Commentary

Out to Launch

Getty Images speaks techie. Zune rocks. OnStar casts all-star talent in its latest campaign. Let's launch!

This is quite the feel-good campaign. Nikon gave 200 of its D40 cameras to residents of Georgetown, S. C. in an effort to show that anyone can take high-quality digital pictures. For eight days Georgetown became Picturetown, and the residents, along with their pictures, became part of a TV, print and online campaign. The TV spot begins with residents collecting their cameras. From a child's first haircut to a cheerleader mid-move, activities are captured digitally. Click here to watch the ad. Print ads show residents holding blown-up pictures they've taken. Click here and here to see the ads. The Web site is well worth a visit. Written profiles of Georgetown residents are featured, along with the best part: a wall of pictures captured by the residents. McCann Erickson created the campaign. Initiative placed the print and TV buy and ID Media handled the online buy.

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Saturn launched a great 60-second spot last week asking viewers to "Rethink American." The ad encourages viewers to rethink their definitions of bling, power, strength and status. The definition of bling, for instance, begins with a rapper's hand full of rings and transitions into a man's wedding ring. Strength is my favorite. It starts with a set of overly muscular body builders and morphs into Lance Armstrong. The spot promotes Saturn's line of hybrid vehicles Click here to watch the ad.Deutsch Los Angeles created the campaign and GM Planworks handled the media buy.

I like this ad, since I speak and understand a smidge of techie. Getty Images launched a global print and interactive campaign that highlights an assortment of products that make the lives of creatives and developers easier. The two-month promotional campaign consists of a string of HTML code that, upon closer inspection, offers visitors to a microsite the chance to save 20% on the license of any image or group of images before June 30. The campaign is running in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Italy, France, Germany and Spain. Print ads can be found in Layers, Graphic Design USA, Novum and Etapes. Online ads are running on AdCritic, Design Taxi, CB News, The FWA, Creative Review and K10K. Click here and here to see the ads. Remerinc handled creative and media components.

Deutsch New York launched a print and online campaign for Olympus promoting three digital cameras: E-410, E-510 and Stylus 770 SW. Using the tag line "Capture It All," activity images are coupled with a close-up of an eye. In one ad, Tour de France bikers ride past a cow. Copy reads: "Even more eye opening than the picture is the camera that took it." Click here to see it. Another ad shows a water-skier and an eye, complete with beads of water on its brow. See it here. The campaign will run throughout August in Time, Backpacker, Men's Health, Travel + Leisure, Newsweek and Popular Photography. Online ads can be found on Away.com, Backpacker.com, SI.com, Aol.com, NationalGeographic.com, and Wired.com. There's also a Web site where users can educate themselves about the different cameras before making a purchase. DeutschMedia handled the media buy.

Microsoft Zune launched its latest TV spot May 8, this time focusing on its lengthy range of features: wireless song and picture sharing, a customizable user-interface, FM tuner and a new pink model. Zune's campaign launch last November centered on the messages of "sharing and friendship." "Zunescape" is set to "This Is Why I Rock," an as-yet unreleased remix of "This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims. The ad looks like a graveyard full of Zunes, each containing different song genres. Click here to watch the ad.72andSunny created the campaign and Universal McCann handled the media buy.

Tiger Woods, Jeff Gordon, Kelly Ripa and Jimmy Kimmel star in Onstar's latest campaign. Woods and Gordon star in their own individual ads while Ripa and Kimmel join Woods in a branding spot. Gordon asks OnStar to run a diagnostic check on his truck while he's driving. Click here to watch the ad. Woods locks himself out of his car, and OnStar gets him back in, without the help of his 9 iron. Watch it here. The branding ad features Woods locked out, Ripa running low on gas and Kimmel "finding" his stolen car. Click here to see it.Deutsch created the ads and GM Planworks placed the media buy.

The Shrek franchise knows how to dominate the box office... and license its characters for commercial use. M&Ms teamed up with the lovable ogre, Donkey and Puss in Boots to promote its oversized M&Ms with extra peanut butter. In the ad, Donkey and Puss in Boots are rendered speechless due to the additional peanut butter. Click here to watch the ad.BBDO New York created the campaign and Mediavest handled the media buy.

Shrek and Donkey play an unfair game of rock, paper, scissors in an ad for Sierra Mist Free. With only one drink left in the vending machine, Shrek suggests playing the childhood game. Donkey, sadly, can only be rock, making Shrek the consistent winner. Click here to watch "Hoof, Paper, Scissors."BBDO New York created the campaign and OMD handled the media buy.

Skin-care company Eau Thermale Avene launched a copy-intensive print campaign that will run through the rest of the year in Vogue, Self, Allure, New Beauty, Parade and Prevention. The branding effort for the France-based skin-care brand showcases the company's array of hydrotherapy products. Click here, here, here and here to see the ads. Looney Advertising created the campaign and WMI Media handled the media buy.

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