Commentary

Out to Launch

HeftyHefty launched a trio of unconventional ads promoting the strength and odor control in its Hefty Tall Kitchen Waste Bags. Hard-partying senior citizens, a baby with an appetite for destruction and an alien life form are quelled by the power of Hefty. When a Gremlin-sized entity wreaks havoc upon your house, capture it inside a Hefty bag to guarantee that it won’t escape. Unless you drop the bag. See it here. What goes in must come out. A baby that eats everything in sight must poop it out eventually. “So what do you do with all the diapers?” asks the friend of the frazzled mom. Watch it here. Lastly, a couple returns early from vacation to discover their home has been used as party central by sweet and innocent Grandma. I love the random placement of oxygen tanks, walker and crutches strewn alongside empty pizza boxes, balloons and piñatas. See it here. Euro RSCG Chicago created the campaign, directed by Jared Hess.

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TwixTeam Right Twix for me. BBDO New York launched a global campaign for Twix, its first work for the brand. “Ideologies” creates an adorable back story to the creation of the Twix bar. For starters, it began as a single bar, but was broken in two when the inventors had a falling-out. Each left town to build his own factory: naturally, they moved next door to one another. While left Twix flowed caramel on cookie, right Twix cascaded caramel on cookie. Notice the massive difference between the dueling pair. The spot ends with both inventors sharing “nothing but a wrapper and an ill-designed driveway.” I hope we see more of Seamus and Earl down the road. Watch it here.

JackLinksSince women eat beef jerky, too, Sasquatch, spokesbeast for Jack Link's, has emerged from the forest to bond with the ladies. Naturally, he joined a book club. Rather than serve wine and cheese, Jack Link’s Turkey Jerky is the snack du jour. The bigger question left unanswered is what book the group was discussing: It sent Sasquatch on a tear, ripping up the book, yet his storytelling was done with passion. Go figure. See it here, created by Carmichael Lynch.

 

DOWA topiary dreams big in a TV spot for Dow. Not only has the human-shaped shrubbery made the Olympic team, he’s making the Olympic village and stadium more eco-friendly. The ad is part of Dow’s Solutionism campaign that highlights the brand’s Olympic sponsorship. Our green character strolls through Olympic Village meeting his roommate, fencing an opponent and visiting the diving pool – too much! My favorite part was watching the character’s reaction to a groundskeeper trimming a bush. The spot closes with our character turning off unnecessary lights as a voiceover states: “Even the planet has an Olympic dream.” See it here. Print ads further convey the green theme, transforming a pole vault into a sunflower and a plastic straw into a water filter. See creative here, here and here, created by Draftfcb Chicago.

GEICOGEICO launched a TV campaign called "Happier Than," illustrating how happy people are when they save hundreds on insurance. How happy are they? In the first ad, shown here, customers would be happier than Gallagher at a farmer’s market, smashing watermelons with reckless abandon dirtying the yuppie couple searching for the right kale. Secretly, I would have loved to see the brand take its happy-go-lucky spokespig gallivanting on a farm along with the tagline: happier than a pig in… you know. The Martin Agency created the ad.

FriskiesFriskies Plus takes Alice the cat through the looking glass during a not-so-typical lunchtime excursion. Alice strolls across floating lily pads through a world filled with turkeys and chickens until she winds up at a tea party thrown for her. Watch it here. Avrett Free Ginsberg created the ad, produced by Psyop / Smuggler.

 

 

NissanNissan launched a set of TV spots promoting the redesigned Altima. In the first ad, seen here, Altima ditches the cookie-cutter design and is revamped from the inside out. “Enough” is my favorite ad. It promotes Altima’s easy-fill tire alert, which rings a bell to let drivers know when to stop adding air. If only a warning like that could be added to modern-day occurrences so people would know when they have gone too far. Shown is a man about to apply too much cologne, overdo it with a handshake, go all in at a blackjack table and add tongue to an end-of-date kiss. Fortunately, the bell rings before he overdoes things. See it here. In the final ad, “Breakup,” a man splits with his gas station attendant because he’ll be spending less time at the pump. The attendant is devastated. Watch it here. TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles created the campaign.

ToyotaWhat to do when you can’t decide which car best suits you? Bring your camera to the dealership and compare pictures. That’s what one man did in an ad for Toyota. See it here. A racecar driver goes Camry shopping in race-day gear. He even goes as far as trying to enter the car through the window. He ends up in a Winnie the Pooh situation. Watch it here. Cramer-Krasselt Phoenix created the campaign, directed by Jordan Brady of Superlounge.

 

StarSlothRandom iPhone App of the week: FPO Projects launched an adorable game for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch called Star Sloth. Sloth doesn’t do much, except look adorable, so it’s up to the players to help Sloth keep his job of delivering cheeseburgers to customers in space. In addition, Sloth must elude obstacles like mine fields, space vortexes and a burger thief hoping get Sloth fired. Players can use tips earned from deliveries to unlock delivery permits for new galaxies. The app costs $1.99 in the App Store.

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