Out to Launch

by Amy Corr, Nov 22, 2006, 12:30 PM

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XM Canada wants users to channel their inner rock star. Hyundai launches ads in Spanish and English. Subaru Outback withstands cyclonic weather conditions. Let's launch!

A slew of professional athletes from varying sports will appear in a print ad campaign for Myoplex Original, Deluxe and Lite, a steroid-free sports supplement. Athletes wearing the same purple and white uniform include NFL players Matt Hasselbeck, Larry Fitzgerald, Carlos Rogers and Vernon Davis; triathletes Jen Perez and Justin Daerr; and players to be named later from the NBA and MLB. Creative depicts the athletes as superheroes, with Quarterback Hasselbeck's throwing arm exploding like a cannon and Perez's bicycling exuding electricity. Click here, here, and here to view the work.The campaign--with the tag line, "Join the team. Use what the pros use."--consists of 10 full page and 10 spread ads, and targets well educated, affluent and fitness-minded 25- to 45-year-olds. Ads will run in Rolling Stone, Maxim, Stuff, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Sporting News, Men's Fitness, Men's Health, Bicycling, Runners' World, Triathlete, Self, Women's Health, Shape and Fitness. The campaign runs through summer 2007 and was created by The BrainStorm Group. Media buying was handled by Cottage Eight and SLG.

HELIO, the "we are not a phone company and our phones are not phones" corporation, launched an aquatic TV spot last week promoting its non-phone. The spot shows a scuba diver all by his lonesome self until his friend finds him via a signaling buddy beacon his friend found using his HELIO. The other guy made his way to paradise using his HELIO and Google Maps. A female scuba diver makes nice with the men, until she says "nice phones"--such a big mistake that a whale comes along and eats her. Watch the ad here. The ad will be running nationally on cable. Deutsch handled all aspects of the campaign.

XM Canada launched its first Canadian TV campaign, urging Canadians to get on the road with XM. And it's a hit. "Panties" shows a man rocking out to a great guilty pleasure song, "Cherry Pie" by Warrant. He is singing out loud, as we all do in our cars--I know I'm not the only one--until the inevitable happens. While waiting in traffic, he's caught in the act by three women. The man looks away, embarrassed, dejected, until three sets of panties hit him in the face. He tucks the undies in his pocket and drives off a happy man. Watch the ad here. The campaign's tagline is: "There's no place like it." "Panties" is running across Canada, except for in Québec. GJP Advertising created the campaign and ZenithOptimedia handled media planning and buying.

Subaru Canada has launched its first ever brand campaign in the form of a 30-second spot called "Tornado." For a second I thought I was watching the famous cyclone scene from  "The Wizard of Oz." A tornado is ripping through a town carrying debris and wreaking turmoil; once the storm subsides, the Subaru is found in the same spot, unharmed. Its all-wheel drive enables the car to handle all weather conditions, says the voiceover. Now that's a strong statement. The ad launched last week on conventional and specialty channels across Canada in both English and French. Watch it here. DDB Canada's Toronto office created the campaign and OMD Canada handled the media buy.

Flexible people or Hyundai Santa Fe? That's a question posed for one of four ads promoting the 2007 model. "Life Shapes" shows a group of bodies morphing into the unexpected: musical instruments, an exercise bike, an opera singer donning a beautiful ball gown, a seesaw and the piece de resistance, the Santa Fe. Watch it here. "Drumline" is peppy. It shows the hundreds of robots that assemble the car moving in drumline formation. Click here to watch it. "Water Slide" shows what it would be like if the world was one big water slide. View it here. "Maze" is my favorite spot. A woman performs her daily rituals day in and day out, showering, exercising, going to work, until she spots the revamped Santa Fe, an unlikely distraction that makes her walk out of what, we now see, is a maze. Watch it here. The Richards Group created the campaign and Carat handled the media buying.

Hyundai Motor America launched a Spanish-language TV and print campaign using the theme, "Respect." "Arrival" is the first ad launched under the "Respect" umbrella, and Hyundai's second Spanish-language ad this year. The spot shows a set of cars driving through a busy city street, until they suddenly disperse at the sounds of a stampede of new Hyundai fleets approaching. Watch it here. The next spot, "Train," promotes the Hyundai Sonata and shows a train making an unexpected stop so the Sonata can pass. Click here to watch "Train." del Rivero Messianu created the campaign, its first work for the brand. Carat handled the media buying.

Need a good laugh? Check out the recently launched DailyComedy.com. The site was launched by 15 comedians who are trying to rid the world of corny knock-knock jokes. Comedy bits are posted in both text and video format and the jokes on the home page are quite topical, ranging from Michael Richards' blowup in a comedy club, to TomKat's wedding. The site also features "bitcoms," brief, recurring videos that have the feel of a sitcom but run in shortened version. The site also allows amateur comedians to create their own comedy stage to test out original material.

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