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Survey Predicts a Bleak Future for Agencies

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If you think the prospects for agencies are challenging right now, look ahead five years.

Some 320 marketing and agency leaders did just that, painting a bleak portrait of 2019 in an anonymous survey from RSW/US. The most cynical marketers predicted the agency world will become very niche, nonexistent or extinct, and an agency executive even admitted that future shops will be in disarray.

In short, survival will hinge on digital capabilities. As one agency honcho put it, “For the few left standing, it’s an online world.” Said another: “Survivors— and there will be few that make the transition—will all be digital shops.”

More sanguine respondents expect agencies to be analytical, digitally focused and data-driven, with some behaving more like general contractors than ad makers.

Successful shops, said a marketer, will become “very flexible with third party contractors supplementing the skills the agency may not have.” Another marketer added that shops will “bring in lots of specialists— preferably the best specialist—to execute against individual tactics.”

Such partnerships are already emerging, with agencies as diverse as Young & Rubicam and Mindshare introducing new technology companies like Interlude and Wochit to clients. “Marketers are becoming more and more accepting of that sort of a structure,” Mark Sneider, president of RSW/US, told Adweek. “This [technology] thing is moving so quickly, you can’t at the end of the day expect a single agency to be so on top of it.”

Reebok, Acura, MetLife and Hilton were among the marketers represented in the survey, which was conducted online in December. The agency sample included execs from shops like Leo Burnett, DDB, JWT and Y&R.


M&M's Spoof Action Movies in Cinema Plea to Silence Your Cellphone

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The iconic M&M's candies call for filmgoers to turn off their cellphones and respect their fellow theater patrons in this mock blockbuster action-movie trailer from BBDO that marks the first time all six characters have appeared in a single spot.

Speed and Die Hard-type flicks are among those deftly spoofed in the 40-second PSA, which will run in theaters nationwide. "Cellphones ruin movies. Please turn them off" is the tagline. Lobby posters starring the Red and Yellow M&M's are also part of the push.

Sugar-coating the theme in such fashion is pretty sweet, and the approach actually makes me want to see the M&M's cast in a feature for real. They're always hanging around movie theaters anyway, usually in the snack case. And judging by the "trailer," the Blue M&M could out-act Vin Diesel any day of the week (though an M&M's wrapper could probably do that, come to think of it).

Credits below.

CREDITS
Agency: BBDO, New York
Client: Mars/M&M's

Video Credits
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars
Executive Creative Directors: Tim Bayne, Lauren Connolly
Senior Art Director: Eduardo Petersen
Senior Copywriter: Christopher Cannon
Senior Producer: Regina Iannuzzi
Junior Producer: Samantha Errico

Senior Account Director: Susannah Keller
Account Director: Carrie Lipper
Account Manager: Tani Nelson

Production Company: Traktor
Director: Traktor/Sam
Producer: Richard Ulfvengren
Head of Production: Rani Melendez

Visual Effects: Laika/House
President, Executive Producer: Lourri Hammack
Animation Director: Kirk Kelly
Producer: Zilpha Yost
Producer: Julie Ragland
Editing House: PS260
Editors: Maury Loeb, Ned Borgman
Assistant Editors: Matt Posey, Colin Edelman
Senior Producer: Laura Patterson

M&M'S 2013 Cinema "Teeth" Poster Creative Credits

Print Credits:
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars
Executive Creative Directors: Tim Bayne, Lauren Connolly
Art Directors: Jonathan Bjelland, Vanessa Castaneda
Copywriter: Tifanni Lundeen

Executive Art Producer: Betsy Jablow
Print Production Manager: Michael Musano
Retoucher: Steve Lakeman

Senior Account Director: Susannah Keller
Account Director: Carrie Lipper
Account Manager: Tani Nelson

CGI Rendering: Laika
Animation Director: Kirk Kelly
Producer: Zilpha Yost

Illustrator: Michael Koelsch

Here's a Colorful, Cryptic Alternative to 'Your Ad Here' Signs on Unsold Billboards

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Van Wagner, the outdoor advertising company, has created billboards to advertise advertising on billboards. Catch that? It's kind of meta.

When a billboard doesn't get sold, its owner can keep the old ad up, thus devaluing the space, leave the board blank or put a placeholder on it in the meantime. Van Wagner chose to go with the latter, but didn't want a simple black-on-white "Your Ad Here" sign.

Instead, the company is now into its second round of posting its own curious ads on unsold billboards in New York and Los Angeles. The new ads, featuring bold colors, simple fonts and minimalist headlines (a mix of words and pictures), are fairly cryptic. They say things like, "An Apple a Day," "Cool as a Cucumber," "The Big Cheese" and "Easy as Pie." Prettier and more compelling than "Your Ad Here"? Yes. Confusing as well? Perhaps.

The earlier round of ads was more straightforward, showing animals alongside single-word headlines ("Reach?" next to a giraffe, "Buzz?" next to a bee, etc.) that hinted at the power of outdoor advertising. (Those ads also included Van Wagner's logo and phone number.) The new ads are playful in a pop-art kind of way, but will they get someone to pick up the phone and beg Van Wagner for ad space? Time will tell.

At the very least, they've succeeded in making me kind of hungry.

More images below. Via City Room at The New York Times, which has lots more about the campaign and an interview with the creative director.

The earlier round of ads:

Honda's 'Hands,' Fiat's Typeface Drive Off With Top Honors at Auto Ads of the Year

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The 2014 One Show Automobile Advertising of the Year awards are being presented today at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. And Honda has grabbed the top prizes in both the TV and online video categories.

Fiat won in the print category, Hyundai in interactive, and BMW and Toyota shared the prize in experiential.

Check out all the winners (and the finalists) below. Some solid work here, but where oh where is the RAM "Farmer" spot?


Category: TV Commercials

Winner: Honda "Hands," Wieden + Kennedy, London

Other finalists:
Dodge "It Comes Standard," Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Honda "Illusions," mcgarrybowen, London
Daimler/Smart "Offroad," BBDO Germany, Dusseldorf
Land Rover "Roam Free," Young & Rubicam, New York


Category: Online Video

Winner: Honda "Sound of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989," Dentsu, Tokyo

Other finalists:
Audi "The Challenge," PMK*BNC, New York, and Audi of America
Honda "Project Drive-in," RPA, Santa Monica, Calif.


Category: Print/Outdoor

Winner: Fiat "Letters," Leo Burnett Tailor Made, São Paulo, Brazil
Fiat created its own typeface for posters warning people against texting and driving.

Other finalists:
Kia "Panoramic Sunroof – Cat," David&Goliath, Los Angeles
Volkswagen "Child," Grabarz & Partner, Hamburg, Germany


Category: Interactive

Winner: Hyundai "Driveway Decision Maker," Innocean USA, Huntington Beach, Calif.

Other finalists:
BMW "Eli's BMW," kbs+, New York
Fiat "Abarth 500 Zero Followers," Leo Burnett, Dusseldorf, Germany


Category: Experiential

Winner: BMW "Window Into the Near Future," kbs+, New York

Winner: Toyota "Tundra Endeavor Campaign," Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles

Other finalist:
Toyota "Camry Thrill Ride Experience," Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles

Ad of the Day: Sony Traces Its Long, Winding Road of Art and Engineering

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Sony really wants you to know just how relevant it is.

The legacy tech behemoth is out with an ambitious new 90-second anthem spot from Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., that draws on a star-studded cast to illustrate just how far the brand's reach extends.

Everyone remembers that Sony invented the Walkman. This ad is smart to start by capitalizing on that familiarity. It's also smart to fast forward to the present, where DJ Cassidy, signed to Sony-owned Columbia Records, plays with one of the brand's tablets. Directed by Stacy Wall and shot in Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, the ensuing montage manages to pack in cameos from child actress Quvenzhane Wallis, who will star in Sony Pictures' new rendition of Annie, actor Grizz Chapman of 30 Rock, and Spike Lee, shooting on a Sony camera and name-checking PlayStation. In other words, it's a major production loaded with rich and specific examples of Sony's history and cultural influence, that all come together to show the company has actually stayed closely linked to the experiences audiences actually care about.

It's far from the first tech company to try to bring to life products that can seem cold or complicated. Apple's tone, though, can come across as pretentious—it wants to be the blisteringly cool company that is inventing the future. And Google can often feel excessively sentimental—it wants to be the awesomely geeky company that is intensifying all the most important moments in your life. Sony benefits from the diversity of its business, but nonetheless, its approach keeps the message playful, and ultimately charming—it wants to be the old friend that makes sure you are having fun at the party. And the anthem's titular, feel-good soundtrack, the Who's 1972 hit "Join Together," does a great job of anchoring that message of belonging.

The new campaign also includes shorter, goofy product-centric videos that fall somewhere between amusing and awkward—using, for example, a metaphor about popping your eyes out of your head to peddle a detachable smartphone camera lens. A little more hammy grandpa jokes than the life of the party. And yes, the anthem's breathless fascination with the meeting of art and engineering feels a little contrived. But it does succeed at fitting into the zeitgeist of "innovation" without leaning on a hackneyed buzzword. More important, for most of the spot, the script stays out of the way, letting the film craft, which is quite deft, build to the voiceover's punch line—that Sony has always been about "making you feel something"—and the ad's tagline, "Be moved."

So go on, feel something: the vague but slightly unsettling pleasantness of a well-made sales pitch.

CREDITS
Client: Sony
Spot: "Join Together"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Mike Giepert / Chris Mitton
Copywriter: Chris Mitton
Art Director: Mike Giepert / Matt Moore
Producer: Jennie Lindstrom
Account Team: Diana Gonzalez / Trish Adams / Nick Larkin
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Stacy Wall
Executive Producer: Doug Halbert
Line Producer: Timory King
Director of Photography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr.

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial / Work Editorial
Executive Producer: Patty Brebner / Corina Dennison + Erica Thompson
Editor: Peter Wiedensmith / Rich Orrick
Asst. Editor: Steve Sprinkel / Adam Witten + Patrick Murphree
Post Producer: Ryan Shanholtzer / Olivia Chiu

VFX Company: The Mill – Los Angeles
Sr. Exec. Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Dan Roberts
Production Coordinator: Jesse Looney + David Lawrence
Creative Director + Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe
Matte Painting: Thom Price
2D Lead Artist: John Shirley
3D Lead Artist: David Lawson
2D Artists: Becky Porter / Nick Tayler / Ben Smith / Remedy Huynh
3D Artists: Milton Ramirez / Siran Liu / Martin Rivera / Blake Guest / Hartwell Durfor / Blake Sullivan / Miguel Guerrero / Danny Yoo / Krystal Sae Eua / Fabrice Le Nezet / Brett Angelillis
Motion Graphics: Justin Demetrician
Art Support: Clare Carrellas

Telecene Company: The Mill
Colorist: Adam Scott
Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson
Producer: Natalie Westerfield

Music
"Join Together (Izzie Twins Unchained Remix)" by the Who

Sound Design Company: Human

Mix Company: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Asst. Mixer: Jeff Malen
Producer: Jessica Locke

Credits for the online spots:

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Mike Giepert / Chris Mitton
Copywriter: Derek Szynal
Art Director: Mike Giepert  / Devin Gillespie
Producer: Jennie Lindstrom
Account Team: Diana Gonzalez / Trish Adams / Nick Larkin
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Stacy Wall
Executive Producer: Doug Halbert
Line Producer: Timory King
Director of Photography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr.

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial  / Work Editorial (Skeptics Only)
Executive Producer: Patty Brebner / Corina Dennison + Erica Thompson (Skeptics Only)
Editor: Katie Turinski + Steve Sprinkel / Patrick Murphree (Skeptics Only)
Asst. Editor: Steve Sprinkel 
Post Producer: Ryan Shanholtzer / Olivia Chiu (Skeptics Only)

VFX Company: The Mill – Los Angeles
Sr. Exec. Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Dan Roberts
Production Coordinator: David Lawrence
Creative Director + Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe
2D Lead Artist: Robin McGloin, Nick Tayler
Motion Graphics: Justin Demetrician
Art Support: Clare Carrellas

Telecene Company: CO3
Colorist: Siggy Ferstl

Music
"Eyeballs"
"The Whistlin' Duck (feat. Theo Mertens)" by Bobbejaan Schoepen
"Inventing Furniture" + "Floor Plan"
"Moon Waltz" from the motion picture Beginners by Brian Reitzell, Dave Palmer and Roger Neil
"Skeptics"
"Theme" from the motion picture Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind by Jon Brion

Mix Company: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Asst. Mixer: Jeff Malen
Producer: Jessica Locke

Latest Horror-Movie Ad Prank, With a Screaming Devil Baby, Is Completely Messed Up

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Here's one baby that no one's expecting. "Devil Baby Attack," a rather mean-spirited if grimly hilarious marketing stunt for the upcoming horror film Devil's Due, shows what happens when well-meaning New Yorkers try to check on an unattended baby carriage.

Here's what happens: They get screamed at by a horrific demon infant. And sometimes chased around by the horrific demon infant's remote-controlled stroller.

Sure, the prank—by Thinkmodo, which also did last year's super-viral Carrie coffee-shop spot—sparks some fun jump-screams from passersby. But watching the results, it's hard not to think of last year's spot-on parody by Canadian agency John St. about the cruel lengths to which advertisers now seem willing to go.

If we must be subjected to more prankvertising stunts, it would be nice to see ones that punish people for making poor moral choices rather than watch normal pedestrians get tormented because they tried to check on a screaming baby left alone in the snow.

Via Mashable.

Planet Fitness Parodies the Insanity of Rigorous Fitness Classes at Other Gyms

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Planet Fitness is back with the latest spot in its campaign against "gymtimidation."

This time, we peek in on an unnamed competitor, where an insanely pumped-up instructor is leading a class of "Pilatatumba," which appears to a combination of zumba-like jumping, twirling and dancing. A newbie can't keep up, and she later explains to a Planet Fitness employee: "And that's why I don't like gyms." The employee explains that Planet Fitness isn't a gym, and a voiceover takes over, promising "No gymtimidation. No lunks. Unlimited fitness training. Just $10 a month."

As was the case with Crunch's old "No Judgments" positioning, it's never fully clear (at least to me) quite how Planet Fitness is different from other fitness chains. But enough people must feel uncomfortable at gyms to be open to the mere suggestion that this place is somehow mellower. Three more national spots will break soon.

Agency: Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Try Couple's Therapy in Butterfinger's Racy Super Bowl Campaign

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Sorry, Bart. It looks like Butterfinger's first Super Bowl ad will have a theme better suited to those over 18.

The Super Bowl spot, by ad agency Dailey and director Clay Weiner of Biscuit Filmworks, will launch Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cups. The Nestlé brand released a teaser on Tuesday showing peanut butter and chocolate going to couple's therapy in an effort to spice up their boring relationship (a not-so-subtle jab at peanut-butter cup market leader Reese's). The whole teaser is pretty suggestive, particularly when another couple, cheese and crackers, emerge from the therapist's office excitedly fondling a giant hard salami. Peanut butter and chocolate, meanwhile, begin to see the possibilities of a more satisfying union themselves by staring at the centerfold of a copy of Exotic Snacking magazine. "The cup is about to get crunchy," says the tagline.

The Super Bowl ad will be a different execution but with the same couple's therapy theme, the AP reports. For more, see the campaign site at www.butterfingercups.com.


The Best-Perceived Brands of 2013

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Buoyed by strong sales of its e-readers and expansion of its free-shipping service, Amazon topped the list of best-perceived brands of 2013, as measured by YouGov's BrandIndex. Rounding out the top 5 were Ford, Subway, History Channel and Lowe's. Last year also was a good one for financial institutions, which began to earn consumers' forgiveness for their role in the economic meltdown: Four of the five best-improved brands in 2013 were banks.

Infographic: Carlos Monteiro

Trailers for New Muppets Movie Hilariously Take Down Peanut Gallery of Online Commenters

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Want to see a Muppets movie trailer that skewers illiterate Twitter spats? Of course you do. This new parody promo for the forthcoming feature Muppets Most Wanted does a double public service by also making fun of all the mass-media self-adulation that studios crank out during Hollywood awards season. It's good, classic, silly Muppets fun—and a familiar marketing strategy for the franchise. While a similar, recent trailer (also posted below) took aim at Twitter praise, the mean one is much better—everybody hates over-aggressive online commenters who can't spell. They're such a bear ... Wakka wakka wakka.

Axe Brings a Message of Peace to the Gender Wars, and the World, in Super Bowl Spot

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Axe, the Unilever men's personal-care brand known for inciting controversy in the gender wars with ads often deemed sexist, wants everyone to just get along in its 30-second Super Bowl spot—which co-opts the famous old slogan "Make love. Not war" to push a new product line called Axe Peace.

An extended, 60-second version of the spot hit YouTube on Tuesday. The ad, directed by MJZ's Rupert Sanders, travels the globe to various hotspots of conflict, including the Middle East and what's clearly meant to be a version of North Korea. Tensions rise as each scene seems poised to erupt in violence. But instead, each becomes a celebration of love, as the warriors put down their weapons and embrace their wives and girlfriends.

The "Make love. Not war" slogan appears at the end, along with the logo of the Peace One Day organization, which is a partner of the campaign. (Axe is giving $250,000 to the group and promoting it on its website and Facebook.) The hashtag is #KissForPeace.

It's an ambitious message, and its scope in some ways was prompted by last year's frontier-pushing Axe Apollo campaign.

"At the end of the Apollo process, I was like, 'Oh shit, what are we going to do now?' " David Kolbusz, deputy executive director at Axe agency BBH London, tells Adweek. "You hold a global competition to send 23 people to space, then the next year becomes a bit of a daunting task. But the thing that struck me is that we activated that campaign across over 50 markets successfully. And to do that gave us this confidence. It dawned upon us that we could do something good, and use our influence over these markets positively."

Focusing on the topic of war—the visual references here range from Apocalypse Now to Tiananmen Square—is difficult for any brand. And doing so in a lighthearted way runs the risk of seeming to trivialize it, particularly in the context of the very real anxieties over the Syrian conflict and a decade of American wars abroad. But while Kolbusz admitted the spot will have its critics, he said the brand's heart is in the right place, both creatively and through its partnership with Peace One Day.

"You're using hot-button issues in some ways, but you're also using filmic clichés. So, from a creative standpoint, I think it's forgiven," he said. "But in terms of the brand profiting from moments of war, we were very, very determined to make sure we were actually doing good, and that we were effecting positive change. Having a partner was very important to us. … If you can do some good in the world, I think you can forgive the dramatic license we take in the television work."

Asked whether the message of love is believable given Axe's history of celebrating lust, Kolbusz said the brand has been slowly evolving for a while now.

"Some of the work in the local markets has still been using, as we call them in this country, Page 3 models," he said. "But globally we've been very conscious of the fact that we didn't want to do anything sexist. Anarchy was about everybody hooking up, and Apollo was just silly, wasn't it? I suppose you could paint that with the slightly sexist brush. But for me, there was a level of absurdity there that just went beyond. And then, out of New York, the 'Susan Glenn' stuff. And then Brainy Girl, Sporty Girl. It's a theme we've been playing with for a while now, the equilibrium of the sexes. This is just the first time we've done it in this more serious way."

Matthew McCarthy, senior director for Axe and men's grooming at Unilever, said in a statement: "Young people care deeply about the future. This generation is socially conscious and more digitally connected than ever. ... In a world filled with conflict, we know sometimes the most powerful weapon is love. And as the film dramatizes, for one sublime moment a kiss has the power to make the world a more united and peaceful place."

Check out the 60-second spot and print work below. An even longer version of the spot will be posted here later today.

CREDITS
Client: Axe

Agency: BBH, London
Deputy Executive Creative Director: David Kolbusz
Creative Team: Daniel Schaefer and Szymon Rose, Jack Smedley and George Hackforth-Jones
Product Designer: Rosie Arnold
Strategic Business Lead: Ngaio Pardon
Team Director: Heather Cuss
Team Manager:  Amy Forster
Strategy Director: Agathe Guerrier
Strategist: Shadi-Sade Sarreshtehdarzadeh, Tom Callard

Film Credits
BBH Producer: Ryan Chong
BBH Assistant Producer: Laura Graham
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Rupert Sanders
Executive Producer: Debbie Turner
Producer: Laurie Boccaccio
DoP: Greg Fraser
Post Production: Iwan Zwarts @ The Mill
Editor/Editing House: Neil Smith @ Work Post, London
Sound: Will Cohen @ String & Tins and Factory Studios

Print Credits
BBH Producer: Sally Green
Photographer: Jean-Yves Lemoigne
Model Builders: New Deal Studios

If NFL Logos Were Hipsters

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If you were to draw a Venn diagram of hipsters and the NFL, the circles would likely overlap in just one tiny spot: this oddly fascinating project from comic artist Dave Rappoccio.

"What if the NFL logos were hipsters?" That was the hypothetical question Rappoccio embraced with admirable intensity, redesigning all 32 team icons into celebrations of bearded, craft-beer-infused pseudo-intelligentsia.

Artistically, some are better than others. I'm specifically fond of the fedora-sporting Vikings, bow-tied Bears and embittered, sock-hatted Cardinals. The Starbucks-inspired Seahawks design is great, too, but since no hipster would be caught dead in a corporate chain, I assume it would be worn only ironically.

Check out the full gallery at Kissing Suzy Kolber.

Ad of the Day: Congo's Sapeurs Star in the Best-Dressed Guinness Commercial Ever

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When global marketers portray Africa, the goal is usually humor or pity. Rarely do brands treat Africans as cultural equals, much less as inspirational role models. Breaking that trend is one of several reasons to admire "Sapeurs," the newest "Made of More" ad from Guinness and London agency AMV BBDO.

The spot shines a light on the Society of Elegant Persons of the Congo, better known as the Sapeurs. This impeccably stylish club, made up of blue-collar workers who dedicate their off time to colorful fashion and effortless savoir faire, has drawn international attention in recent years as a bellwether of peacetime optimism and confidence in the Republic of the Congo.

In the spot, we see real-life Sapeurs ending a day of hard work and transforming themselves into vibrant icons of the local nightlife. Though the ad was filmed in South Africa with the involvement of professional stylists, it's clear from the related behind-the-scenes video that the spot captures a vignette that's true to life.

"They have a simple philosophy: to defy circumstance and live with joie de vivre," explains the narrator in Guinness's "Sapeurs: a Short Documentary."

The ad itself succeeds on many levels, perhaps most of all by capturing the Sapeurs' commitment to personal style and expression rather than portraying their club as some hedonistic celebration of overpriced opulence.

"These well-dressed gentlemen aren't African big men slapping each other on the back to celebrate just-consummated deals," the Wall Street Journal wrote back in 2011."They're Congolese everymen—taxi drivers, carpenters, gravediggers—assembled here on this sunny Sunday afternoon because they're what locals call Sapeurs, men who believe in the uplifting, redeeming, beatifying effect of dressing well."

CREDITS
Client: Guinness
Marketing Director for Guinness (Western Europe) at Diageo: Stephen O'Kelly:
Creative Agency: AMV BBDO, London
Executive Creative Director: Dave Buchanan
Copywriter: Nicholas Hulley
Art Director: Nadja Lossgott
Agency Planner: Tom White, Steve Hopkins, Rory Gallery
Agency Account Management Team: Michael Pring, Tom Bedwell, Amber Glenister, Laura Balfour, Giulia Watson, Oliver Short
Senior Producer, TV Commercial: Sara Flood
Senior Producer, Documentary: Yvonne Clayton
Production Assistant: Jessica Tranfield
Media Agency: Carat
Media Planner: Matthew Jacobs (Associate Director), Chris Kelly (Comms Planning Manager) Production Company, TV Commercial: MJZ
Production Company, Documentary: Stillking
Director, TV Commercial: Nicolai Fuglsig 
Director, Documentary: Hector Mediavilla
Production Co. Producer, TV Commercial: Suza Horvat at MJZ
Editor, TV Commercial: Rick Russell at Final Cut
Editor, Documentary: Russ Clapham
Post-production Company: The Mill Audio
Post-production: Wave
Offline Editing Company: Final Cut
Soundtrack, TV commercial: "What Makes a Good Man" by The Heavy

BBC's Sochi Ad Will Make You Never Want to Leave the House, Much Less Compete in the Olympics

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The BBC's official trailer for its coverage of next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, has its champions and detractors, with some applauding the 90-second clip's epic sweep and others lamenting its dark tone and dearth of emotional appeal.

Created by RKCR/Y&R and director Tomek Baginski, the film focuses on hyper-realistic winter desolation, its frames filled with frozen peaks, dagger-like ice formations and majestic pines toppling in plumes of snow. A booming narration by actor Charles Dance, as the voice of nature, begins: "I am the dreadful menace. The one whose will is done. The haunting chill upon your neck. I am the conundrum." And he gets even more intense, warning: "The ones that came before you. Stood strong and tall and brave. But I stole their dreams away. Those dreams could not be saved."

Athletes appear around the one-minute mark, trekking across a lonely mountain pass, like some lost party of explorers inexplicably hauling skis, skates and hockey sticks in a haze of hypothermic delirium.

Response has been decidedly mixed. Mostly I applaud the BBC for trying something a bit unexpected. If nothing else, the approach is sparking conversation and debate, fueling the promotional fires, while a more aspirational/feel-good spot, no matter how marvelously executed, would've been predictable and perhaps left some viewers (and reviewers) feeling a bit numb.

Yes, a focus on individual athletes or specific events might have been compelling, but the clip does well in positioning the Winter Games as an outsized, soul-stirring challenge, a war waged against almost mythic forces poised to smite us at every turn. The voiceover, from Tywin Lannister himself, drives home the point that the Olympics can be the ultimate game of thrones.

Johnnie Walker's Stunning Glass Car Reflects Human Fragility in Drunk-Driving PSA

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IDEA: It's a brutal irony of the automobile: Speed and power are its strengths, yet they combine to make its occupants ever more vulnerable. It's true of any driving, and especially true of drunk driving, when you are prone to errors that can have shattering consequences.

Iris Worldwide's new responsible-driving spot for Johnnie Walker—tied to the brand's sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 racing team—expertly captures this dance between strength and fragility through a potent metaphor: a glass car. The 90-second, almost completely CGI spot shows hundreds of drinking glasses flying out of boxes, magically assembling in the shape of a race car and then breaking into a thousand shards—before coming back together in a powerful, beautiful plea not to drink and drive.

"The film acts as a reminder of the fragility of human life," said Grant Hunter, Iris creative director for Asia-Pacific. "Ultimately it's an alcohol brand stepping up to its responsibilities. And I like to think we've delivered it in a beautiful and considered manner."

COPYWRITING: The spot takes place in a spare white room—a reproduction of a space at the McLaren Technology Centre in England, where F1 cars are built.

As the glasses fly about, a male voice says: "When you're racing against the world's best, in the quickest machines on the planet, control is everything, just as it is every time you get behind the wheel. A split-second decision can be the difference between finishing first, last"—this is where the glasses shatter—"or not at all. Make the right choice and stay in control … and help us get the world home safely." The hashtag #ImNOTdriving and JoinThePact.com appear.

"The voiceover has to tread a fine line," said Hunter. "We have an alcohol brand sponsoring very fast cars promoting a never-drink-and-drive message. I think the voiceover connects those elements in a believable, emotionally powerful way. … I think it was draft 11 when we were all really happy."

F1 driver Mika Hakkinen, a brand ambassador, appears at the end—letting a glass float out of his hand in the ad's only non-CGI moment.

FILMING/ART DIRECTION: Director Russell Appleford painstakingly built everything in CGI. The visual look is modeled on McLaren's facility.

"It's a futuristic, minimal, architectural masterpiece," said Hunter. The CGI room is accurate to within 3 millimeters of the real room. "But it ran the risk of being too sterile," Hunter said, "so we were keen to add a filmic quality to the CGI. We achieved this by creating shallow depth of field to many of the shots."

It took 1,750 glasses to create the perfect scale model of a 2013 McLaren MP4-28. The smash simulation, created using Houdini software, took over a week to generate.

TALENT: Scottish actor and screenwriter Louis Mellis, who has narrated ads for Guinness (including the famous "Surfer" spot) and F1 itself, does the voiceover. "We all felt Louis' voice has gravitas but also depth and a certain warmth," said Hunter. "It was crucial that the voiceover was delivered without lecturing the viewer. Louis being a Scot felt a natural fit for Walker's Scottish heritage and he's also a recognized voice in the world of Formula 1."

SOUND: Gavin Little at Echolab did the music and sound design, which are simple but dramatic. "The soundtrack to the film Solaris was one of our references," said Hunter. "I particularly like the use of the glass sounds at the start. We were conscious that the music was just as important as the amazing visuals, but we didn't want the sound effects to overpower the voiceover."

MEDIA: The film's release on YouTube coincided with the final F1 race of 2013 in Brazil. It has also run on television in Latin America and will reach other TV markets in 2014.

THE SPOT:

CREDITS
Client: Johnnie Walker
Agency: iris Worldwide, Singapore
APAC Creative Director/Writer: Grant Hunter
Director: Russell Appleford
Production Company: The Other Side Creative
Producer: Louise Oliver
3D: Russell Appleford
2D: Garrett Honn, Victor Perez
Editor: Peter Booth
Music and Sound Design: Gavin Little / Echolab
Sound Mix: Rich Martin / Envy Post
Creative Group Head: Jonathan Cockett
Senior Creative: Shawn Foo
Creative: Lam Nasril
Planning Director: Paul Gage
Board Director: Hannah Dogger
Senior Account Manager: Prema Techinamurthi
Senior Account Executive: Cheryl Chan


Divorce Lawyer Ads on YouTube Don't Get Much More Clever Than This

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Even lawyers not named Scott Hoy tend to have trouble coming up with good advertising. Here's an exception—a clever new campaign from Rockville, Md., law firm Esteban Gergely from Grey's Hispanic agency, Wing. The three spots advertise the firm's divorce services through a pretty awesome use of YouTube. Just make sure you let the videos run.

Credits below. (And thanks to @irenyofirene for the headline help.)

Note: Don't be fooled by the message that the videos have been removed. Keep watching.

CREDITS
Agency: Wing
Chief Creative Officer: Favio Ucedo
Senior Copywriter: Facundo Paglia
Copywriter: Marc Duran
Senior Copywriter: Facundo Paglia,
Copywriter: Marc Duran
Brian Novoa, Art Director
Producer Keyla Hernandez
Editor: Alejandro Ussa
Director of Business Development: Daniel Gergely
AAE of Business Development: Andrés Tello

How IFC Got Alex Prager to Shoot Portlandia Ads in the Style of Her Fine-Art Photos

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IFC just released the key art for Season 4 of Portlandia, and the photos are fantastic. Not only did the network get the great young photographer Alex Prager on board—she decided to shoot the ads in the style of her "Face in the Crowd" photos (many of which are on display through March 9 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and at Lehmann Maupin in New York through Feb. 22). It's almost like getting a couple of non-advertising Prager originals as gift.

AdFreak spoke on Thursday with Blake Callaway, IFC's svp of marketing, about how Prager got involved, and how the two photos will be used differently in the media buy.

How did Alex get involved with this?
We always collaborate early on in the creative process for each new season with Fred [Armisen] and Carrie [Brownstein]. In the ads for past seasons, we've always focused solely on them. And so much of the show is about the community of Portlandia and their observations about the bigger world. So we thought, Let's put them in the bigger world. And then it became a fun conversation about who could do that in a unique way. We at IFC had always been a fan of Alex, Fred and Carrie had been a fan of Alex, and we just reached out. She's a hot artist right now, and she was a fan of the show and said she'd love to do it.

The ads are just like her "Face in the Crowd" photos. That's pretty special.
So much of it is directly from the work she's putting out there right now. We just said, Alex, what do you want to do? It was Fred and Carrie and Alex working through some ideas, and it's just pure Prager. Some of her same extras are in these photos. Her sister's in there; her mother's in there. And we have nine Portlandia extras that she actually cast into this world as well. And so they're sprinkled throughout. Portlandia fans will be able to pick out, Oh that's the girl from the thrift shop. Or that's someone I've seen in the feminist bookstore. So it works on a couple of different levels.

I suppose if any TV show is going to reference high art in its advertising, it would be Portlandia.
I always kind of get excited when we get coverage off of the TV page, when we're in the arts and culture section. And I agree, I think we sort of have permission to play in that space. And the reason it works is because so many people in that world are also fans of the show. Portlandia gently sends up that world as well, and Fred and Carrie's projects beyond Portlandia cross-pollinate with that world.

Creatively, we like to look not just at what's going on at other networks but what's going on in pop culture, or art references, or other things we can be inspired by. And for this project, all the stars aligned. And the more time you spend with it, you see different little elements in each picture. There's just a lot to take in.

Was it always the idea to have two photos? One seems a bit more dressed-up than the other.
Alex wanted to get two different shots. And we thought maybe at one point we'd pick a favorite. But we think they're both pretty interesting. What you'll probably see is the one we're calling "Going to Work" (below); you may see that on midtown subway platforms. And then we may put the other one in a different environment that's maybe a little less office focused. We've also tried to pick media placements that are bigger, like Interview magazine, The Hollywood Reporter—things that are bigger scale, so you can see the art.

I see—because it reads better at a bigger size.
Yeah. We decided this isn't the thing you put on the side of a bus as it zooms past you.

Ad of the Day: Subaru's Road-Tripping Dogs Are Cute, Funny and Almost Human

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Chances are you've already got an idea of what the typical Subaru owner looks like: They enjoy L.L. Bean, buying granola at Whole Foods and being very involved in their kid's soccer team. And they probably have a couple of big, slobbery dogs in the backseat.

Subaru is happily embracing that last stereotype with its new "Meet the Barkleys" campaign. The four 30-second spots (and website) follow the Subaru-loving Barkley clan as they deal with everyday situations from teenage dating dramas to family road trips to a dad getting chastised for paying a little too much attention to an attractive female. You know, stuff that everyone can relate to.

Oh, and did we mention the Barkleys are dogs?

Yes, Subaru is so dedicated to its canine passengers that it's been putting them behind the wheel for some time. And these aren't CGI-enhanced, cutesy talking animals—they're dogs that occasionally act like, well, dogs. (And can also drive.) In one spot, "What's the Fuss About?," the otherwise good-natured family suddenly experiences a barking attack while on the highway, which, it turns out, is because they've passed a mail truck. In "Road Trip Convenience Store," the group takes a detour to stop at a gas station, but rather than going inside to buy some Twizzlers, they go to the bathroom to take a nice, long drink from the toilet. And the object of Mr. Barkley's wandering eye in "In the Dog House"? A very well-groomed poodle.

The ads, from Carmichael Lynch and director Brian Lee Hughes of Skunk, aren't especially groundbreaking, but they have a sort of low-key humor that's hard not to find at least a bit appealing. Nor does it hurt that the dogs—especially the youngest Barkley, a squee-worthy Golden Retriever puppy—are straight-up adorable. And come on, who doesn't want to see a few more cute pups in their commercial breaks?

CREDITS
Client: Subaru of North America

Agency: Carmichael Lynch
Chief Creative Officer: Dave Damman
Exec Creative Director: Randy Hughes
Writer: Nick Nelson
Senior Art Director: Matt Pruett 
Director of Integrated Production: Joe Grundhoefer
Exec Content Producer: Freddie Richards
Senior Interactive Producer: Laura Coyle
Director of Business Affairs: Vicki Oachs
Account Service Team: David Eiben, Catherine Finn
Senior Project Manager: Jane Williams-Petersen

Production Company: SKUNK
Director: Brian Lee Hughes
Managing Partner/EP:  Matt Factor
Exec Producer: Shelly Townsend
Head of Production: Jeanne Stawiarski
Producer: Geoff McLean
Director of Photography: Jason McCormick

Edit House: Drive Thru
Editor: Mick Uzendoski
Exec Producer: Beth Wilson
VFX House/Online Artist: Drive Thru, Derek Johnson
Telecine: CO3, Sean Coleman
Audio Mix/Sound Design: BWN
Music Company: Echo Boys

Intense Subaru Ad Focuses Almost Entirely on One of Its Vehicles Horribly Wrecked in a Crash

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And speaking of Subaru, here's another new spot from Carmichael Lynch for the automaker, and it's a whole lot more sobering than that snogging-dogs one.

This one's about safety, and it boldly shows something you rarely see in car commercials—the twisted wreckage of what's left of one of the automaker's vehicles after a horrendous accident. The wrecked Subaru Outback here is not a prop—it's a real car that really got totaled. But the driver survived, and that's the point of the ad (directed by Lance Acord of Park Pictures). "They lived," the characters say—from the policeman at the crash site to the workers at the junkyard. "Subaru. Five 2014 IIHS top safety picks," says the on-screen copy at the end.

Extending the reality theme, a companion website features actual letters from Subaru owners explaining how the vehicles helped save their lives.

Safety spots almost always imply danger rather than graphically showing the effects of it. And indeed, it's a bold move to leave viewers pondering a pile of your own disfigured steel. What do you think—good move, or over the top?

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Subaru of America
Spot: "They Lived"

Agency: Carmichael Lynch
Chief Creative Officer: Dave Damman
Executive Creative Director: Randy Hughes
Writer, Associate Creative Director: Conn Newton
Art Director, Associate Creative Director: Michael Rogers
Head of Production: Joe Grundhoefer
Executive Producer: Brynn Hausmann
Business Manager: Vicki Oachs
Account Service Team: David Eiben, Krista Kelly, Kate Moret

Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Lance Acord
Executive Producer: MaryAnn Marino
Line Producer: Aristides McGarry
Director of Photography: Lance Acord

Editing House: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Stephen Jess
Assistant Editor: Tim Quackenbush
Visual Effects: Steve Medin, Volt
Telecine: Sean Coleman, Company 3
Audio Mix, Sound Design: Carl White, BWN Music

"Clear Moment"
Composer: Miles Hankins, scoreAscore
Music Supervisor: Jonathan Hecht

On-camera talent: Tim Lane, Diane Luby Lane, Millie Lane, Charlie Burrows, Aaron Norwell, Frederick Lawrence, Stephen Taylor, Kevin Bowers
Voiceover Talent: Tim Lane, Justin Beere (announcer)

Ad of the Day: Pandora Freezes Those Crazy Moments When Music Transcends All

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Pandora isn't just an Internet radio provider, says Internet radio provider Pandora. It's actually part of your destiny, or a series of chance events, or a magical discovery algorithm, or whatever it is that conspires in the brain of your computer overlords to make sure the right song comes on at exactly the right time—so you actually have a good life where you do kind of dumb, impulsive things, instead of a lame life, where you don't.

That right song might be the one that makes you jump your date's bones without regard for what's on the table behind him, says one of two new ads from twofifteenmccann. Because Pandora will get you laid. Sure, music is a mood setter. But really, if you like the date, you might knock those meatballs on top of spaghetti all covered with cheese onto the floor while jumping his or her bones anyways—even if the wrong song (e.g., "On Top of Spaghetti") came on. Because someone has to break the ice somehow, and how much awkwardness can you take? Plus, it's only natural.

Or the right song might be the one that makes you lose your mind after a tense night of working late and trash your office with an impromptu dance party, says the other ad. Because you just don't care that you're going to have to stay even later cleaning it all up anyways, or something. Also because sometimes agency life, the low-hanging fruit of writers writing what they know, is a little too obvious in brand spots, even when it's a stretch for the client, or strains basic credulity.

It's appropriate to Pandora, and also generally nice, that the ads use real tracks by artists from outside the mainstream—"If I Could Only" by Popkillers in the meatball spot, and "Sha Bang Bang" by Dice Raw and Mike Taylor in the office spot. The basic conceit—music, and by extension the personalized recommendations of Pandora, can play an influential role in your life—is more or less dead on. And the tagline, "Now playing. You," aspires to capture the lofty truth that individual identity can get bound up in music.

The ads are almost endearing, but perhaps too overwrought. Even simple, stupid fun that might feel transcendent in the moment doesn't necessarily warrant a dramatic frozen-moment-in-time treatment. Or maybe it's just a category problem, and online broadcasters need to stop trying to articulate the sweeping power of something that intrinsically can't quite be described.

CREDITS
Client: Pandora
Agency: twofifteenmccann
Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon
Executive Creative Director: James Robinson
Copywriter / Associate Creative Director: Quentin Shuldiner
Art Director: Alper Kologlu
Senior Producer: Jan O'Malley
Senior Producer: Brandon Romer
Director of Integrated Production: Alex Spahr
Managing Director: Kelly Johnson
Management Supervisor: Hannah Schaefer
Business Affairs Director: Mary Beth Barney
Social Media Strategist: Paige Robertson
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Terri Timely
Executive Producers: Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Justin Pollock
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: David Lambert
VFX Studio: Spy Post
VFX Supervisor: Darren Orr
CG Supervisor: Michael Lester
Colorist: Carey Burens
Executive Producer: Lori Joseph
Music: "Sha Bang Bang" by Mike Taylor feat. Dice Raw
Music: “If I Could Only” by Popkillers
Music Companies: Agoraphone ("Office"), Beta Patrol ("Accident")
Mixing Studio: One Union Recording
Mixer: Joaby Deal

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