 2, 2016 issue of Adweek magazine.
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You may recall this 2009 AdFreak story about freelance copywriter Lawson Clarke's efforts at self-promotion, which involved crafting the uber-masculine persona known as Male Copywriter and exquisitely re-creating the famous April 1972 centerfold of Cosmopolitan magazine starring a naked Burt Reynolds.

Well, after holding down some full-time agency jobs, including one at Hill Holliday, Clarke is jumping back into the freelance life. And so, he's launching Male Copywriter 2.0—a reskinning (so to speak) of his portfolio site that includes a whole new video of himself in various states of undress.

Check out the video here: 



Clarke—whom we first wrote about way back in 2004, when he happened to be the very first Straight Guy in Bravo's pilot episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy—is obviously keeping the Burt Reynolds thing going as a branding device. (Any brand has to be consistent, after all.) But he also takes the new video in some disturbing new directions, including what could be construed as a Donny Deutsch impression.

In fact, though, we learned during a chat over email that the real inspiration for Clark's updated persona came from abroad. Check out our Q&A below, in which Clarke also talks about shooting the video and whether he actually got his belly betton pierced for real. 

AdFreak: It looks like you're doubling down on the not-wearing-clothes thing. Do you find potential clients are pretty into that look?
Lawson Clarke: Let's just chalk up the nudity as an existing brand asset. My goal was essentially the same as it was when I launched the original Malecopywriter.com. I simply wanted to produce something that would make me laugh if it ever popped up on my computer. There are hundreds of incredibly talented creatives in our industry, so the challenge as a freelancer is to make your work stand out in an incredibly crowded field. As utterly ridiculous as it may seem on the surface, it's really just a calculated risk. Of course, there's always the chance I could be joking myself right out of a career.

Last time, you paid homage to Burt Reynolds in Cosmo. What are the inspirations this time?
When I first launched Malecopywriter.com, I thought it would be funny to pay tribute to the most masculine man I could think of, Burt Reynolds. This time around I figured I needed to up the ante on the risk factor. So I decided to poke fun at Vladimir Putin. Putin's the perfect combination of over-the-top masculinity and swagger, plus making fun of him is always good for a few laughs. That is, until I'm mysteriously poisoned by a radioactive isotope.

Did you actually get your belly button pierced?
Oh, yeah. That actually happened. It took a while for me to find someone who'd essentially stab me with a needle for a joke, because, as it turns out, professional body piercers don't have the best senses of humor. Go figure. I actually kind of liked the way the cherries turned out, but the guy told me I'd be insane to leave it in. According to the piercer, the cherries would get stuck in everything I owned: clothes, towels, sheets, etc. I guess there's a reason you only see strippers with dangling navel rings.

Tell me a little bit about shooting this video. It must have been uncomfortable for all involved.
It's one thing when you pay people to shoot you in various states of undress, but everyone on this production was essentially working for free. So they really only have themselves to blame. But in all seriousness, I can't thank everyone enough for helping me out with this ridiculous project. The only people I felt bad for were the pony ride people who showed up to my house thinking it was a kid's party.

What should prospective clients know about you that isn't on your new portfolio site?
I think they have all the information they need to make a decision. If they're turned off by my portfolio site, chances are we wouldn't be a good fit anyway.

CREDITS
Creative Director: Lawson Clarke
Art Director: Jude Senese
Web Design: Rafael Feliz
Producer: Whitney Bogosian
Director of Photography: Tim Mollen
Editor: Michael Reuter
Colorist: Chalie Coffou
Animator: Marcio Lima

Hand, dish and laundry liquids get surprisingly sexy in a new campaign from green cleaning brand Method. Call it haute soap. 

The brand's new "Fear No Mess" campaign, which might be less pithily articulated as "Make as Big a Mess as You Possibly Can," features immaculately dressed heroes finding inventive ways to trash beautifully designed rooms in a series of TV ads. 

The general theme of each :15 and :30 is food fights taken to extremes. "Birthday" features a grandma taking a leaf blower to a cake: 



Meanwhile, in "Fruit Fan," a blonde model type tosses fruit through a giant fan.



And in "Meatball Golf," a powerful woman whacks meatballs with a golf club.



A simpler but similarly fun set of Facebook and digital OOH executions feature mess-generating images on a loop. In one, a snow cone drips rainbow sugar water on a woman's hand:



In another, an impossibly shaggy dog hypnotically shakes off muck.



And in a third, a never-ending ramp of dirty dishes slides diagonally across the screen.



Agencies Muh-tay-zik Hof-fer and Essence created the campaign, which launched last week in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco. The brand's marketing team is framing it as celebration of the joy of getting dirty, with a deliberately fashionable presentation meant to position Method as a lifestyle brand, a contrast to more staid marketing from environmentally friendly competitors.

It certainly is endearing in its playfulness (even if actress Maya Rudolph wasn't, to be fair, entirely stiff in her recent role pitching Seventh Generation). And the unusually polished look works unexpectedly well, largely because it makes such a stark contrast to the splattering comestibles. 

The concept, though, is not entirely new. U.K. laundry detergent Persil has a standing claim on the same basic idea of celebrating filth with its long-running "Dirt Is Good" campaign (even if the executions sometimes miss the mark a bit).

But substituting bravado for originality makes the ad seem even more like fashion marketing, so it's probably a win in the end.

CREDITS

Client: Method Products
"Fear No Mess" Campaign

Agency // Muh-tay-zik | Hof-fer
Executive Creative Director: John Matejczyk
Director Of Strategy: Matt Hofherr
Associate Director Of Strategy: Rachel Gold
Head Of Production: Michelle Spear Nicholson
Producer: Molly Hayes
Creative Director: Joel Kaplan
Creative Director: Tony Zimney
Copywriter: Christopher Penman
Copywriter: Zack Johnson
Art Director: Brittany Tooker
Art Director: Vanessa Hellmann
Designer: Charlotte Cooper
Account Manager: Ashley Gullickson
Director Of Media: Eric Perko

Digital Media Agency // Essence Digital

Production // The Directors Bureau / Canada
Directors: CANADA
Dp: Axel
Executive Producer: Oscar Romagosa
Head Of Production Canada: Alba Barneda
Line Producer: Julia Carrasco

Editorial // Canada
Editor: Marc Soria de la Torre
Producer Post: Blanca Ballesté
Colorist: Marc Morató

Post/Visual Effects: La Metropolitana

Audio // Idea Sonora
Sound Engineer: Pep Aguiló
Music Supervision: Good Ear Music Supervision

Music:
Meatball Golf Artist: The Joy-Tones - This Love (That I'm Giving You)
Fruit Fan Artist: Sugar Billy Garner - I Got Some

Birthday Artist: The Joy-Tones - This Love (That I'm Giving You)

Wasn't it fun when we were kids to doodle on restaurants' paper placements with crayons? Well, McDonald's has introduced a high-tech, musical version of that sort of play with McTrax—a snazzy placemat that acts like a little music production station.

TBWA\Neboko in the Netherlands created McTrax. The placemat, developed with This Page Amsterdam, uses conductive ink, a small battery and a thin circuit board with 26 digital touchpoints. You put you phone on it, download an app and make music with in-house produced audio loops, synths and musical effects. You can also record your own voice.

See it in action here:



"The paper of the placemat is what makes this technique so innovative," TBWA creative technologist Radha Pleijsant and digital design lead Jan Jesse Bakker said in a statement. "The phone merely acts as the speaker and screen, which is easily connected to the placemat via Bluetooth, making the sure you can hear the music on your speakers."

"This placemat brings technique, engagement and entertainment together making it 'experience advertising,' " added chief creative officer Darre van Dijk.

"This is exactly what McDonald's is; a place to have fun and experience great moments, for everyone," said Erwin Dito, director of marketing, communications and consumer insight for McDonald's Netherlands.

CREDITS
Client: McDonald's Nederland
Agency: TBWA\NEBOKO
App and tech development: This Page Amsterdam
Placemat development: Novalia, Londen
Programmed beats: Darius Dante

To those who would say the world is falling apart in a hurry, Cisco would counter that, in fact, thanks mostly to technology, it's the most wonderful time to be alive.

That optimism is given a hard-working spin in the high-tech networking company's eye-catching new global campaign from Goodby Silverstein & Partners under the theme "There's never been a better time." It's the first work under Cisco's new CMO, Karen Walker, and it aims to reintroduce the company to the world with a brave point of view.

"No matter how ambitious your dreams or how impossible the problems you're trying to solve, the technology already exists to make it happen," said Will Elliott, creative director at GS&P. " 'There's Never Been a Better Time' celebrates how empowered we are today by technology. The message is an optimistic rallying cry to do something amazing right now."

Launching Tuesday, the campaign includes TV, online films, print and out-of-home. The theme of the ads is how Cisco helps people worldwide make the impossible possible.

The work includes a spot called "People in Crisis," which focuses on Cisco's Tactical Operations team and its role in providing mobile technology and communications in humanitarian crises like the refugee situation in Europe.



Here is a spot about how Cisco systems power self-driving trucks in the world's biggest copper mines:



There's also an anthem spot, in 30- and 60-second cuts. Check out the :30 on YouTube.

The spots will run on TV during the NBA playoffs and across Turner Network Television channels. The online media buy will focus on tech and business sites such as Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company and the Atlantic. The global effort also includes a website redesign, partner joint marketing strategy and employee engagement efforts.

The OOH work is below. 

CREDITS

Client: Cisco

Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Title of Creative Work: There's Never Been A Better Time

Creative
Co-Chairmen: Rich Silverstein
Creative Directors: Will Elliot, Patrick Knowlton
Associate Creative Director: Felipe Lima
Art Directors: Maggie Bradshaw, Jeff Limon
Copywriters: Jonathan Pelleg, Alex Maleski, Jacob Baas
Executive Digital Artist: Jessica Pettigrew

Production
Director of Production: Tod Puckett
Executive Broadcast Producer: Hilary Coate
Broadcast Producers: Timothy Plain, Tess Kenner, John Riddle
Sr. Art and Print Producer: Alisa Latvala
Executive Interactive Producer: Danaa Zellers

Account Services
Group Account Director: John Coyne
Account Director: Tanin Blumberg
Project Integration Director: Liz Clark
Account Managers: Chris Nilsen, Bryan Wilson, Sam Thayer
Assistant Account Managers: Reesa Kashuk, Cameron Yates
Account Coordinator: Caitlin Kinney

Brand and Communication Strategy
Brand Strategy Director: Graham North
Brand Strategist: Marisa Perazzelli
Jr. Brand Strategist: Nora Allibhai
Community Strategy Deputy Director: Dong Kim
Communication Strategy Director: Nicole Richards   
Director of Communications: Meredith Vellines

Business Affairs
Director of Business Affairs: Judy Ybarra
Business Affairs Manager: Anna Diokno

Production Companies

"People in Crisis"
Editorial/Post/Visual FX Company: Imaginary Forces
Creative Director: Michelle Dougherty
Lead Editor: Danielle White
Editor: Jess Ledoux
Flame Artist: Rod Basham
Art Director/Animator: Dan Meehan
Designer/Lead Animator: Timothy Williams
Designer/Animators: Carlos Enciso, Jay Kim
Animator: Gabriel Perez
Designers: Mariah Hourihan, Wes Yang, Kris Fortin
Design/Animation Intern: Robert Harrison
Executive Producer: Ben Apley
Head of Production: Tina Starkweather
Producers: Fayna Sanchez, Will Arnold
Coordinators: Rachel Cohn, Krista Templeton
PA: Kaitlyn Finn
Footage sourcing and licensing Company: Stalkr
Footage sourcing and licensing Producers: Aaron Priest, Ellen Callet
Color Correction Company: Apache
Sr. Colorist: Shane Reed
Color Correction Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson
Music & Sound Design Company: Yessian
Composer: Chris Plansker
Sound Designer: Mike Baluha
Music & Sound Design Executive Creative Director: Andy Grush
Music & Sound Design Executive Producer: David Gold
Audio Mixing Company: Lime Studios
Audio Mixer: Rohan Young
Audio Assistant: Ben Tomastik
Audio Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

"Right Now"
Editorial and Finishing Company: Beast Editorial San Francisco
Executive Producer:  Jon Ettinger
Producer: Jeff Bielat
Assistant Editor: Seth Andrews
Editor: Adam Schwartz
Colorist/Flame Artist: Matt Trivan
Motion Graphics Artist: Steve McEuen
Animation Company:  1st Ave Machine
Animation Executive Producers: Lisa Villamill, Sam Penfield, Lisanne McDonnald
Animator: Mancel
Music Company: Human
Music Producer: Jonathan Sanford
Mix Company:  One Union
Mix Engineer: Joaby Deal
Mix Executive Producer: Lauren Mask
Mix Producer: Cienna Patmont

"Mining" Portrait Film
Production Company: Lo+Behold
Director: Marcus Ubungen
Director of Photography: Marcus Ubungen
Producer: Vieve Haag
Executive Producer: Peter Trucco
Editorial Company: Beast Editorial
Editor: Doug Walker
Assistant Editor: Joelle Wagner
Editorial Producer: Jeff Bielat
Editorial Executive Producer: Jon Ettinge
Telecine/Finishing Company: Beast Editorial
Colorist: Dave Burghardt
Music: The Elements
Sound Design Company: Beacon Street
Sound Designer: Rommel Molina
Mix Company: One Union
Mixer: Eben Carr
Mix Producer: Cienna Patmont
Mix Executive Producer: Lauren Mask

Cinemagraphs
Production Company: Logan
Executive Creative Director: Alexei Tylevich
Creative Director: Kaan Atilla
VFX Supervisor: Eric DeHaven
Executive Producer: Matthew Winkel
Producer: J.R. Tuason
2D Animators: Zach Kinney, Richard Powell, Fred Raimondi, Grant Cerulo
3D Animator: Kenneth Kurras
3D Modeler: Shamus McGlynn
FX Artist: Warren Heimall, Xray
Production Company: elevel
Executive Post Producer: John Dutton
Sr. Animator: Nathan Shipley

Print
Retoucher: Sam Nordemann
Retoucher: DMAX Imaging
Prepress House: DMAX Imaging

What do you get for a mother who is not really your mother, but is still kinda your mother, for Mother's Day? How about card that will make her feel special, or very uncomfortable?

Humanaut, the agency behind Organic Valley's recent viral "Real Morning Report" campaign, has whipped up a Mother-in-Law Collection of greeting cards for client Felt (in which Humanaut holds an equity stake) just in time for Mother's Day. They're perfect for showing your appreciation for—and/or just being rude to—your spouse's mom.

Check out the sample cards below, which range from sweet to quite inappropriate.

Felt is an app that lets you send handwritten cards, photos and gift cards, all from your iPhone or iPad. All cards are sealed in a custom square craft envelope with a first-class, hand-applied stamp, as if you sent it yourself.

CREDITS
Client: Felt
Agency: Humanaut
Creative Director: David Littlejohn
Strategist: Andrew Clark
Copywriter: Andy Pearson, Liza Behles
Design Director: Stephanie Gelabert
Designer: Coleson Amon / Carrie Warren

Mad Men ended a year ago, but John Slattery, aka Roger Sterling from the AMC agency drama, is keeping a hand in the ad game, providing a voiceover for this Duracell spot tied to National Hearing Month.

Slattery delivers his lines near the end of the two-minute-plus commercial, created by Anomaly to tout Duracell's hearing-aid batteries.

In the ad, we meet a middle-aged guy named Jim whose world has become … muffled. While far from deaf, he has difficulty hearing what people say to him in everyday situations. For example, in one scene, while babysitting for the family, he fails to hear crying down the hall.



"The biggest issue with hearing loss is that it separates people from people, and few realize how much that really affects every aspect of all our lives," Duracell brand manager Ramon Velunti tells AdFreak. "Human interaction is one of the most valuable resources we take for granted, and it's inherently a two-way street. So this issue doesn't just affect those individuals suffering from hearing loss, it has the compounding effect of adversely impacting the lives of everyone they love."

That feeling of emotional distance, of a connection failure that transcends hearing loss, is expertly conveyed in moody opening sequences by Park Pictures director Vincent Haycock and director of photography Robert Elswit. (The latter won an Oscar as the DP on There Will Be Blood.)

Later, when our hero gets fitted for a discreet hearing aid, the scenes brighten and he begins to make up for lost time, rejoining the ebb and flow of life, more in tune with everyone around him.

"We have a dual target with this program," says Velunti. Naturally, the primary audience is the millions of Americans with untreated hearing loss who wait seven years, on average, before seeking help, and their loved ones. A second target, Velunti says, consists of "those who already use a hearing aid, encouraging them to trust Duracell's long-lasting hearing aid batteries when it matters." (Duracell donated 10,000 batteries to the Center for Hearing and Communication, and is sponsoring 50,000 free auditory perception tests nationwide.)

Slattery's brief closing narration, "Duracell batteries are long lasting, so you don't miss the moments that matter," superbly soft-sells the brand connection. 

"He has personally experienced the issue within his own family," Velunti says of Slattery. "His father suffered from untreated hearing loss before receiving hearing aids. Since his father started wearing a hearing aid five years ago, he's been so much more engaged with life."

For the film, Anomaly tried "to change the way we approached communicating the issue" in order to "really inspire change in behavior," says agency group creative director Seth Jacobs. To that end, the storyline puts hearing in a broader context, generating considerable empathy and emotion through a rich cinematic style, while never seeming melodramatic or forced.

"We wanted to make something beautiful, but the kind of emotional beauty that only comes from the perfect blend of pretty and real," Jacobs says. "It's celebrating what we hold most dear in life, while delicately highlighting the cost of losing it, right in front of your eyes."

CREDITS

Client: Duracell

Title: "Stay Connected"
Agency: Anomaly
Chief Creative Officer: Mike Byrne
Group Creative Director: Seth Jacobs
Copywriter: Cooper Smith
Art Director: Liz Delp
Head of Production: Andrew Loevenguth
Senior Producer: Jeff Goodnow
Music Producer: Jonathan Wellbelove
Hide quoted text
Strategy: Gareth Goodall
Comms Planning: Darus Zahm
Business Director: Damien Reid
Account Director: Matt Nigro
Account Supervisor: Libby Wicks
Account Executive: Sam Gray
Project Manager: Megan Enneking
Business Affairs: Breck Henson

Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Vincent Haycock
Executive Producers: Jackie Bisbee, Dinah Rodriguez
Producer: Alec Sash
Director of Photography: Robert Elswit
First Assistant Director: Rob Jackson
Production Designer: Walter Pluff
Wardrobe Stylist: Lucy Corrigan
Casting: David Morris and Faye Grande for Grande Morris Casting

Editing: Consulate
Editor: Ryan McCally
Executive Producer: Alan Lopez
Flame Artist: Mike Stolz
Assistant Editor: Hazel McKibbin

Telecine: Consulate
Colorist: Gabriele Turchi

Sound Mix: Sound Lounge
Audio Engineer: Seth Phillips
Sound Design: Marshall Grupp, Seth Phillips
Producer: Ali Corsi

Music: Marmoset
Composer: Matthew Hollingsworth
Producer: Tim Shrout

Today in Weird Things We're Glad Aren't Happening to Us, Procter & Gamble's Head & Shoulders brand has released "Scalp Brave," a campaign that goes roughly where you think it's headed ... just not in the way you imagined it would. 

Conceived by the twisted minds at Saatchi & Saatchi London, the campaign's premise is neatly encapsulated by the closing lines in three behind-the-scenes videos: "100% flake free hair. Have the confidence to be #scalpbrave." 

"Brave" is definitely a word for it. But don't let your mind wander down the road of elaborate mohawks and six-layer Louis XIV hairdos. Yawn—too obvious. Instead, creative barber Rob the Original was enlisted to do one of the things he does best: Approach the soft, magnificent tufts of regular people and shave portraits of other people's faces—specifically, Head & Shoulders' own celebrity ambassadors—into them. 

In one video, watch Rob coolly shave the face of actress Sofia Vergara into the crown of a man, whose own long tresses are partially curled to frame her knowing smile. She even has her own hair part! 



Next, an understandably nervous-looking guy gets the visage of Mexican footballer Giovani Dos Santos etched into his skull, complete with a shock of white teeth and his stylishly slicked bangs:



Lastly, and in an act of crowning glory, this dude loses a full one-third of his afro to make room for football wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., complete with bleached top and blue football jersey.



The aim was to "empower people to be bold, brave and celebrate the confidence that Head & Shoulders gives," according to the press release. This also marks a departure from its more classical ways of demonstrating the benefits of a flake-free scalp; you just can't host good art when you're itchy and snowing. 

But the videos above serve as more of a pretext to the print campaign, shot by Oleg Tolstoy, a descendant of that guy who gave us Anna Karenina. "Famous for his celebrity portraits," (who knew?) "Tolstoy was chosen for his striking and beautiful portraiture," the brand explains.

The campaign went live late last week across social channels and will be pushed by brand ambassadors Dos Santos, Vergara and Beckham. Print and poster activations will run in North America. Catch those down here:

CREDITS

—Film Credits

Client: Procter & Gamble, Head & Shoulders
Title: Scalp Brave

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Global Chief Creative Officer: Kate Stanners
Executive Creative Directors: Rob Potts, Andy Jex
Global Creative Director: Clinton Manson
Creative Directors: Celeste Dalairac, Marion Cohen
Copywriters: Mark Slack, Jack Davies
Art Directors: Tom Young, Miguel Sousa
Planner: Paula Vampre
Account Handler: Toby Clarke
Producer: Benedict Murray

Production Company: Tomboy Films / Saatchi Digital
Director: Tom Clarkson
Editor: Tom Clarkson, Jan Vrhovnik

Postproduction Company: Tomboy Films / Saatchi Digital
Audio Postproduction Company: Tomboy Films / Saatchi Digital

—Print Credits

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi London
Global Creative Chief Officer: Kate Stanners
Executive Creative Directors: Rob Potts, Andy Jex
Global Creative Director: Clinton Manson
Creative Directors: Celeste Dalairac, Marion Cohen
Copywriters: Mark Slack, Jack Davies
Art Directors: Tom Young, Miguel Sousa
Planner: Paula Vampre
Account Handler: Toby Clarke
Producers: Jonathan Saunders, Richard Blaxill

Production Company: N/A
Photographer: Oleg Tolstoy
Retoucher: Nick Swaffield (Prodigious)

Over the years, Time Warner Cable has unfortunately earned a certain less-than-flattering reputation in the customer service department. In its newest ad campaign, the cable giant has a message for customers: We know ... and we're working on it.

The provider split with former agency of record Ogilvy & Mather in February after 12 years, sending its creative account to DDB New York after a review that also involved Leo Burnett and San Francisco's Eleven.

DDB's first work for the client isn't apologetic, per se. As the campaign's headline indicates, Time Warner Cable simply wants the public to know that it's "Changing for Good."

In the first spot "Motivational Speaker," comedian Greg Benson gets a little too excited while channeling Tom Cruise in Magnolia.

The spot's YouTube summary makes clear that the provider is indeed promoting a new service: "You used to have to wait all day for a technician to show up. Now 98.8% of our 1-hour arrival windows are on time. We can even send you an alert when the tech is on the way."

This isn't an entirely unexpected message for the company, which launched campaigns last year including the line, "We get it. We know how you feel about cable companies."

"Changing for Good embodies our strong commitment to doing what's right for customers and our employees," said Time Warner Cable evp and COO of residential services, John Keib. "We're shedding many sins of the past of our industry while starting to take credit for a highly differentiated customer-centric experience. Our goal is to be a best in class service experience not within cable or telecom, but across any industry, and Changing for Good is opening the door for that conversation."

The next ad "Elephant" gets a bit more explicit by drawing parallels between Time Warner Cable and a child who promises to improve his own behavior. He'll even eat his vegetables!

Finally, the last spot in the opening trio compares Time Warner representatives to members of another oft-maligned profession: airline baggage handlers.

Each spot manages to promote a newly improved product while simultaneously acknowledging the fact that the company's reputation precedes it with a comedic wink, indicating that Time Warner Cable made a conscious decision to go all in on its "We're better, we promise" messaging, in addition to naming a new lead creative agency. The campaign will include social and digital components beyond the TV ads above. 

Change isn't always easy. DDB New York CCO Icaro Doria led the campaign, and he tells Adweek, "It's so great to work with a client brave enough to talk about change in such honest way."

Indeed. Now about that 2016 rate increase...

April was Distracted Driving Awareness month, and Sprint saved one of the most eye-catching PSA for last—unveiling the sculpture above in downtown Miami last Friday.

Titled "The Last Emoji," it was made by ad agency Alma from a junkyard wreck and warns Miami drivers of the dangers of texting and driving.

According to Alma, Florida is one of the only states that doesn't list texting while driving as a primary offense, so Magnacom Worldwide secured a prime location at 1200 Brickell Avenue in downtown Miami to reach commuters.

Floridians are being asked to share the "DN'T TXT & DRIVE" message to posting a picture or selfie with the sculpture using the hashtag #SprintDriveSafe.

Check out a behind-the-scenes video below. 

In January 2014, Boba, a small Colorado company that makes baby carriers and accessories, posted a video online—created by Futuristic Films—that would prove to be one of the most popular ads ever made about motherhood.

Titled "You Made Me a Mother," it featured a voiceover that was a visual poem of various moms each talking to their child—recounting their journey together from pregnancy through the first few years of their child's life.

The poem went like this:

I felt you. You were a pea. Then a lemon. Then an eggplant. I followed advice. I read 12 books. I quit coffee.
Could you tell I was scared?
I talked to you, sang to you … I wasn't ready.
But then you were here. Ten toes. Eight pounds. Love. Big fat love.
I held you. I fed you. I realized that I would spend my life doing things to make you happy—and that that would make me happy.
And then there are the times I want to give up. You've made me rethink my sanity. You've made me want to fall on my mother's feet and tell her that I get it.
But then you smile, and you say my name—and you grab my hand with those little fingers.
We're growing. Together. We are seeing the world like it's new. I will open my heart, and love will rain down all over you. You'll giggle, and I'll do it all over again. And we will walk hand in hand. Until you let go.
I made you, but you made me a mother.



The spot melted hearts everywhere, but that was just the beginning of the journey for Laurenne Sala, the freelancer copywriter who wrote it. The ad was picked up by the national media and eventually got the attention of HarperCollins, which offered Sala a book deal to turn "You Made Me a Mother" into a story for children.

"I had slaved in cubicles in ad agencies all over L.A., staying late at night for years at David&Goliath, Deutsch, 72, etc.—trying to write a book that would help me leave those cubicles. And then this came about!" Sala tells AdFreak.

Laurenne Sala

HarperCollins got Robin Preiss Glasser to do the illustrations. The book was published in March and is doing well on Amazon. Sala, who only tweaked a couple of lines for the book (the word "scared" was changed to "nervous," for example), just wrapped up a two-month tour that included reading the book at lots of schools.

AdFreak chatted by phone with Sala on Tuesday to find out, among other things, how a woman who isn't a mother herself managed to capture the essence of motherhood so indelibly.

"It was a total side job. I got it while I was working at Beats by Dre," she says of the Boba project. "There's not many female freelancers, so anytime someone has a mom thing or a makeup thing or a tampon thing, they call me. And I always take it."

Not being a mom herself, research was key to understanding the mother-child dynamic.

"I interviewed a bunch of moms in my family to make sure I got the voice right," Sala says. "My mom was really honest with me, and she had a lot to say about how it feels when a baby comes into the world. I talked to a male cousin, and he helped me too. And then I put myself in a mother's shoes, and I just wrote the poem. I think this was just my second draft. It was one of those projects where we didn't have much time!"

Imagining oneself as another is the job of the copywriter, though, Sala says.

"My first job was writing commercials for Jack in the Box, and I'm vegetarian. So, I had to pretend I was a construction worker on a lunch break all the time," she says. "I've done gaming commercials, so I've had to pretend I'm really into games, which I hate. Years of that made it easy to really imagine myself as someone else. Plus, I've been to psychology school, so empathy is something I practice often."

Sala thinks the poem connects largely because it gives moms credit for all the work they have to do to be able to give all the love they can.

"I think it's the part where we talk about how much moms give up for their kids," she says. "There's that line about 'I realized that I would spend my life doing things to make you happy,' which I got from my own mom. She was a single mom, and she definitely made tons and tons of sacrifices to make me happy. I don't think moms get a lot of credit for that. They're just trying to make things work, and so when they see themselves get credit, I think it's very helpful for them. I don't really know, but I'm guessing."

If her experience reading the book at schools is any indication, kids aren't blind to that sacrifice either.

"It's so cute when I ask kids if they think their parents do things to make them happy," she says. "They all put their two hands in the air. They all really know that their parents do that. And I think a lot of times moms aren't really sure if their kids get that, but they do. It's pretty cool."

So, why should people spend $15.99 (or $11.21 on Amazon!) to buy a book version of an ad?

"Because it's a reminder of love," Sala says. "Like I've been saying in schools, sometimes we get busy. We're rushing to work. And this is a reminder. Moms can sit down with their kids and read this book and they can cry, and it's a real reminder of how much they love their kids. Kids get to feel loved, moms get to feel recognized, and it's a big reminder that we're all in this together, and family is pretty cool."

Oh, and one more reason, too—HarperCollins has told Sala that if this book does well, she gets to write the dad version next. 

It can be exhausting to travel by subway, especially when you work in advertising. Subways are home to some of the grabbiest, ugliest creative in all of existence, often in multiples. 

To wit: Yesterday, while stepping out of the Paris Métro, I saw a billboard for the Chatons d'Or, or The Golden Kitten, a new tongue-in-cheek ad awards show. I was tired, not in the mood, and—worst of all—it put my brain back in work mode again, well after midnight. 

Given how many award shows we already have (I mean, did you know we even have one for TV interstitials? Those are literally ads to advertise your upcoming ad break), and how many other lowest-common-denominator inanities we're subjected to when traveling to and from anywhere, we're pretty receptive to this Kickstarter campaign to replace all the ads in one London tube station ... with pictures of cats. 

Nothing else. Just cats. No $9.99 bikinis perched alongside gym memberships. No award shows, ironic or not. No blockbuster movie posters all in a row, punting an aged actor as a hilariously bad grandpa. Cats. Cats. 

Created by the Citizens Advertising Takeover Service (C.A.T.S!), the campaign aims is to raise £20,000 (about $29,000) by May 21. It has so far raised one-quarter of its goal, and Transport for London has already agreed that, provided payment is made, they'd be on board—for one of their smaller stations, at least. 

Guys. We don't have much time. Here is their pitch video. 



"Imagine the joy we could bring to all those busy shoppers," the presenter says. "Instead of being asked to buy something, they'd be free to think happy thoughts, to smile and laugh." 

Obviously, the C.A.T.S. organization doesn't really exist, but this isn't really an agency play masquerading as ironic self-awareness. The people behind it—no, not Brandalism, though they'd probably make solid allies—hail from a collective called Glimpse, which bills itself as "a group of creative people who want to use our skills for good." 

"Maybe cats won't make us happy either, but it's got to be better than insurance adverts," Glimpse writes in the campaign's Kickstarter description. "Maybe during this moment of cat-related calm we might have a brilliant thought, or a dumb one or even ... spend a moment thinking about nothing at all." 

Remember when we used to do that? That was nice, right? 

In any case, the promise is pretty appealing: "If you help us reach our target, we'll transform a busy commuter platform into a giant festival of cats." 

(This is not to be confused with ads for Cats the musical, which is also advertising its tour as we speak. We know. We saw the ads ourselves ... in the Métro, naturally.)

Samsung is back to pull at your heartstrings again, this time with a campaign about premature babies.

Infants born too early face a greater risk of language and attention disorders later in life. The tech conglomerate created a new way to mitigate that danger—by helping mothers communicate with infants stuck in neonatal intensive care, as if they were still in the womb. 

The campaign, titled "Voices of Life" and created by Leo Burnett Chicago, features an app that lets a mom record her heartbeat and other soothing sounds. A special speaker in her baby's hospital incubator plays back the audio, which Samsung's technology has muffled to better emulate the in-utero environment. 

An emotional 2:30 video contextualizes the project with commentary from a mother and a pediatrician, capturing a small slice of the unimaginable stress and helplessness that comes with watching your newborn fight for life through sterile plastic. 



It's hard to overstate how cold hospitals can be, a sensation that's amplified in such a high-stakes situation. The technology is especially notable for the fact that it lets mothers stay connected, even when they're not there—not to mention the obvious potential benefits for the child's development.

It's not Samsung's first time framing products as a way to bring families closer together. Last spring, it used a VR headset to help a father away for work witness the birth of his child, in a story that was happier, if more awkward. And just this week, the marketer promoted its VR gear as a way for frequent-traveler parents to virtually tuck their kids in with bedtime stories.

The simpler tech used here increases the message's charm, even if it builds on misfortune to increase brand value. But if it's really able to help the innocents and parents in question, at scale, by becoming widely available, then more power to it. 

CREDITS

Client: Samsung
Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago
Campaign: Voices of Life
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Tutssel
Executive Creative Director: Dan Chodrow
CD/AD: Brandon Cox
CD/CW: Debbie Mudd
ACD/AD: Mikey Hester
Graphic Design: Rob Schellenberg, Frances Macleod
Executive Producer: Matt Blitz
Producers: Keith Jamerson, Caitlin VanderKlok
Account: Ben Bartolomei, Lisa Bamber
Strategy: Wells Davis, Layla Revis

Production Company: Whitelist Collective
Directors: Bobby Moser & Ben Mullinkosson
Director of Photography: Brandon Kapelow
Executive Producer: Jared Anderson
Line Producer: Rich Salamone

Editorial House: Cut and Run
Editor: Ben  McCambridge
Assistant Editor: Lee Bacak
Executive Producer: Amburr Faris

Post Production: MPC
Colorist: Kris Smale

April Fools' Day was a month ago, but KFC is only just now announcing that it has made two edible nail polishes that bring the classic tagline, "Finger Lickin' Good," grossly to life.

Ogilvy & Mather worked with food technologists at McCormick, the spice company that provides KFC's secret mix of 11 secret herbs and spices, to crate the nail polishes for KFC Hong Kong. The polish flavors are sourced from natural ingredients and based on the brand's two favorite recipes, Original and Hot & Spicy.

So, yes, it tastes like chicken—at least, the coated stuff KFC sells. 

"To use, consumers simply apply and dry like regular nail polish, and then lick—again and again and again," the brand said in a statement.



"The recipe for our edible nail polish is unique and was specifically designed to hold the flavor, but to also dry with a glossy coat similar to normal nail polish," says Ogilvy creative director John Koay. "This campaign is designed to be intriguing and fun to increase excitement around the KFC brand in Hong Kong."

KFC really did make this stuff—thus, it's not exactly a gag. But it's not mass producing it. At least not yet. The nail polishes are packaged in a designer bottle and box and have been teased on social media in recent weeks.

The brand has released on online music video around the project, too, and is inviting Hong Kongers to choose the best flavor to go into mass production.

CREDITS
Client: KFC
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather
Chief Creative Officer: Reed Collins
Creative Directors: John Koay, Matt Nisbet
Art Director: Elaine Li
Copywriters: Buji Ng, Kerwin Choy
Vice President Asia-Pacific: Soames Hines
General Manager: Gladys Wong
Business Director: Penny Chow
Associate Account Directors: Janice Ho, Sincere Ng
Account Executive: Stella Fung
Senior Producer: Mikyung Kim
Producer: Jayden Wong
Managing Director - Social: Jason Fashade
Senior Strategist: Michael Wong
Community Manager: Pammy Li
PR Senior Associate Michel Wong
PR Senior Consultant: Corwin Wong
Design agency: Brand Union
Creative Director: Andy Reynolds
Designer: Kitty Chan
Production Company: Mutual Workshop
Director: Helen Clemens
Producer: Cyrus Lai
Photographer: Kimhoo So
Composer: Lindsay Jehan
Music Company: Song Zu

The luxury auto wars get personal in Crispin Porter + Bogusky new 60-second spot for Infiniti, as a young man bearing a terrible secret travels to meet his father, knowing he's about to let him down in a major way.

The confession is perfectly awkward, and subtle too, as the market leader—clearly Dad's preferred brand—is glimpsed only in photos. By the end, though, the message is clear. Infiniti is for the young, empowered driver. And that old, stodgy nameplate is for old, stodgy folks who just don't get it.



Infiniti's strategy of empowering drivers helped Infiniti break global sales records in 2015 with a 16 percent year-over-year increase, CP+B says. That strategy will continue throughout 2016.

CREDITS
Client: Infiniti Motor Company Ltd.
Campaign Title: Power of Infiniti

Agency: CP+B
VP/Chief Creative Officer: Ralph Watson
VP/Executive Creative Director: Michael Raso
Creative Director/Art Director: Dave Steinke
Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: Brett Dixon
Art Director: AnneMarie Longtine
Copywriter: Sarah Turner
VP/Associate Director of Content Production: Sloan Schroeder
Integrated Producer: Autumn Hines
Director of Product Strategy: John Frazier
Product Specialist: John Heathfield
Sr. Business Affairs Manager: Lisa Gillies
VP/Group Strategy Director: Jennifer Hruska
Sr. Strategist: Sarah Garman
Strategist: Bethany Lechner
VP/Group Account Director: Kate Frazier
Account Director: Ted Morse
Account Supervisor: Shawn Casey

Production Company: MJZ
Director: Craig Gillespie
DP: Masanobu Takanayagi
President: David Zander
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Producer: Mark Hall

Editorial: NO6
Editor: Chan Hatcher
Assistant Editor: Randy Baublis
Offline Producer: Amanda Ornelas

VFX/Graphics/Finishing Method
VFX Supervisor: Wensen Ho
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Producer: Paula S. Jimenez

Color: C03
Sr. Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld
Rhubie Jovanov: Executive Producer

Sound/Design Mix: Lime Studios, Santa Monica
Sound Engineer: Mark Meyuhas
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Music: JSM
Executive Producer/Composer: Joel Simon
Composer: Nathan Kil

Infiniti
Director of Marketing Communications & Media: Allyson Witherspoon
Senior Manager Brand Strategy & Marketing Communications: Kathy Roznowski 

Taking care of yourself and eating healthy is all well and good when life is going smoothly. But when does life ever go smoothly?

That's the message of a comical new campaign by Droga5 for Pure Protein, maker of protein bars, powder and shakes. (Pure Protein is owned by NBTY, for whom Droga5 is also working on the MET-Rx brand.)

Three online spots focus humorously on the "Derailers" who totally muck up your plans for the day, making you much more likely to go for an unhealthy snack. Which is why you should always carry a Pure Protein bar with you, the ads say, so you can get your 19-21 grams of pure whey protein with only 3 grams or less of sugar. 

Check out the ads below, which aren't above stooping to potty humor to make their point: 

CREDITS

Client: Pure Protein / NBTY
Campaign: Derailers
Title: "Kid", "Driver," "Pilot"

Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Matt Ian
Assoc. Creative Director: Dustin Tomes
Senior Copywriter: Sara Shelton
Design Director: Rich Greco
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Senior Broadcast Producer: Mike Hasinoff
Broadcast Producer: Goldie Robbens
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Ramon Jimenez
Strategy Director: Katy Alonzo
Strategist : PJ Mongell
Senior Data Strategist: Anthony Khaykin
Communications Strategist: Kevin Wilkerson
Group Account Director:  : Kelsey Robertson
Account Manager: Sophia Bernard, Jordan Cappadocia
Associate Account Manager: Elizabeth Sova
Senior Project Manager: Claire Arendse

Client: Osteo Bi-Flex/NBTY
Brad Charron : SVP General Manager S&AN
Monique Acevedo : VP Marketing, Active Nutrition
Amie Testerman: Senior Brand Manager, Pure Protein

Production Company: Caviar
Director: Matt & Oz
DOP: Dave Jones
Head of Production: Kelly Bowen
Executive Producer: Michael Sagol, Jasper Thomlinson
Producer: Luke Thomlinson-Clark

Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor: Dave Anderson
Assistant Editor: Sam Barden
Executive Producer: Sila Soyer
Producer: Alexandra Leal

Post Production: The Mill
Executive Producer: Clairellen Wallin
Producer: Clairellen Wallin
Coordinator: Tabitha Ozturk
Telecine Artist: Fergus McCall
2D Lead: Kyle Cody
2D Assists: Rob Meade & Sungeun Moon
3D Artist: Sean Dooley
Matte Painter: Marc Samson

Music: Massive Music
Creative Director: Elijah B. Torn
Executive Producer: Keith Haluska

Sound: Sonic Union
Mixer: Michael Marinelli
Studio Manager: Justine Cortale
Producer: Pat Sullivan

There's no getting around the fact that emojis, whatever their social equity among young people, are quite literally cartoony. And if you're going to build a whole global ad campaign around them, as Pepsi has done with PepsiMoji, it's going to feel pretty lightweight. And indeed, the five-second TV ads, which we wrote about earlier, are bubbly but also fleetingly goofy—all the more so because of their short length.

Good thing, then, that Pepsi wisely decided to get some help from photographers for the out-of-home and Instagram elements of the campaign, created by Lloyd&Co. 

As is the case with fashion brands, soda marketers can get more from OOH than almost any other medium. It's a chance to do brand work on a grand scale, with little more than a feeling to guide the creative—the product barely has to get in the way at all. We saw that with Coca-Cola's new print and OOH, which has a timeless feel (and was, not coincidentally, themed "Taste the Feeling" even though the product was front and center.)

Now, Pepsi has done something similar with its PepsiMoji OOH work, recruiting photographer Ben Watts to create street scenes in which emojis are the interlopers, not the main stars. Check out the ad above, and three more below: 

The real-life and cartoon images combine for a pleasantly poppy vibe that in some ways feels as much a wry commentary on emoji culture as a mindless celebration of it.

The Instagram campaign is even more immediate. Pepsi teamed up with street photographer Daniel Arnold for a series of candid street shots that also integrate emojis.

See four of those images here:

There's a nice chaotic feel to Arnold's work, which is very welcome, as it tries to add some spontaneity to Pepsi's clearly hyper-calculated strategy of appropriating the language of youth to sell sugary drinks. "I was after clean, graphic, candid photos that immediately communicated a feeling or an idea—essentially candid emojis," Arnold said. 

The images are appearing on Arnold's Instagram first, before hitting Pepsi's pages. 

The scope of the broader campaign is staggering, and has a packaging element at its core. Pepsi created more than 600 proprietary PepsiMoji designs and is placing them on over 1 billion bottles and cans in 100 markets. They'll also appear everywhere from sunglasses (in a fashion collaboration with designer Jeremy Scott) to stadiums, as Pepsi seeks to have a "provocative and fresh take on the cultural phenomenon of emojis." 

In addition to the five-second spots, the campaign includes the three videos below—one called "Origins" (by agency Moondog) about how the designs found themselves in the world and on Pepsi packaging; and two others (by BBDO New York) that wordlessly follow young people backpacking and at a concert. (The lack of dialogue reinforces the "Say It With Pepsi" line, which is being used with the tagline, "Live for Now.") 

The video work has its moments, and the craft on the five-second spots is strong. But in the end, in a campaign that needs some grounding in the real world amid all its animation, it's the OOH and Instagram stuff that's provokes the biggest smiley face. 

CREDITS

—PepsiMoji Global Out Of Home Credits
Photographer: Ben Watts
Creative Direction: Lloyd&Co
Art Direction: Caroline Cox
President/Managing Director: Jodi Sweetbaum
Senior Account Director: Shari Lewis
Account Manager: Taylor Backus
Art Buying: Kristen Beecy
Production Co: BaM Productions, Inc
Post Production: Rachel Levine
Retouching: Ad Arts

—PepsiMoji Global Social Imagery Credits
Photographer: Daniel Arnold
Creative Direction: Lloyd&Co
Art Direction: Caroline Cox
President/Managing Director: Jodi Sweetbaum
Senior Account Director: Shari Lewis
Account Manager: Taylor Backus
Art Buying: Kristen Beecy

—PepsiMoji 'Origins' Credits

Agency: Moondog
CCO: Pete Kakso
Creative Directors: Jeff Spangler and Michael Bernard
Brand Manager: Courtney Ryan Law
Strategy Director: Eric Druckenmiller

Production Company: Moondog Films
Director: Patrick McCarthy
Executive Producer: Rasha Clark

Retouching/ Animation: Moondog VFX

—PepsiMoji Global Tvc Credits

Agency: BBDO New York
Client: Pepsi
Titles: "Concert Connection" and "Backpackers"

Client: PepsiCo
SVP Global Brand Management: Carla Hassan
SVP Global Brand Development: Kristin Patrick
Senior Marketing Director: Mark Kirkham

Agency: BBDO New York
Creative
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn 
EVP Executive Creative Director: Lauren Connolly
Senior Creative Director: Niraj Zaveri
Senior Copywriter: Dana Stalker
Associate Creative Director: Rachel Frederick
Production
SVP Group Executive Producer: Julian Katz
Senior Content Producer: Sofia Doktori
Account
EVP Sr. Director: Ladd Martin
Director: Lauren Munilla
Account Executive: Jillian Netzel
Asst. Account Executive: McCabe Galloway
Music
SVP Director of Music: Rani Vaz

Production (US): Park Pictures
Director: Vincent Haycock
Executive Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Justin Pollock
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Line Producer: Tim Kerrison
1st AD: Jeremy Robinson
DoP: Niklas Johansson
Production Designer/ Art Director: Quito Cooksey

Production Service Backpackers (CRO): Blue Sky Adriatic

Production Service Concert Connection (PAN): LCA Productions

Offline Edit: Cut + Run
Executive: Rana Martin
Producer: Ellese Jobin
Editor (Backpackers): Akiko Iwakawa
Editor (Concert Connection): Gary Knight

VFX: Moving Picture Company
Executive Producer: Camila De Biaggi
Producer: Bindy St. Leger
Associate Producer: Aiste Akelaityte
Flame Artists: Jonathan McKee, Seif Boutella, Warren Paleos
Compositors: Elijah Lamond, Jeric Pimientel, Jesse Speer, Ting-Jung Hsu, Tamir Sapir, Victor Torres, Andrew Macfarlane,  Hieu Phan
CG: Vicky Osborn, Tiago Dias, Michael Nieves, Monica Manalo, Mike Lombardo, Chris Ribar,  Angela Carafas, D. Venkatesan, Sivapriyan, Yashaswi Salandri, Manu PS, Mohan Pugaz, Prasad Vemula

David&Goliath's new ad for the California Lottery focuses on a man who's quirkily obsessed with the number five—including waking up at 5:55 a.m., living at 555 5th Street, and basically designing as many interactions as he can around this number. 

Follow his serendipitous adventures here:



The end of the ad reveals that the penta-fixation stems from five having been his winning lottery number years earlier. (We're pretty sure he squeezed all the luck from it already, so him clinging to it is a little wonky, but whatever, the ad's still fun.)

Filmmaker team Christian & Patrick made this spot, and do Park Pictures proud in so doing. Like a lot of contemporary ads, it looks and feels more like the opening sequence of a movie than an ad for something. What sets it apart from other such ads is how gracefully it transitions into the commercial part, without any stilted changes in tone. 

We do wonder how much money our scruffy protagonist won in the lottery, though. (The game offers "up to $555,555 in prizes.") He doesn't seem to have a job, but he still lives in a bachelor apartment, so clearly California's housing prices are even crazier than we thought. 

CREDITS

Client: California Lottery
Chief Consumer Marketing, Advertising: John Koyama
Senior Advertising Manager: Elizabeth Wills
Marketing Specialist: Linda Barton MacDonald
Title: "Forever Five" :60
Agency: David&Goliath
Founder, Chairman: David Angelo
Executive Creative Director: Bobby Pearce
Creative Director/Art Director: Philipp Dietz, Basil Cowieson
Creative Director/Copywriter: James Cohen, Greg Buri
Director of Broadcast Production: Paul Albanese
Senior Broadcast Producer: Katie Lambrecht
Group Account Director: Stacia Parseghian
Management Supervisor: Dominique Branham
Account Supervisor: Lindsay Brown
Assistant Account Executive: Ellen Lovov
Director of Business Affairs: Rodney Pizarro
Business Affairs Manager: Camara Price
Associate Business Affairs Manager: Travis Kohler
Creative Manager: C.J. Stockton
Project Manager: Mike Antonellis
Hispanic Agency: Casanova Pendrill
Group Account Director: Melanie Cyr
Account Supervisor: Maritza Rodriguez
Senior Broadcast Producer: Eleana Meazzo
Production Company: Park Pictures
Directors: Christian & Patrick
Executive Producers: Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Justin Pollock
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: Valerie Romer
Editorial: Spinach LLC
Editor: Katie Turinski
Assistant Editor: Zaldy Lopez
Editorial Producer: Jonathan Carpio
Visual Effects: Method Studios
Visual Effects Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Lead Flame Artist: Emily Irvine
Music: Ring the Alarm
Music Producer: Jenny Hollowell

Rosé is great in giant bottles on the Carlton Terrace. But what if you're one of those average bros who's taken a liking to the pink stuff, which some have even taken to calling "brosé"?

It's better in a can, of course.

Mangrove Estates recognized this, and with help from design shop Safari Sundays, has packaged its new rosé, called The Drop, in four-packs of 8.4-ounce skinny cans—featured recently on package design blog The Dieline.

"We're a wine company that respects the past—the players, the style, the grapes! But the past has passed and life got fast. (The answer was never at the bottom of a bottle anyway.)," the brand says. "So we twisted tradition, bent wine to our will, and put it in a can. Let's forget the corkscrew without being screwed. Finally, a wine packed to keep up with us."

"The Drop" is a surfing term.

"The breaking wave on our can represents what surfers call 'The Drop,' " the brand explains. "[It's] the make-or-break decision to paddle directly into a wave as it's breaking behind you … when you're 100% in or you wipe out … the moment when everything is possible. We are inspired by those who chase The Drop." 



The brand's tagline is, "Quality grapage, no breakage."

"We wanted a tagline that would sum up the way this brand behaves, not just as a wine but in life, embracing all the good stuff and none of the compromise, exactly what millennials expect," says agency creative director Adam Walko.

"We had a specific type of millennial bro that we wanted to talk to and a powerful brand name that got right to the heart of their lifestyle with its 'Think it, do it, done' attitude,' " adds strategy director Georgia Levison, "To unlock the name's potential we built the brand to be so much more than just its product and instead behave as a like-minded peer demonstrating and celebrating moments of 'taking the drop', when everything is possible, even great tasting rosé in a can!'

Check out more about the brand over at The Dieline.

As completely invented, marketing-driven rituals go, Corona Extra has a fun one on its hands with the #LimeDrop, a campaign the Mexican brewer is running across social media for Cinco de Mayo.

R/GA Chicago, Ketchum and Constellation Brands teamed up to create the campaign, which urges people everywhere to drop a lime into their Coronas at exactly 5:55 p.m. on 5/5. OK, so it's not the most fascinating brand activation ever, but Corona has gotten a few celebs involved, including Aaron Paul and Jon Gruden, who recorded the videos below.

Aaron Paul is getting close on his #LimeDrop. Check out how he plans to drop his lime at 5:55pm on 5/5!https://t.co/5BUT663dDp

— Corona (@coronaextrausa) May 4, 2016

Jon Gruden knows how to draw up a #LimeDrop.
See how he's getting ready for 5:55pm on 5/5.https://t.co/dI1YwYsVUo

— Corona (@coronaextrausa) May 3, 2016

The Corona Extra social team will working late into the night urging fans to share their lime-drop photo with @CoronaExtraUSA on Instagram or Twitter using #LimeDrop. The brand will then customize the photos, "Cinco-ifying" them with festive designs.

CREDITS

Client: Corona Extra – Constellation Brands Beer Division
Chief Marketing Officer: Jim Sabia
Vice President, Brand Marketing: John Alvarado
Senior Media Director: Joanne Coleman
Digital Marketing Director: Sally Boots
Senior Brand Manager: Alex Schultz
Senior Brand Manager: Carelys Hepburn
Brand Manager: Saul Trejo
Associate Brand Manager: Susie Robberson
Associate Brand Manager: Joe Richardson
Associate Brand Manager: Lee Gamlin

Agency: R/GA
Executive Creative Director: AJ Hassan
Creative Director: Jeff Canzona
Associate Creative Director: Lizz Pietrus
Copywriter: Mikinzie Stuart
Copywriter: Peter Toutant
Design Director: Jessica Bergstresser
Design Director: Monina Velarde
Designer: Adam Daniels
Social Strategist: Daniela Vieira
Community Manager: Sebastian Ibarra
Strategist: Tyler Moore
Analyst: Sunny Lee
Managing Director: Jeff Brecker
Account Director: Dan Baker
Account Supervisor: Neal Erickson
Executive Production Director: Charles Chung
Senior Producer: Cathy Hughes
Senior Content Producer: Julie Benevides
Associate Producer: Nicole Poull
Director, Business Affairs: Stephen Bernstein
Business Affairs Managers: Mairead Murray, Lynda Blaney-Smith