Faded actors frequently do self-deprecating commercials for a buck. But these new spots for Mattress Firm, from agency Ideaology, really push the lighthearted self-mocking into fairly cringe-worthy territory.

For starters, the whole concept of the campaign is for Fairchild and Estrada to liken themselves to old, worn-out mattresses that need replacing. That's pretty brutal, even when played for laughs. But then Fairchild goes the extra mile of using the phrase "saggy and baggy," while Estrada freely admits to being "past my prime."

Check out the spots here:

It's a tricky thing to get this kind of humor right. Whether these spots succeed might depend on the individual viewer. (We mostly felt sad watching them.) But a rep for the company tells AdFreak that the spots are meant to be "lighthearted, playful and respectful," and that both actors were game for the approach.

"It's a testament to Erik and Morgan's sense of humor—and their not taking themselves too seriously—that they were willing to be part of the joke and poke a little fun at themselves," the rep says.

The rep also provided quotes from both actors.

"A good night's sleep should be part of every woman's beauty routine, and making sleep a priority has helped me to age gracefully," says Fairchild. "The Mattress Firm campaign put a fun spin on the importance of sleep. And like sleep, laughter—which there was plenty of on set—keeps you young, too."

"What do 58 movies and 73 television shows have in common?" Estrada asks. "They make you appreciate a great night's sleep. Aging is inevitable, but keeping a good sense of humor allowed me to have fun with this Mattress Firm campaign."

The ads will run in more than 70 markets nationwide, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver and Miami. 

Pandora is overhauling its ads to create a more dynamic experience for some 80 million monthly users—blending images and sound, and integrating native video into its mobile experience.

The streaming-music service is introducing responsive mobile display ads that automatically adjust to a phone's screen size and that live in the square space housing album art. The format, which also applies to images that accompany audio ads and first impression takeover ads, is a move away from pop-up ads. A second major update for the app is the introduction of muted video ads, which will allow advertisers to serve promos within a responsive display unit that can be unmuted and watched in full-screen view.

According to Jonathan Eccles, senior product manager at Pandora, the goal is to let users move around the app in a way feels visually "native but styled."

"So often it's easy to think of Pandora as a listening format," Eccles said in an interview. "And it's a wildly successful listening format—we see over two hours of time spent per day per listener—but a tremendous amount of attention is also visual attention."

The new formats let users swipe to dismiss ads, and while Pandora wouldn't disclose the entire list of brands included in the pilot phase, officials said it saw twice the number of listeners engage within an advertiser's landing page. 

Pandora, which runs around 18,000 campaigns during any given month, can target 1,000 different audience segments. A beta test for the new formats will launch in August with nearly a dozen brands, including clothing line Express and auto organization Lexus Dealer Association.  

Express chief marketing officer Jim Hilt said advertising on the app has been effective for the brand. "These beta opportunities with Pandora have really pushed the boundaries of finding new ways to break through, but in a way that is super relevant and targeted to the customer, which we think is critical to our success and Pandora's success," he said.

Hilt added that the brand will promote a new denim campaign, which focuses on how denim, like music, is meant to be personalized. The mobile formats are important, he said, especially as the brand sees customers increasingly using their smartphones in stores. Express already has a Pandora station that it uses to create stronger relationships with customers.

"Music and entertainment has always been synonymous with fashion," he said.

Bogus ads that never ran are a scourge on advertising award shows. But now, you can make sure your bogus ads actually did run—thanks to a new magazine in Canada that will print them, no questions asked.

It Ran, the magazine, will be completely filled with ads—no other content whatsoever. It's now accepting advertising submissions for the first issue, coming in August. 

The website explains more:

We've all heard it. Time and time again. At advertising award shows when agencies are called up to the stage for certain award-winning work, many in the room quietly whisper to each other, "There's no way that ran". And sometimes they're right. It's questionable whether or not some award-winning work has run in a real publication. Until now.

Introducing IT RAN, a magazine designed to be filled with 100% ads. No articles. No content. Just ads that you want to run. And for whatever reason, haven't been able to. All to be distributed in our inaugural issue in the fall to every agency in the country.

In other words, it's a great way to still cheat while not appearing to cheat, and it will be interesting to see who takes advantage. Oh, also, it's actually a charity fundraising campaign in disguise.

It costs $500 to place a full-page ad in It Ran. All of that money will go to Canada's National Advertising Benevolent Society, which helps Canadian professionals in the marketing and communications industry facing personal, career and family challenges due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties.

See an amusing ad (by agency lg2) for It Ran here:



"Nobody understands the advertising industry, and the people who work in it, better than NABS," says Louise Berube, director of allocations and services at NABS Canada. "But connecting with this audience in a meaningful way in order to fundraise can be difficult at best. So we decided to have a little fun and create something that we hope our industry will have some fun with themselves."

CREDITS
Client: NABS Canada
Agency: lg2
Creative Directors: Chris Hirsch/Nellie Kim
Art Director: Spencer Dingle/Chris Walker
Writer: Jordan Hamer/Pete MacInnis
Producer: Sumit Ajwani
Account Manager: Warren Yang
Social Strategist: Megan Siegel
Director: Matt Atkinson (Steam Films)
Editor: Griff Henderson (Saints Editorial)
Post: Alter Ego Post
Casting: Powerhouse
Audio: Vapor Music

In the U.S., the same six chemical companies that make pesticides (aka "The Big Six") also control 63 percent of the seed market. That's f*cked up, according to the charismatic animated organic seed who narrates this punchy and amusing short film about the virtues of organic seed over the chemically dependent alternatives. 

The film, "Mr. Seed," is a production of the Clif Bar Family Foundation and was made by The Butler Bros., a brand design studio in Austin, and directed by animation company Buck. It stars a foul-mouthed organic seed who offers his bleeped-out thoughts about GMO seeds—which the client says have led to a nutrient decline of 43 crops, more than $15 billion in human health costs in 2005 alone from agricultural pesticide exposure, and an overall food system that is unsustainable. 

Despite his bad language, Mr. Seed—voiced by comedian Pete Holmes—is actually a good seed, hoping to challenge the narrative from the big agrichemical companies that only they can feed the world. 

"Is this what America wants to eat?" he asks. "Unlike those GMO bros, organic seeds like me can feed the world without ruining it because we keep it clean. We don't dirty ourselves with all those pesticides." 

"Organic seed needed a voice that couldn't be ignored so its advantages could be shared broadly," says Adam Butler, founder and strategic chief of The Butler Bros. "Mr. Seed was born to be that voice, and now it is thanks to an ambitious script, a brave client and an epic collaboration with Buck."

The film points to SeedMatters.org for more information.

"With Mr. Seed, we hope to raise interest and awareness in organic seed and increase conversations about changing our chemically dependent food system," says Matthew Dillon, director of the Seed Matters campaign. "We want to show people that there are alternatives, that they have a choice and a role to play in the solution."

"The Butler Bros. were fantastic partners," adds Buck creative director Ryan Honey. "They conceived of the idea of Mr. Seed and brought Pete Holmes to the table, who is an amazing comic talent, but they also supported our creative vision. It was great to have a partner that saw our passion for the project and worked with us creatively to make a better film."

CREDITS
Client: Clif Bar Family Foundation
Project Title: Mr. Seed

Concept by The Butler Bros.
Creative Directors: Adam Butler, Marty Butler
Art Directors: Allie Nordstrom, Marty Butler
Copywriters: Jeremy Spencer, Ryan Honey, Erik Enberg, Adam Butler
Designers: Craig Crutchfield, Hoang Nguyen
Producers: Vincent Calderon, Bridget Liddy, Christine Lopez

Directed by Buck
Executive Creative Director: Ryan Honey
Executive Producer: Maurie Enochson
Creative Director: Joe Mullen
Head of CG: Doug Wilkinson
Producer: Emily Rickard
Production Coordinator: Kaitlyn Mahoney
Art Director: Laura Yilmaz
Character Design: Joe Mullen, Kenesha Sneed
Storyboards: Laura Yilmaz, Kendra Ryan, Craig Yamamoto
Concept Art and Matte Paintings: Laura Yilmaz, Scott Huntsman, Susan Yung
Design: Laura Yilmaz, Joe Mullen, Susan Yung, Scott Huntsman, Audrey Lee, Rasmus Bak,
Xoana Herrera, Vincent Tsui, Jenny Ko, Kenesha Sneed
CG Lead: Alex Dingfelder
Modeling: Eric Pagtaconan, Wing Sze Lee, Michele Herrera, John Niehuss, Mingoo Park, Jens
Lindgren, Eyad Hussein, Alex Dingfelder, Arvid Volz, Brice Linane, Rie Ito
Look Development Lead: Alex Dingfelder
Look Development: Wing Sze Lee, Eric Pagtaconan, Michele Herrera, Jens Lindgren, John
Niehuss, Mingoo Park
Rigging TD: Ernesto Ruiz Velasco
Character TD: Eyad Hussein, Ernesto Ruiz Velasco
Pipeline and FX TD: Albert Omoss
Additional Rigging: Lee Wolland
Animation Director: Alessandro Ceglia
3D Animation: Alessandro Ceglia, Tyler Lancaster, Dony Permedi, Adam Floeck
2D Screen Animation: Vincent Tsui, Debora Cruchon, Rafael Araujo, Nicole Stafford
Lighting Direction: Alex Dingfelder
Lighting: Wing Sze Lee, Jens Lindgren, Alex Dingfelder, Eric Pagtaconan, Michele Herrera
Compositing Lead: Alex Dingfelder
Compositing: Wing Sze Lee

Pharm Foods Commercial:
Design: Gunnar Pettersson
Animation Director: Laura Yilmaz
Animation: Laura Yilmaz, Kendra Ryan, Nick Petley, Vincent Tsui, Rafael Araujo, Debora
Cruchon, Nicole Stafford

End Credits:
Associate Creative Director: Kevin Walker
Design: Rasmus Bak
Animation: Rasmus Bak, Esteban Esquivo
Music and Sound Design: Antfood
Voice of Mr Seed: Pete Holmes

Specs
Who Founder and CEO Alex Kakoyiannis and brand strategy director Emma Santangelo
What Ad agency
Where Los Angeles

As any good chef knows, five mother sauces comprise the building blocks of culinary magic: béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato and hollandaise. The agency MotherSauce says its recipe for creative roux takes the same approach, bringing branding, creative, production and talent all into its crafty kitchen based in Los Angeles. "MotherSauce is a culture agency and our platform is culinary," explained founder and CEO Alex Kakoyiannis. The shop's four-person team works with brands like Food & Wine, Le Brea Bakery and General Mills. For KitchenAid, MotherSauce helped launch the brand's craft coffee business in 2015 with a "Craft Coffee Comes Home" campaign. Rather than focusing on KitchenAid's coffee products, the campaign focused on the beans themselves and the art of craft coffee. Since then, the agency has produced all of KitchenAid's YouTube videos.

This story first appeared in the June 6, 2016 issue of Adweek magazine.
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Bursts of sudden, searing violence scattered among scenes of sunny but slightly askew domesticity help make "Do You See Her," a harrowing two-minute film for U.K. charity Women's Aid, one of the most memorable PSAs so far this year.

"I wanted to try and show how someone suffering abuse could appear totally normal and happy in front of those closest to them," RSA Films director Paul Andrew Williams tells Adweek. "We all have the possibility of being very close to this problem without even knowing."

Williams focuses on a sadly overlooked target of domestic abuse, establishing a cozy but mildly "off" atmosphere—note the vibe during the family meal—that explodes about 40 seconds into the narrative.

Watch "Do You See Her" before reading further:



"Older women are often invisible in many spheres of life, and it can be all too easy to not see what is really going on," says actress Tessa Peake-Jones, who portrays the grandmother. "I want to give these women a voice, to show them that they are not alone, that they deserve help if they are experiencing domestic abuse." 

Peake-Jones' complex, understated performance, along with those of seasoned British actors Anne-Marie Duff as the daughter and Phil Davis as the grandfather, really sell the scenario. Davis is especially chilling, screaming like a wild man and physically assaulting Peake-Jones one minute, then apologizing the next. 

"The audience is women over 50 who may have grown-up children and grandchildren," says Women's Aid communications manager Teresa Parker, who worked with Williams to develop the PSA. "We also want to reach younger generations and ask them to think about domestic abuse affecting older women, including their mothers and grandmothers. We wanted to break myths about domestic abuse only happening in poorer homes—the film is set in a very middle-class, comfortable home." 

Williams' visual style propels the message; he deftly delivers a nightmare payoff that should stick in viewers' heads. The director, widely acclaimed for his BAFTA-winning 2014 BBC drama Murdered by My Boyfriend, which dealt with a teenage girl's abuse at the hands of her boyfriend, literally pulls no punches here. That sequence on the staircase is as unsettling as it gets, as is the scene where Davis bellows as he pounds on a locked door. 

Ultimately, however, the quiet final frames, with Peake-Jones standing alone, then walking back inside the house, might be the saddest of all. They vividly frame her isolation and drive home that she's trapped inside an especially vicious cycle, one emphasized by the vivid repetition of other moments in the narrative. 

"The film makes the viewer feel the fear that a woman in an abusive relationship is feeling," says Parker. "It is not just seeing the abuse that is important, it is the overwhelming feeling that you cannot escape and that you have to pretend everything is OK. The psychological side of the abuse is just as important as the physical abuse—it is in every look, every move throughout the film." 

Depression can run high among women who lose their hair during cancer treatment. As one survivor says in the video below, "All of a sudden, you're not you. You have a label: cancer." 

For most Romanians, wigs are prohibitively expensive, and there are no government subsidies to help. So, cancer charity Fundația Renașterea and McCann Bucharest developed a novel campaign to convince women to cut their hair and donate it for wig production.

"There was no awareness of hair donation, and Romanian women were reluctant to give up their long locks," Ioana Zamfir, copywriter at McCann Bucharest, tells AdFreak. "What they did want, however, was to be part of a trend. So, we went another way: We didn't ask them to donate their hair; we asked them to be in fashion." 

Working with stylist Sorin Stratulat, the McCann team came up with a distinctive hairstyle—the asymmetrical "Brave Cut," long on one side and short on the other. The new 'do was offered free of charge in various salons. The hair collected from each "Brave Cut" was used to make wigs donated to cancer patients. 



"It's a reinterpretation of the pink ribbon. It's something that became very recognizable, kind of like a trademark of solidarity," Zamfir says. 

 With no budget to spend on media, the project relied on PR, press coverage and the power of influencers to spread the word. "It had a snowball effect," Zamfir says. "We started with just one very popular TV presenter getting it live. Then more women wanted it. Then more hair salons joined. Then more celebrities followed. Then even politicians got it. One thing led to another." 

Since the campaign launched in November, more than 2,400 women have donated enough hair to create 650 wigs.

Ultimately, the impact of "Brave Cut" is multi-layered. It helps women stave off the intense despondency—that loss of "self"—that can result from drastic changes in one's appearance due to illness, while raising national awareness for the cause. Also, the campaign promotes solidarity and strength among Romanian women, uniting them in a mission of hope and mutual support.

"It gave women this feeling that however different, if they did this one thing, they can make a difference," Zamfir says. "And they were recognizing each other on the street by their haircut."

CREDITS
Agency: McCann Bucharest
Adrian Botan – Global Executive Creative Director
Catalin Dobre – Executive Creative Director
Ioana Zamfir – Copywriter
Alin Sirbu – Art Director
Dana Hogea – Client Service Director
Carmen Marin – Account Director
Ana Fara – Account Executive
Carmen Bistrian – Creative Excellence Manager EUROPE
Diana Ceausu – Head of Strategy

What if you had the perfect excuse to watch the UEFA Champions League Final at an epic Heineken party ... without your girlfriend?

That's the setup in Heineken's latest stunt for soccer fans. One week before the UEFA Champions League Final in Milan, Heineken targeted a handful of guys out at dinner in São Paulo with their girlfriends. When the guys opened the menus, they were met with a surprising message:

Would you like to be free to watch the UEFA Champions League Final at a Heineken party? Gift your lady a weekend at this spa.

What follows is a long, comic silence, after which the guys try adapting the message for their skeptical girlfriends as if they'd planned it all along. One lays it on thick, claiming he did a huge amount of research. 

"You want to get rid of me?" a girlfriend asks incredulously.

"Look how stressed you are," her dude responds. "You need some time for you!" 

It's classic, in keeping with the kinds of stunts and messaging Heineken has become known for—surprising and rewarding mostly male soccer fans to build on the idea that Heineken is your own personal beer buddy, as keen on the sport as you are. 

We're all for boys just wanting to have fun, but for women, the asymmetry can be irritating. (Why couldn't they just tell them?) That irritation builds as the ladies take the bait and our trio of heroes skip off to party town, where a cheering crowd, a big-screen TV and beers await them. The guys cozy up under a #ChampionTheMatch banner, clinking glasses in celebration of their little caper.

But the ad ain't over yet.



The guys faces are priceless as they absorb the surprise, followed by the moral of this little Aesop's fable: "Have you ever considered that she might like football as much as you do?" (You know this already, but soccer is actually football elsewhere in the world.) 

The guys clap to their own dupe, sportsmanlike to the end. And in exchange for being such loveable cads, the women tell them to peep under their seats. Aww... tickets to Champions League 2017. This time they'll all go together. 

Created by Publicis, "The Cliché" provides a different kind of gratification that reflects an evolution in couples culture as-seen-on-TV, one in which both partners win in equal measure, and no single sex is so easily had. And while we take it for granted that there's stuff our dudes would rather do without us (and vice versa), the ad's real message is that these divides don't have to be determined by blanket cultural stereotypes about what your partner will or won't enjoy. 

Those divides go both ways. We're pretty sure that, after discovering their kick-ass soccer weekend has been grossly overshadowed by their girlfriends', our fallen-from-grace protagonists would be open to a spa treatment, if only to massage away all that pwnage.

CREDITS

Cliente: Heineken
Agência: Publicis
Direção de criação: Hugo Rodrigues, Kevin Zung e Alexandre (Xã) Vilela
Direção de arte: Henrique Mattos, Cícero Souza, Guto Kono
Redação: Pedro Lazera, Mariana Albuquerque, Samuel Normando
Atendimento: Danilo Ken, Daniel Batista e Marina Roge
Planejamento: Eduardo Lorenzi, Alexandra Varassin, Rafael Fiorito e Leonardo Andrade
Social strategist: Tiago Martinez
Mídia: Gracieli Beraldi, Giuliana Barletta e Nicolas Lana
RTVC: Tato Bono, Dani Toda
Produtora: Hungry Man
Diretor: Caio Rubini e Fabio Pinheiro
Managing Partner: Alex Mehedff
Produtor executivo: Rodrigo Castello e Renata Corrêa
Line Producer: Mariana Marinho
Diretor de fotografia: Felipe Meneghel
Equipe de produção: Hungry Man
Supervisor de Pós-Produção: Rodrigo Oliveira
Pós-Produção: Efecktor
Montador: Thiago Ceruti
Color Granding: Psycho N'Look
Produtora de áudio: Jamute

It's a shame when a person introduces herself as "a human" and it actually seems necessary.

A new video, titled "Meet a Muslim," aims to mitigate some of the fear and misperception currently pervading the American dialogue—by putting the camera on a diverse cross-section of U.S. citizens who share the Islamic faith. 

There's a pediatrician, a mom and a handful of adorable kids. There's a woman who calls herself the "naughty Muslim," a couple of parents who call their family "smiley Muslims," and a man (who also—gasp!—drinks) married to another man. 

There's also a white dude. And a young, Ohio-born woman who wears a floral hijab and describes herself as a "foodie." They all share a little about themselves, then offer reflections—uniformly warm, sometimes baffled, often heartbreakingly insightful—about why they face so much animus from people who don't know them. 

Timed to launch around Ramadan, which started last Sunday, and the California primary, it's a stark contrast to the images of violent jidahists that have become news fixtures in recent years, and grown to occupy the role of bogeymen for an uncomfortably large swathe of the political psyche. I'ts a sad state of affairs amplified—or worse, simply drawn out—by the demagoguery of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The clip, directed by Tara Miele, is meant to tackle such broad issues, though its genesis was far more personal. She recalls a recent family dinner, during which Trump's rhetoric about banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. came up. 

To Miele's horror, her mother-in-law defended it. After the ensuing family fireworks, Miele discovered the elder woman had never actually met a Muslim—and the project was born.



That Miele herself isn't Muslim makes her position all the more relevant—it's harder to dismiss as tribalism. She encourages viewers on the YouTube channel to consider donating to the nonprofit NewGround: Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change.

But for anyone swayed, inspired or just intrigued by her argument, it's worth reading more of her statement on the piece, excerpted at length below, for more perspective on how compassion can fuel action and transcend causes that might, at first blush, seem disparate.

This video does not represent all Muslims by any stretch—this is simply a different cross section of Muslims than we are accustomed to seeing in the media. They are Muslims who happen to be my peers: Creative, young, urban artists, and families. They are good people. They are human.

Also worth noting, this shoot caused me to do some serious self-reflection as a filmmaker. Why was I, an agnostic ex-Catholic, fighting this fight when my fight as a female filmmaker in Hollywood was already taking up 110% of me?! I realized that the truth is, my goal as a filmmaker is not just to give a voice to women but to give a voice to all the underserved voices out there that need to be heard.

And the truth is, I got more out of doing this project than any other I've done. I was touched by the honesty and beauty of every individual I interviewed and the outpouring of support from the film community—people wanted to help, people want to do good. This is a drop in the bucket but I truly believe every drop counts.

The only way England will produce its own Cristiano Ronaldo is if the Portuguese superstar accidentally crashes into a young British fan at a game and—in a bit of Freaky Friday style body switching—inhabits the kid for a few years, until he can become a star. 

That, at least, is one way to interpret the cute and amusing plot line of "The Switch," Wieden + Kennedy's epic Nike film for Euro 2016. 

The work is classic Nike—that familiar mix of mix of flash and humor, with loads of cameos by other pro footballers and delightful details at every turn. (At 5:57, it's also Nike's longest-ever brand film, eclipsing 2014's "The Last Game" by 30 seconds.)  

It was directed by Ringan Ledwidge, a bit of a superstar himself, who counts the Guardian's "Three Little Pigs" and Nike's "Winner Stays," from the 2014 World Cup, among his big advertising scores. 

It's a little odd for the world's biggest sports marketer, in 2016, to have a head injury be the precipitating event in a long-form comedy. But once the action gets going, the production is pretty irresistible, and the circular pattern of the spot—anchored by The Heavy's pulsating track "Turn Up"—brings everything nicely full circle. 



The spot took five days to film in Spain, says Nike, which claims it was the most extensive brand shoot that the 31-year-old Ronaldo has ever done for any company.

American audiences also get a nice treat with the inclusion of Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. women's national team midfielder, who is seen on stage in the light-colored suit in the award scene. ("She made the most of production pauses by switching into sneakers and juggling between takes," Nike says.)

The other pros who make cameos are Raheem Sterling, Joe Hart, Harry Kane, Chris Smalling, John Stones, Ross Barkley, Ricardo Quaresma, Andre Gomes, Jose Fonte, Cedric Soares, Vieirinha, Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial, Sergi Roberto and Javier Mascherano.

Ronaldo's co-star, 16-year-old Gerson Correia Adua, was actually the understudy for the film, but took the starring role when the original actor hurt his leg in a car accident (he does get an appearance at the 5:15 mark). 

Nike ads are highly anticipated around every major soccer tournament, and this one certainly doesn't disappoint. Now, if the English can employ some Ronaldo-esque wizardry for real, they might do a little better at Euro 2016 than they did in the last World Cup.

CREDITS
Client: Nike
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy
Director: Ringan Ledwidge

In partnership with Norman Walsh, a British sports shoe brand, McCann London has created the Herbrand Seven-Eleven, a pair of sneakers inspired by the agency's own art-deco-style building at 7-11 Herbrand Street. 

The limited-edition shoes, manufactured by hand in Norman Walsh's factory in Bolton—where the brand's been based since 1961—bear the distinctive white and green colors of the McCann building. They went live Wednesday at an agency exhibit celebrating Norman Walsh's history.



"Many sports brands are keen to stress their Britishness, but Norman Walsh is the only British-owned sports footwear brand still manufacturing in this country and a real authentic icon of the craft heritage that remains in this country, so we want to help tell their story," explains Laurence Thomson, chief creative officer at McCann London. 

The exhibit includes the running shoes that founder Walsh designed for the 1948 Olympic Games, plus original shoes created for track and field, marathon and fell running, rugby and soccer. "The Peaks of Walsh," a showpiece that references the stone cairns of northern Britain's hills and mountaintops, will feature a formation of cairns and recount the history of fell running (a form of running that tests your stamina across various inclines)—not to mention the peaks (har!) that Walsh, the man and the brand, have achieved. 

"Our collaboration with McCann London has not only resulted in a beautiful new trainer but an exhibition that brilliantly conveys the history of our brand and the craftsmanship that goes into everything we make," says London agent Tim Walker for Norman Walsh. "The team at McCann have a real passion and appreciation for our brand, and we're proud to work with them to make our story famous." 

This follows past collaborations between Norman Walsh and brands like Marks & Spencer and Universal Works, in keeping with a wider trend of brands partnering with shoe companies to produce their own—sometimes bizarre—pairings, like Nike's Kyrie Irving Krispy Kreme kicks.

The Herbrand Seven-Eleven will be displayed in a window at the agency and on the McCann London website, where you can buy a pair—provided your creative director doesn't mind. The Norman Walsh exhibit will be open to the public for the next two months. 

More photos of the shoes appear below.

CREDITS
Agency: McCann London
Chief Creative Officers: Laurence Thomson, Rob Doubal
Business Lead: Oli Morgan
Account Manager: Rami Noumaan
Project Manager: Sarah-Louise van Uden
Planning Partner: Karen Crum
Executive Producer: Sophie Chapman-Andrews
Producer: Kezia Clark
Print Producer: Liam White
Studio Manager: Ellis Faint
Creatives: Jacob Bjordal, Jim Nilsson
Head of Art: Michael Thomson
Shoe Design: Marc Siese
Set Design, Build: Ben Miller
Photographer: John Martin
Music by Frukt: Tim Sutton, Chris Gilbert
Walsh London Agent: Tim Walker

Penguin is running a series of posters in the London Underground featuring quotes from classic literature. But the quote it's pulled from Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons has led to accusations that the publishing house is provoking "anger and ethnic hatred." 

There are also questions about the specific translation that was used, which makes this whole thing even more awkward. 

The quote, spoken in the novel by nihilistic character Yevgeny Bazarov, is an obscure snippet of dialogue that reads, "Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles … Useless words! A Russian doesn't need them!" 

London-based Russian blogger Tanya Solovyeva is furious about the ad, and has even claimed it is a misquote. In a tweet, she highlighted a Penguin version of the book that has a different translation that reads, "Aristocracy, liberalism, progress, principles … what a lot of foreign … and useless words. A Russian would not want them as a gift."

In a Facebook post, she called the ad "low, cheap propaganda, based on ethnic hatred between the nations." 

London metro ad for Penguin's classic #Russia|n literature misquoting Turgenev. For propaganda. Compare to original. pic.twitter.com/cnq3erC2XT

— Nina Byzantina (@NinaByzantina) June 3, 2016

It seems, though, that Solovyeva's Penguin book is simply an older version; the newest Penguin edition of Fathers and Sons has the quote featured in the ad. 

Penguin's response to the whole thing has been as generic as most of its book covers. A spokesman said, "Our poster campaign is designed to intrigue people to find out more and introduce them to books we believe they will treasure," pointing out that many of the books it chose for the campaign were written by Russians. 

That's fine, but a subway poster with a quote and no author attribution is hardly an endorsement of a book, much less Russians in general. And didn't it realize, more broadly, that this could easily be taken as a provocation. 

Either way, we'd like to hear answers from Penguin that aren't glorified sales copy.

Move to Canada? Who'd want to do that, especially with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee working so darn hard to make America great again? 

Besides, you don't even know whether you'd like it there. Canadians wear flannel year round and speak a strange language (eh?). It's almost like an entirely different country.

In a new digital campaign from J. Walter Thompson, Air Canada helpfully suggests taking a "Test Drive" first, inviting folks on a visit to sample what the Great White North has to offer:



They use the metric system in Canada? Isn't that where you measure distance in years and vice versa?

"The unprecedented interest in moving to Canada presented a powerful social context to make Air Canada more relevant to American travelers," JWT creative director David Federico tells AdFreak. "Our challenge was to acknowledge where the tension was coming from, but avoid weighing into specific politics." 

Using Twitter prerolls and YouTube, the push targets Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Tara Joshi appears as a ticket agent in both route-specific spots and clips, responding to Americans who use social media to express interest in moving to Canada (or have other ties to our snowy upstairs neighbor).

"Following the California primary, conversation around 'moving to Canada' spiked once again," notes JWT creative director Josh Budd. "In anticipation of this, we set ourselves up to write, shoot, edit and post live content in response to American tweets. We posted 29 real-time responses—to celebrities and average folks alike."

Here's Air Canada's response to Lena Dunham, who's got the itch to work in Vancouver:

Hey @lenadunham, heard you might be moving to Vancouver. We'd like to help you #TestDriveCanada first:https://t.co/ualhBvHa8x

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) June 8, 2016

In other words, Canada could soon have both the metric system and Lena Dunham! You're better off staying home and taking your chances with the Donald. Just kidding. Probably.

Next, Air Canada reacts to Raven-Symoné's desire for a change of scenery:

Before moving, @ravensymone, come #TestDriveCanada to decide where to settle... if you don't already know. #OhSnappic.twitter.com/2kNB7tCHfb

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) June 8, 2016

As for Modern Family star Ariel Winter, with that last name, she'll fit right in:

We'd love to have you join our modern family @arielwinter1! Before you do, why not #TestDriveCanada first? pic.twitter.com/qnTEyHnZQc

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) June 8, 2016

There's also a shout-out to best-selling travel writer Matthew Kepnes, aka "Nomadic Matt," who's asked to give recommendations for those planning a Canadian "test drive." (Three meals a day at Tim Hortons, right, Matt?)

Hey @nomadicmatt, since you're a world traveller, we wanted to do something special. DM us for a surprise... pic.twitter.com/yo9VsfQ5Rz

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) June 9, 2016

In addition, 20 destination spots tout various Canadian cities, like Montreal, which, of course, is exactly like Paris, except not: 



Air Canada follows several airlines that have incorporated election humor into their advertising flight plans. For example, in February, JetBlue urged passengers to reach across the aisle. (No biting, please.) 

"We're basically saying to our neighbors to the south: We'd love to have you over and take a look around," says client global marketing director Selma Filali. "Of course, we want everyone to get along, so if you buy a return ticket—all the better." 

Consider the bright side: If Canada disappoints after a "Test Drive," you can always head to Mexico.

CREDITS
Client: Air Canada
Director, Global Marketing and Sales Communications: Selma Filali

Agency: J. Walter Thompson Canada
Senior Vice Presidents, Creative Directors: Josh Budd, David Federico
Art Director: Anton Mwewa
Writer: Alec Carluen
Strategy: Sarah Stringer, Kaiti Snell
Social: Rebecca Brown, Matthew Stasoff
Accounts: Andrew Rusk, Lindsay Cannon
Producer: Sydney Price

Media Strategy: Mindshare Canada

Talent: Tara Joshi

Public Relations: Spafax Content Marketing Americas

Concerns about "drugged driving" have prompted the Colorado Department of Transportation and Amélie Company to create an ad campaign, "Dangerous Combinations," about the dangers of driving under the influence of marijuana. 

A quick look at this data makes clear why there's a need for this kind of campaign. Drugged driving incidents have increased since Colorado decriminalized weed in 2012. 

The first ad, "Can't Skip This," uses one of those ubiquitous "Skip Ad" buttons to demonstrate how weed slows your reaction time. The ad's central conceit kinda games the system a bit, but we understand what they're trying to say. 



The second ad, "Rollover," shows a car getting rolled (and crushed) into a joint. People who watch this stoned will probably think it's hilarious.



Currently, NORML and AAA disagree on the extent to which weed impairs driving ability, but we think CDOT's doing the right thing by making people aware of potential risks. That said, they're being a tad hysterical at this stage. Pump the brakes a little bit, guys. 

CREDITS

Agency: Amélie Company
Creative Director: Pat Feehery
Art Director: Chelsea Anderson
Copywriter: Rachel Edwards
Retoucher: Scott Klingsoehr

Pre-Roll
Producer: Ryan Adams
Production Company: Transistor Studios

New York City finds no shortage of reasons to pat itself on the back, but the city's groundbreaking ad campaign for transgender bathroom rights actually justifies it.

The print and video ads include transgender New Yorkers—among them a full-time mom, a health-care worker, a theater professional and a rising high school student—urging us to "Look past pink and blue," and be less weird in general, about who uses which bathroom.



It's the first time any U.S. governmental body has used public money to support this issue. In a recent statement, Mayor de Blasio mentioned that "other cities and states are legislating intolerance and taking away individuals' right to use bathrooms consistent with their gender identity"—before remarking that his office, and the city at large, is "proudly standing with our transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers." 

The ads, which are bright and vibrant and look great, are set to appear in subway cars, bus shelters, phone booths and newspapers throughout the city. 

Check out the videos below.

Is Todd Gurley actually vegetarian?

You have to wonder after watching this Carl's Jr. commercial starring the Los Angeles Rams running back. The spot shows Gurley supposedly biting into the California Classic Double Cheeseburger, but it's blatantly obvious that the burger isn't real—it's a digitally inserted photo that isn't fooling anyone.

Check out the YouTube comments—almost every one is mocking. "That CGI burger is as inflated as your prices," says one. Says another: "Feel free to send me some burgers at my email. Thank you. Also save them in photoshop so I can eat them at a higher res! Thanks!"

The ad has 92 likes and 700 dislikes on YouTube, as of this writing.

PetaPixel says the same burger photo was even used in separate shots in the ad:



We've reached out to Carl's Jr. for comment on this, and will update if we hear back. In the meantime, Gurley has taken over Carl's Jr.'s Instagram for a couple of days, where he continues to have lots of fun not eating the chain's food. 

Branded prank videos are still hanging around, as we saw earlier this week with Publicis' great Heineken stunt from Brazil. And here's a fun new one from Sweden, where Electrolux touted its UltraCare range of washing machines by turning the dry cleaning store that one Swedish woman uses into a replica of her own apartment.

See how it went down here:



As prank videos go, it's short and sweet. And the concept is strong.

"We created 'The Dry Cleaner Prank' to help Johanna's boyfriend surprise her in an unexpected way. Giving us the chance to prove that with the new UltraCare range you can wash even your most precious clothes at home," says a spokeswoman for Electrolux.



"I didn't understand a thing," the prankee says. "At first I recognized the scent that we have at home, then I saw something that looked a lot like our TV-table but I didn't think it was our home. But when I stepped inside I saw that the whole room was an exact copy of our home. Even the view was the same!"

The stunt was done by agency Volontaire. 

As agencies battle each other for Lions next week in Cannes, a gesture of peace might just end up with the most hardware.

Burger King and Y&R's McWhopper offer to McDonald's for Peace One Day is one of the pre-festival favorites. But it's only one of several dozen remarkable campaigns on Leo Burnett's 29th annual Cannes Predictions list. 

Burnett identified six key themes this year: inventions (DB's Brewtroleum, If Insurance's "Slow Down GPS," Samsung's "BrainBAND"), earned media (Cointreau's #NotComingSoon, Netflix's FU2016), creative media partnerships with Silicon Valley (The Art Institute's "Van Gogh BnB"), personalization (Beats by Dre's "Straight Outta"), authentic truth (REI's #OptOutside) and storytelling by animation ("Justino," "ShottaSoCo," "Paper," "Shoplifters"). As usual, though, plenty of the work highlighted here is so forward-thinking that it defies categorization.

Visit adweek.com/cannes all next week for real-time reports from the festival, including video interviews, analysis, winners' galleries and more.

 
• Burger King & Peace One Day "McWhopper"

Y&R, Auckland, New Zealand
A truce in the burger wars? Burger King brilliantly suggested just that to McDonald's, offering to collaborate on a McWhopper for Peace Day. McDonald's politely declined, but BK had already scored a massive PR victory for an integrated stunt that should dominate across multiple categories in Cannes.

 
• Southern Comfort "ShottaSoCo"

Wieden + Kennedy, New York
W+K took a campy pop-culture device—Taiwanese animation of current events—and put it to wonderfully surreal use for Southern Comfort. The agency even hired the company behind the original videos, Next Media, and let the animators interpret the scripts in their own way.

 
• Andes Beer "Fairest Night of All," "Hagglers"

Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Argentine brewer scored with two fun, comic campaigns. First, it invited the best-looking men in one city to a fake, evening-long casting call, giving less attractive men a better shot with women at bars. Then it got the world's best hagglers from market stalls in India, Turkey and Togo to negotiate with men's girlfriends to earn the guys more time at the bar.

 
• DB Breweries, "Brewtroleum"

Colenso BBDO, Auckland, New Zealand
In a bit of alchemic magic, DB and Colenso BBDO created a clean-burning, conflict-free biofuel from the yeast left over after brewing DB Export beer. It was marketed with an irresistible appeal to beer lovers: Drink enough, and you could save the world.

 
• Xbox "Survival Billboard"

McCann, London
Xbox celebrated the launch of Rise of the Tomb Raider in the U.K. with a genius and sadistic stunt. It challenged eight Lara Croft fans to stand on a billboard in London for 24 hours and then pelted them with harsh weather—wind, rain, even snow—as voted for in real time by the public online.

 
• REI "#OptOutside"

Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco
The outdoors retailer took a brave anti-consumerist stance on the biggest retail day of the year, closing completely on Black Friday and paying its 12,000 employees as though it were a regular workday, "so they can do what they love most—be outside."

 
• Loterías y Apuestas del Estado "Justino"

Leo Burnett, Madrid
The best Christmas ad of 2015 didn't come from Britain as expected, but from Spain. This gorgeous animated lottery film, like a little Pixar movie, told the story of an overnight security guard at a mannequin factory who delights the daytime staff by setting up the figures in amusing poses.

 
• Intermarché "Sugar Detox"

Marcel, Paris
The French eat way too much sugar. Could an ingenious combination of product and package design help? The supermarket chain's "Sugar Detox" desserts allowed consumers to gradually step down their sugar level within a single six-pack, with the sixth dessert having half the sugar of the first one.

 
• Curry's PC World "Spare the Act"

AMV BBDO, London
Struggling to pretend you're glad about a bad Christmas present? Get a professional pretender to help you. Jeff Goldblum gave ordinary people amusing acting lessons so they could seem grateful for crappy gifts in this British electronics retailer's memorable campaign.

 
• If Insurance "Slow Down GPS"

Forsman & Bodenfors, Gothenburg, Sweden
F&B dreamed up a seriously clever safety feature for GPS navigators: Have the app switch to a child's voice near schools, day-care centers and other areas where children are likely to be present. The brilliant app works around all schools and day-care centers in Sweden, Finland and Norway.

 
• Suumo "Shell We Move?"

Hakuhodo Kettle, Tokyo
This real-estate website got involved in designing a very unexpected kind of home—for hermit crabs. With fewer natural shells available to crabs because of climate change, Suumo made artificial, cocoon-shaped ones—tough, light, environmentally friendly and really quite adorable.

 
• Honda "Paper"

RPA, Santa Monica, Calif.
RPA and stop-motion wizard PES teamed up for this remarkable Honda spot that told the brand's history of products—cars, motorcycles, outboard motors, CVCC vehicles, robotics and more—in a paper-flipping journey through thousands of hand-drawn illustrations.

 
• Beats by Dre "Straight Outta"

R/GA Hustle, Los Angeles
Everyone is straight outta somewhere. R/GA Hustle tapped into that pride of place with a Beats by Dre campaign around the movie Straight Outta Compton (about Beats founder Dr. Dre) that let people stamp their own city on the Straight Outta logo.

 
• Shiseido "High School Girl?"

Watts of Tokyo
The year's most mesmerizing product demo. The camera moves through what we think is a group of high school girls, but then, as it circles back through the same group, it becomes clear they're not high school girls at all—Shiseido makeup has hidden the truth all along.

 
• University of Western Sydney "Deng Thiak Adut Unlimited"

VCD+WE.Collective, Sydney
Lots of colleges put alumni in their ads. But Western Sydney University boasts one amazing grad in particular—Deng Thiak Adut, a former Sudanese child soldier who came to Australia at 14 as a refugee, taught himself English and eventually got a law degree from WSU.

 
• House Of Cards "FU2016"

BBH, New York
With a crazy presidential election rollicking the real world, Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood was campaigning for the same office in Netflix's House of Cards. But Frank's campaign suddenly became real, too—when an actual FU2016 headquarters opened in Greenville, S.C.

 
• Remy Cointreau/Louis XIII Cognac "#NotComingSoon"

Fred & Farid, New York
Cointreau got Robert Rodriguez to film a movie starring John Malkovich with a very eccentric twist: The finished cut has been put in a vault and won't be seen by anyone for 100 years. It will open in 2115, when the brand's Louis XIII cognac, bottled today, is ready.

 
• Harvey Nichols "Shoplifters"

adam&eveDDB, London
This cheeky, inspired 90-second spot used real security-camera footage of shoplifters at a Harvey Nichols store in London—adding expressive cartoon faces to the perps, making it a rollicking bit of fun. "Love freebies? Get them legally," says the ad, promoting the chain's rewards app.

 
• Volvo Trucks "Look Who's Driving"

Forsman & Bodenfors, Gothenburg, Sweden
F&B brought back its famous "Live Test Series" campaign in style, getting a 4-year-old to pilot a Volvo FMX, billed as "the toughest truck we ever built," via remote control. It's pure joy to see Sophie send the vehicle careening through marshes, deep ditches and even a concrete building.

 
• Prodiss "#MaPlaceEstDansLaSalle"

Fred & Farid, Paris
After the attack on the Bataclan concert hall in November, attendance at live shows in Paris plummeted. So, concert halls and theaters united in an act of solidarity—by all changing the names of their productions to Ma Place Est Dans La Salle (My Place Is at the Show).

 
• Sagami "Act of Love"

Hakuhodo Kettle, Tokyo
This condom brand got humans to act out animal courtship rituals, and the results were both hilarious and weirdly poignant. "We think too much and end up feeling afraid," the brand said. "Animals don't worry over their decisions. They act out of need and express themselves instinctively."

 
• Art Institute of Chicago "Van Gogh BnB"

Leo Burnett, Chicago
The Art Institute brought together all three versions of Van Gogh's "The Bedroom" for the first time in North America. To promote the show, it built an amazing, full-scale, livable model of the bedroom in a historic Chicago building—and let people rent it on Airbnb.

 
• Bajaj "The Nation's Bike"

Leo Burnett, Mumbai, India
In 2014, the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, which had played a heroic role in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, was scrapped for metal. To preserve this treasured piece of history, Bajaj bought the metal and made motorcycles from it—selling 11,000 on the very first day.

 
• Samsung "BrainBAND"

Leo Burnett, Sydney
With help from a neuroscientist and an industrial designer, Samsung invented a headband that monitors concussion activity in the wearer. Sensors measure the force of impacts in real time, relaying data to doctors, referees and coaches, while LED lights indicate the severity of a hit.

 
• Under Armour "Rule Yourself: Phelps"

Droga5, New York
Impeccable craft and a compelling story of an aging hero's last stand made Under Armour's Michael Phelps spot one of the year's best. Beautiful and haunting, it captured the swimmer's solitary struggles perfectly as he prepares for one last shot at glory, and redemption, in Rio.

This story first appeared in the June 13, 2016 issue of Adweek magazine.
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Exactly how obsessed are you with Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver? HBO tests the depths of your nerd knowledge in a new campaign from Droga5—the agency's first work for the paid cable network—that sends you down a rabbit hole on Instagram, where you answer trivia to solve clues leading to fun prizes.

The Game of Thrones contest came first, rolling out Friday—and is, unfortunately for you GoT fans, already officially over. But you can still take the quiz, which works like this:

It opens on the familiar static screen that HBO uses at the beginning of each show. Clues are written in the captions; you click on tags in the photos to answer the questions and move to the next screen. There are lots of dead ends, featuring amusing original videos from the show's stars, and you have to go back and try again. The first person to get all the way through the puzzle is the winner. 

The "Into HBO" campaign will also feature Silicon Valley and Last Week Tonight contests, coming soon. [UPDATE: The Silicon Valley game went live Monday at noon ET.] 

The prizes are sweet, as well. The Game of Thrones winner gets tickets to Comic-Con in San Diego and an all-expense-paid trip. The Silicon Valley winner gets a replica of the Aviato car featured in the show. The Last Week Tonight winner gets tickets to a taping and an all-expense-paid trip to New York.

"We wanted to have some fun with the iconic HBO static," says Niklas Lindstrom, head of interactive production at Droga5. "Viewers have come to know that screen is the window into something truly remarkable. This campaign is a way to play with that notion. Instagram was the perfect platform to host this activation and allow loyal and new fans alike to dive in and be surprised with what they come across."

"When the iconic HBO static intro lights up their screens, our fans know they're about to experience something extraordinary," adds Chris Spadaccini, evp of brand and product marketing at HBO. We think they'll be excited by this innovative opportunity to go even deeper inside the static intro and engage with the brand on the Instagram platform."

Check out some of the dead-end videos below. And keep an eye on the HBO Instagram account for the next two contests.

 
Dead-end videos, Game of Thrones: 

 
Dead-end videos, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver:

 
Dead-end videos, Silicon Valley:

 
CREDITS
Client: HBO
Campaign: "Into HBO"

Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Director: Erik Hogfeldt
Senior Creatives: Toby Treyer-Evans / Laurie Howell
Copywriter: Evan Barkoff
Jr. Art Director: David Spradlin
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Interactive Production: Niklas Lindstrom
Social Producer: Alice Tam
Group Communications Strategy Director: Samantha Deevy
Social Communications Strategy Director: Tom Hyde
Account Director: Kristoffer Aldorsson / Caitlin Chandler
Account Supervisor: Michelle Villarreal
Head of Project Management: Katia Billings

Client: HBO
VP Consumer Marketing & Marketing Strategy: Chris Spadaccini
VP Brand & Product Marketing: Jason Mulderig
Director of Marketing: Dana Lichtenstein
Associate Marketing Manager: Kate Cohen
Production Company: Pet Gorilla
Creative Director: Reza Rasoli
Executive Producer: Dominic Bernacchi
Producer: David LeGrand

Forget about next week's Cannes Lions. Check out all the crazy cats in this commercial for Netto, a German supermarket chain. 

These 75 seconds of epic kitty cuteness take place in an incredibly detailed miniature version of a Netto store and feature clones of Maru, Keyboard Cat and other stars of famous feline memes. Is the No No No Cat among them? Yes yes yes! 

And, not to give too much away, but someone's not feeling quite as Grumpy as usual: 



Whoa, it's like a mouse's worst nightmare!

Jung von Matt created the spot, continuing its string of impressively memorable supermarket advertising that includes last year's to-die-for holiday hit and the suave, silly "Supergeil" from 2014 (both for Netto's parent company Edeka).

Since dropping last week, the cat clip continues to purr along, with more than 5 million YouTube views—clawing its way into the global zeitgeist. Meowwwwww!

In the making-of video below, Iconoclast director Brian Lee Hughes rocks a fluffy cat suit as he explains how the spot came together. "We're not in the same species," he says, "but I feel like we're brothers and sisters in a project that will be good for all mankind." 



Will we be able to scrub the image of Brian in that cat-astrophic costume out of heads anytime soon? No no no!

CREDITS

Agency: Jung Von Matt
Client: Netto
Director: Brian Lee Hughes
Production Company: Iconoclast