Commentary

Out to Launch

LittleCaesersLittle Caesars has returned to advertising after a 75-year absence (OK, in actuality it was only 15 years), reviving its famous “Pizza! Pizza!” ads. Creative highlights Little Caesars Hot-N-Ready $5 large pepperoni pizza and $8 large 3-Meat Treat. Now if I only knew where the nearest Little Caesars was located… It’s woo time in the brand’s 30-second spot, entitled “Fishing.” A man proudly reels in a large fish and hoists it over his head. This prompts a nearby man to heave his empty pizza box above his head and shout: “Woo. Five dollar pizza.” The pair exchange woos until a woman walking her dog appears, lifts it over her head and shouts: “Woo. Dachshund.” See it here. In “Babe,” a teenager shows his grandfather the large $5 pizza he scored. “Well paint me blue and call me babe,” says Grandpa, who whips out a can of paint. “I’m serious,” he quips. Watch it here. BFG9000 created the campaign.

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NikeNike launched a great ad celebrating the 40th anniversary of Title IX and how far women’s sports have come. “Voices,” features groundbreaking women athletes like marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson, boxer Marlen Esparaza and basketball players Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi, describing the hardships they faced growing up. “When I was growing up, girls just didn’t run in public,” says Benoit Samuelson. Leslie played on an all-boys team and no one would pass her the ball. As each of the four athletes reminisce, their words are mouthed by young girls who love to play sports. See it here. I’m incredibly impressed that Benoit Samuelson, now in her mid-50s, still runs 70 miles a week. When I trained for a marathon, I ran 50 miles a weeks and thought that was rough. Teaser videos show each athlete asked a question and about to give a response, but the video cuts off, telling viewers the answers will come at a later date. See them here, here, here and here. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign, directed by Mark Romanek of Anonymous Content and edited by Paul Martinez of Arcade Edit.

PumaForget running at the speed of light; run at the speed of bolt… Usain Bolt, that is. Usain Bolt is running on an oversized treadmill at crazy speeds. Alongside him, and harnessed in, are racecar driver Fernando Alonso, golfer Rickie Fowler, cricket player Yuvraj Singh, and soccer player Sergio Agüero. Every time the treadmill increases in speed, a harnessed athlete slips off, until the remaining man is left running: Bolt. Better still, Bolt is not bolted, or harnessed in, like his other athletes. He can handle the fast pace and handle it well. The ad is for Puma’s Evo Speed line of shoes, aimed to make every athlete faster. Watch it here, created by Droga5 and edited by Gary Knight of Cut+Run.

AsicsHow awesome do these running shoes look? Asics teamed up with Foot Locker and graffiti artist Pinky Taylor to launch its fall line of extremely colorful running shoes. “Colors that Run” is a retail display shown in more than 500 Foot Locker and Lady Foot Locker stores across the country, throughout the month of June. Each display creates an illusion of paint pouring into shoes from ASICS-branded paint cans, oozing out of the shoes onto display tables, or paint running from one shoe to another, creating a waterfall of color. Taylor personally tagged various Foot Locker stores across the country. See the video here, created by Vitro.

CBSgolfCBS Sports launched "The Voice of Golf," a fun campaign supporting the network’s golf tournament coverage. Broadcaster Jim Nantz is told to dress up as a head cover in one ad, seen here. He refuses, remarking that anyone who does so is an idiot. Naturally, he’s sitting next to his colleague David Feherty, who’s dressed like a golf ball washer. The next ad takes place in a church confessional. Players and commentators repent their golf-related wrongdoings. One man has taken Jim Nantz’s name in vain; Ian Baker Finch hasn’t putted a four-footer in 21 years; and Nantz asks the priest what he’s heard from fellow sinners. Watch it here. MARC USA created the campaign.

MitsubishiMitsubishi Electric launched a pair of TV ads starring golfers named Fred: Fred Couples and Fred Funk. In one ad, Fred Couples waits inside his date’s living room while she gets ready. The room is filled with modern pieces of art and furniture, leaving Couples unsure of where or what to sit on. When his date arrives downstairs, she asks why he’s sitting on her coffee table. The ad, seen here, promotes Mitsubishi Electric’s cooling and heating systems, telling viewers not to get stuck outside of their comfort zone. The next ad shows Funk trying to buy a shade of ruby red lipstick for his wife, but the saleswoman believes the lipstick is actually for him. See it here. Ames Scullin O'Haire created the campaign and handled the media buy.

NYCpride“Love together. Share together. Celebrate together.” is the closing tag line for an online video launched by Pride Toronto in advance of its Pride parades from June 22 to July 1. “Together” is a series of six short films, shot in black and white and directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. The videos feature members of the Toronto LGBT community – including a pre-op transgender and a 17-year-old who recently came out to his parents. One of the emotional parts of the video came from the 17-year-old, who cried when he told his father that he was gay. His father’s response was, “So what?” The video ends with the Prohibition-era tune “I’ve never seen a straight banana,” sung by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. Through a sponsorship with Google, the series will be housed on a Pride Toronto Google+ community page and promoted on YouTube. See the video here, created by Entrinsic.

SchlageYoung & Laramore created a TV spot for Schlage security that’s told through the eyes of a burglar. The man, in the midst of a heist, tells viewers Schlage locks protect his own home because they’re built strong and protect homeowners from kick-in burglaries. The man then sifts through jewelry, dividing the expensive pieces from the costume jewelry. See it here.

 

ColorForecast

Random iPhone and iPad App of the week: Happiness Brussels created a “Color Forecast” for young women’s fashion brand Pimkie. In real-time, the app gives users the colors trending in major fashion capitals in Europe including Milan, Paris and Antwerp. These colors are directly linked to matched items of clothing from the Pimkie collections that consumers can purchase. ColorTrack System is software into which high-speed digital cameras feed data 24/7 from the most fashion-conscious retail areas of each host city. So, if a user wants to know what is trending in Paris now or in Milan yesterday, Color Forecast can filter that information. The app is available for free in the App Store.

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