Commentary

Out to Launch

Move over TomTom. There's a new GPS system in town. California cows are in a fog. Ellen DeGeneres works with a bunch of animals. Let's launch!

FedEx has launched two amusing ads that give a behind-the-scenes look at how it saves  time and eliminates hassles. "Carpet" shows a factory that ships flying carpets internationally with ease. When a flying carpet gets out of hand, the manager--code name Ice Man--radios Goose to inform him of a wild bird. I was waiting for Slider and Maverick to make an appearance, but no luck. Watch "Carpet" here. "Halfpipe" shows a group of co-workers pondering why they aren't getting more work done now that FedEx has freed up their time. The halfpipe in the middle of the office is not the reason. Click here to watch the ad.BBDO NY created the ads and OMD handled the media buying.

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Garmin, a global positioning system, has launched its first-ever holiday broadcast campaign promoting Garmin nüvi, a GPS device to use in the car and on foot. The first TV spot launched this week, with additional TV and radio components to follow. "Moose" shows a man hopelessly lost on a snowy road, a bad neighborhood and shipping dock. A chorus sings appropriate lyrics to the tune of a popular Christmas carol: "Nothing looks right. This really bites. Where's Highway 10? There's the moose again." Click here to watch "Moose." "Shopping Mall" shows a woman using her Garmin to find the mall, order dinner, find an alternate route home due to traffic and make an eyebrow appointment. Watch the ad here. The ads are running on network and cable, during news, entertainment and sports programs. Fallon Minneapolis created the campaign and media buying was handled in-house.

Ellen DeGeneres is the star of "Animals" and "Meditation," two new American Express "My Life. My Card." ads. "Animals" is a two-minute spot shot in black and white that plays off DeGeneres' childhood ambition of working with animals. A day in the life of the talk show host features a bevy of animals as her co-workers. A turtle runs errands, the executives are penguins, a raccoon plays a makeup artist, and a seal warms up the audience. There are so many jokes in this ad that I recommend watching it twice. "Meditation" shows Ellen meditating and clearing her mind... of everything except a double charge on her credit card. Watch it here.Ogilvy & Mather New York created the ads and MindShare handled the media buying.

The first of four ads in Breville's "Counter Thinking" campaign launches this month in issues of Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Dwell, Sunset, Cookie, Martha Stewart Living and Real Simple. "Perfect Espresso" targets aspiring gourmets and features a heavy dose of technobabble in its ad to describe the making of its espresso. "Snowflake," "Smoothie" and "Bubbles" are slated to launch in February. TV ads will launch in June. Kastner & Partners handled all aspects of the campaign.

DirecTV is using Jessica Simpson and her short-shorts to support its HDTV package. Plucked straight out of "The Dukes of Hazzard," Simpson and her barely there shorts extol her hard-to-achieve body and how viewers can get a crisper view via HDTV. The spot ends with typical Simpson speak; she says that she has no idea what any of the words she used to describe DirecTV mean, but she still wants it. The spot is airing on network, national cable and syndication. Watch the ad here.Deutsch Los Angeles created the campaign and the agency also handled the media buy.

Back in June, Stephen Voltz and Fritz Grobe, aka the EepyBird Guys, uploaded a video online that showed what happened when you combined Diet Coke and Mentos. It's quite a sight. Coke wasn't thrilled, and soon after the video caught fire, the company launched The Coke Show and invited people to tell a video story of themselves in 45 seconds. Read B.L. Ochman's blog posts here and here to freshen up on the subject matter. Coke has now joined forces with Voltz and Grobe for its latest contest, "Poetry in Motion." This time there's no time limit for the challenge that's running in 40 countries and eight languages. Users are encouraged to make ordinary objects do extraordinary things and upload creative to Coke.com. Better late than never. AKQA created the site.

Happy cows love to graze and play games--especially the game "Marco Polo." The California Milk Advisory Board launched "Fog" to promote California cheese. The spot begins with a haze of fog and voices shouting "Marco" and "Polo." The game comes to an abrupt end once the fog clears and the cows are standing hooves apart. Click here to watch "Fog."Deutsch Los Angeles created the campaign and R.J. Palmer handled the media buying.

Tylenol has launched "Macro/Micro" promoting GoTabs, the brand's portable, chewable headache tablets. The ad positions the GoTabs as a small step toward the bigger picture of having less people suffering headaches while on the go. Watch the ad here.Deutsch New York created the ad and Universal McCann handled the media buying.

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