Out To Launch

by Amy Corr, Aug 22, 2012, 3:56 PM

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Samsung Electronics launched an online-only video starring James Franco, with a cameo appearance by the Galaxy Note 10.1, the actual product being shilled. Franco comes off as a douche – he rambles off his long list of accomplishments, including the fact that he’s directing the video, all while multitasking with the Galaxy tablet. He plays doctor to a girl with a sore throat (did he pick this up on “General Hospital”?); films a skateboarder in his backyard; solves a long math equation and has a pillow fight. Franco accomplishes all this and still has time to remove his cooked eggs from the stove and catch a piece of toast from the toaster. Unlike what he says in the video about timing, however, Franco’s is off, as he tries to bite his toast before he actually has it near his mouth. Edit! Watch it here, created by Cheil USA.

Young & Laramore created three ads for the Goodwill of Central Indiana that do a great job at encouraging people to donate, without being pushy. Each ad uses the same theme: “Put the useful to use,” and is told from the perspective of the donated item. A teapot sits on a shelf in one ad, now that its owner doesn’t drink tea anymore. Adding it to a shelf at Goodwill will put it to better use. See it here. A business suit was forced into early retirement when a man’s work dress code went casual. Now, the suit gets a second chance. Watch it here. A treadmill became a clothes hanger once a woman completed her first, and only, marathon. Now, the piece of exercise equipment can add more miles to its log. See it here.

Gatorade launched a post-Olympic ad starring Usain Bolt, who makes sprinting look easy. "What's Inside" shows Bolt walking through the streets of London, unrecognizable because he’s wearing a hoodie. A voiceover describes him as being in London not because he’s a tourist on a double-decker bus or plastered on stadium billboards, but as an athlete with business to attend to in Olympic Stadium. See it here. A shorter version of this ad launched pre-Olympics and used Bolt’s own voice as a precursor to the games. “Because of what I have inside, I will not stop until there is no competition left on the planet.” Bolt easily succeeded. TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles created the campaign.

Sasquatch always has good intentions – which go so wrong in an ongoing series of ads for Jack Link's Jerky. The latest places Sasquatch in an office environment, where he guzzles coffee straight out of the pot. Not used to drinking hot beverages, he burns himself and tries to save his officemates from the same fate by aggressively hitting their coffee cups out of their hands. When a young woman holding a coffee pot and cup sees what’s happening, she throws them to the ground. Sasquatch likes this. See “Coffee Break” here, created by Carmichael Lynch.

Window washing a tall building is already scary on its own, but doing it when secured in a safety harness using four drops of Krazy Glue is… crazy. But it happened in an ad for a company I haven’t seen advertise since my childhood. So first, let’s watch a classic Krazy Glue ad from 1980 -- remember the man who glued his hard hat to a steel beam and then swung around to prove the glue’s strength? The present-day spot shows the brave window washer more than 10 stories off the ground. After he’s safely on the building’s roof, the ad flashes back to his harness being secured by just four drops of Krazy Glue prior to his window-washing excursion. See it here, created by SBC Advertising.

Deutsch LA created some mindless entertainment that can be played on your PC or downloaded as an app. It’s chockful of unnecessary information that you just need to know: how much celebrities are worth. I just found out that Ryan Gosling is worth $50 million and David Beckham clocks in at $175 million. High Rollaz is currently in beta and you will waste time playing. The concept is easy: Players are shown an actor, musician, athlete or singer and a dollar amount. The player must guess if the celeb is worth more or less than the amount listed. Get the answer right and earn 5,000 points; a wrong answer loses you 2,500 points.

What if Eli Manning never played football? He’d still be that goofy-looking, nice guy you can’t help but love and root for. BankPlus poses this question in two ads directed by Albert Kodagolian of Bueno Films for the Mississippi-based bank. In the first ad, seen here, Manning is a pizza delivery guy, who’s treated OK, but no one’s rolling out the red carpet for him. When he goes to BankPlus, he, along with every consumer, is treated like a star. Manning shows off his throwing chops when he forgets a woman’s order of bread sticks and spirals them to her. In the next ad, Manning plays an animal mascot at a children’s game house. He also plays skeeball a little differently than the rest of us. Watch it here. The Ramey Agency created the campaign.

Bank of the West launched a TV ad that puts the spotlight on one of its customers. The documentary-style spot features Wealth Management customer Kjell Qvale, a successful entrepreneur who sold millions of cars throughout his career. Qvale’s story is told while pictures of him and his family are splashed onscreen. See it here, created by Heat.

 

Random iPhone App of the week: Elmer’s Glue launched a photo-sharing app to help parents organize and decorate pictures of their children’s milestones. Using the app, parents can take pictures of their kids and create albums and slideshows with colorful borders and captions using the 1^st Day website. Parents can also share photo galleries via email and Facebook. For each photo uploaded, Elmer’s will donate one product to the Kids In Need Foundation. One downside: Users must sign in each time they use the app. SBC Advertising created this app, available for free in the App Store.

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