Commentary

Out to Launch

McDsA cute game of “he loves me, he loves me not” is played using French fries in a TV ad for McDonald’s that debuted during the Oscars. A teenage girl munches on her remaining fries and wonders if her crush feels the same way. She eats her last fry, landing on “he loves me not.” Downtrodden, the girl looks up to see her crush holding out his last remaining fry for her to eat. He loves her! Watch the ad here, created by DDB Chicago.

TropicanaNothing says good morning to the morning like a glass of Tropicana orange juice. A TV ad airing in the U.K. shows the sun about to rise, as a handful of families are asleep in bed, until their alarm says “good morning.” Parents struggle to shut the alarm, shuffle through their homes and wake their children. I loved the shot of the boy trying to dress himself, defeated by a stubborn button. Each household has one thing in common: beginning the day with a glass of Tropicana. See it here. A second ad, “Manifesto,” is airing in the U.S. and takes place in a field of orange trees, where a father and his young son monitor the growth of oranges from the time they’re planted until they are ready to be picked and made into orange juice. Watch it here. Juniper Park, Toronto created the campaign.

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GotMilkWhen Salma Hayek runs out of milk, she goes the extra mile, even if it means making a “Midnight Run” for a gallon. Promoting MilkPEP’s The Breakfast Project, highlighting the importance of eating breakfast every morning, Hayek leaves to buy milk one night, a seemingly easy task that turns challenging when her convenience store is out of milk. It starts to rain. Hayek breaks the heel on her high-heeled shoe and hops in her car and drives to a cow field. Ready to milk a cow, Hayek gets spooked by the cow’s moo and drives off, stops a milk delivery truck and swipes a gallon of milk. Hayek makes it home just in time for her daughter to have breakfast. Too bad the cereal box is empty. Watch it here, created by Deutsch New York.

Mass Effect 3Mass Effect 3 launched “Fight for Everything” during Sunday’s episode of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” If you love “The Walking Dead” as much as I do, then you know the placement of the ad is ideal, since both the series and the ad take place in a world where the bad outweighs the good. Despite that, everyone continues to fight because, no matter how small, the good exists. The ad begins with a dog barking at something viewers are unable to see. Next come scenes of a family watching the news of a city being destroyed. Turns out that the whole world is in chaos, and in turn average people do unexpected things to survive. Stores are looted, people are robbed and some gather at church to pray. “When faced with becoming nothing, we fight,” says the voiceover as soldiers battle earth’s enemies. The video game hits stores March 6. See the ad here, created by Draftfcb.

VWVolkswagen launched a pair of TV ads promoting its safety features. It also gave the company an excuse to use Paul Wall’s “Riding Dirty” in an ad. In “Sacrifice,” a mom does her grocery shopping in a souped-up green car as “Riding Dirty” plays. When she gets home, she swaps keys with her daughter’s boyfriend, who drives the mom’s VW Tiguan on the date. Watch it here. “Fast” follows a speed-obsessed kid, beginning at boyhood. He wants a fast bike, then a fast motorbike, and then a fast car. Finally, rather than asking the VW dealer if the car is fast, he asks if it’s safe, since he now has a small baby to think of. See it here. Deutsch created both ads.

JamaicaThe Jamaica Tourist Board wants New Yorkers to escape the city for sandy beaches, warm weather and a little adventure. A series of beautiful wallscapes can be found throughout the city in the East Village, Lower East Side, Meatpacking District, Gramercy and SoHo. Each wallscape shows city dwellers lining up to vacate Manhattan using varying means, from climbing through the building, climbing up a ladder and jumping into the ocean, or using a rope to swing from NY to Jamaica. Each wallscape includes the Web site VisitJamaica.com for additional info. See the ads here, here, here, here, here, here and here, created by Draftfcb New York.

CiCisWhen I first saw this ad, I thought this was the adventurous pig in the GEICO ads and some friends. In reality, the pigs in this TV ad promote Cici’s Pizza $4.99 buffet and a new pizza flavor: Hog Fest. This pizza is topped with ham, bacon, pepperoni and sausage. The ad stars a van full of partying pigs doing donuts in the middle of the road. “There’s More Where That Came From,” closes the ad -- the company’s new tagline, created by Publicis Dallas.

 

KraftKRAFT Macaroni and Cheese launched “Diamond Jubilee” during the Oscars. It’s the brand’s diamond anniversary, and its TV spot shows three generations of a family at dinner. Dad steals mac and cheese from his son while Grandpa steals from him. Grandpa admits to stealing mac and cheese for the past 75 years. When his son does the math, Grandpa reveals that he has another family. Awkward. Watch the ad here, created by CP+B.

 

MTVRandom iPhone App of the week: OTL readers in Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy and Switzerland, this app is for you. MTV Under The Thumb has launched, making MTV shows available on the go, because you never know when the urge to watch “Jersey Shore” will hit you. Through the app, users can invite friends in multiple locations to view the shows at the same time, and chat with one another in real-time. Users can download the app for free and access sections like news and what’s hot, but most of the content comes with a subscription fee, or a valid MTV Mobile handset contract. AKQA created the app, available here.

1 comment about "Out to Launch".
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  1. Ronald Stack from Zavee LLC, February 29, 2012 at 5:41 p.m.

    I liked "Fast" much better than I expected to. I didn't think the concept was very original but they pulled it off bigtime.

    As always, it's the details that make it work. Kid looking over moped: "Is it fast?" "It's got a lightning bolt on it, doesn't it?" That's great writing.

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