Commentary

Out to Launch

What's your Epsonality? Halo vacuums kill germs. Do you live with a bunch of animals? Let's launch!

EA games launched two scary spots promoting the game "Hellgate." This might be why I'm not a big gamer. The ads take place in London following some sort of catastrophic invasion -- I think demons are involved -- leaving few survivors. A grainy video of a bloodied man in "Basement" shows a man's dual personalities. He describes destruction and mayhem wreaked by monsters -- and then refers to himself as one. Eek!  Watch two versions of the ad here and here. An office worker cowers under her desk in "Office." She describes hearing a commotion and then decides to take her chances outside rather than hiding inside. Watch the ads here and here. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign and handled the media buy.

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YellowTail launched a set of three terrific TV spots in black and white that accentuates the bright yellow tails of objects fictional or rarely seen. One ad shows a town mesmerized by the yellow tail of a comet. Watch it here. A beautiful mermaid enchants with her glowing yellow fin in another ad. See it here. Godzilla is scary and destructive on his own, but give him a yellow tail, and he's kinda cute. Click here to watch. Cramer-Krasselt Hampfel Stefanides created the campaign and handled the media buy. Crew Cuts edited the spots.

Epson launched a TV, print, outdoor and online campaign showing its diverse line of printers. The campaign positions itself as having a printer that's user-friendly for all personalities. The first TV spot features a woman alongside two men in lab coats showing off her scrapbook pictures to her giddy friends. Watch it here. A man gets a little too excited about how quickly his printer prints in another ad. See it here. The final spot shows a woman copying, faxing, printing and scanning her documents while blindfolded. Click here to watch. The Epsonality Web site allows users to calculate their individual Epsonality. The CX7400 Series is a fit for me, because when a bear is about to attack, I'd run like hell instead of attempting to take a picture. Print ads are sharp, showing a variety of people paired up with their perfect Epson match. Click here, here, here, here and here to see the ads, running in Wired, The New Yorker, Details, Outside, INC, Blueprint, Real Simple and National Geographic, among others. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners created the campaign and Palisades Media handled the media buy.

Are your children pigs? Is your husband a jackass? Then your house must be a pigsty. That's the thinking behind a TV spot for iRobot's Roomba, a self-cleaning floor device. A woman describes how messy her family is, with pigs running rampant and a donkey drinking from the fish tank. The Roomba cleans the floors on its own, allowing mom to spend more time with that horse's behind she calls "hubby." Watch the ad here. The Gate Worldwide created the ad and RJ Palmer handled the media buy.

Halo vacuums launched a TV, print, online and outdoor campaign promoting its germ-killing abilities in an interesting way. Rather than germs seeing a white light in their final moments of life, they see an ultraviolet one. Touted as the "world's only germ-killing vacuum," the TV spot describes how the ultraviolet light is used to kill dust mites. Watch the ad here. Print ads are running in People, O, Parenting, Real Simple and Parents magazines, targeting women with children under 10. Online ads can be found on About.com, WebMD, iVillage and Yahoo, among others. "Is it a vacuum cleaner that kills germs? Or a germ-killer that vacuums?" asks one ad. The Times Square ad, complete with ultraviolet light says, "Kills dust mires, mold, flu and other invisible germs." See the ads here and here. BooneOakley created the campaign and handled the media buy.

Watching NFL updates on your Motorola Razr2 can be hazardous. Motorola launched a TV spot highlighting the Razr2's new design and multimedia capabilities, namely its football features offered through Sprint NFL Mobile. "Stuck" shows a series of Razr2s lodged in a ceiling fan, TV, door and bus. The spot ends with coach Eric Mangini of the New York Jets listening to a harsh critique of his team's performance and throwing his Razr2 into a car door. Watch the ad here.Ogilvy New York created the campaign and Carat handled the media buy.

Group Health launched "Find More Minutes," a branding campaign consisting of TV, print, radio, online and outdoor components. Ads are running throughout Washington State and drive users to www.findmoreminutes.com, a site that provides health information along with a forum to ask Group Health doctors' questions. A man takes the kind gesture of a female co-worker the wrong way in "Water." He mistakes a bottle of water for something romantic. "DIY" features a man using pushpins to administer self-acupuncture. His wife informs him that Group Health covers real acupuncture... and tetanus shots. Creative can be found on FindMoreMinutes.com. Print ads offer two actions, one that adds years to your life and one that subtracts. "Deep-Fried Mozzarella -3. Deep Tissue Massage +12," says one ad. "Downward Dog +6. Work Like a Dog -8," says another. TM Advertising created the campaign and bought all the media except for broadcast, which UniversalMcCann Detroit handled.

The California Milk Advisory Board finds its inner Zen in "Meditation." The two California Cows find a duck in a meditative state. While the ducks says "om," the cows tell him he's saying it backwards and in actuality it's pronounced moo. Watch the ad here. Deutsch Los Angeles created the campaign and RJ Palmer handled the media buy.

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