Out to Launch
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
McDonald's is lovin' Justin Timberlake. FedEx wants users to relax. The Orange County Register "takes back the morning." These are just a few of the ad campaigns launched this week. Read on for more details.
  • McDonald's is lovin' Justin Timberlake. FedEx wants users to relax. The Orange County Register "takes back the morning." These are just a few of the ad campaigns launched this week. Read on for more details.

    FedEx launched a campaign during "Monday Night Football" September 8th bearing the tagline "Relax, it's FedEx." The ads explain how each of the FedEx family of companies delivers reliability and peace of mind to customers, no matter what their need. Monday's ad was the first in a series that include eight, 30-second spots and highlights the broad portfolio of air, ground, freight, and international shipping solutions offered by FedEx. The launch coincides with the company's decision to extend its sponsorship of the National Football League for three years. The ads, created by BBDO New York, show how FedEx solves problems for both large and small businesses, using the full range of FedEx air, ground, freight and international delivery services.

    The Orange County Register launched a TV, print, and outdoor campaign on Sept. 1 called "Take Back the Morning," using unconventional and visual messages to express the thoughts, feelings and experiences associated with reading the newspaper. The campaign is targeting 25 to 35 year-olds who understand the inherent value of reading a newspaper, but do not understand the rewards of taking a few moments out of a busy morning to relax and enjoy the newspaper. Ads were created by DGWB Advertising and Communications. The television campaign features young people calmly reading the paper in common morning settings - a kitchen, coffee house, and office building, with background characters moving at frantic pace - pouring coffee, washing dishes, and eating donuts. Ads will air through November on TNT, MTV, VH1, CNN, E! Entertainment Television, ESPN, Comedy Central, and USA Network. Print images with the "Take Back the Morning" theme will be seen on outdoor locations such as bus backs, bus shelters, malls, health clubs, and nightclub posters.

    McDonald's has a new man in their commercials. Pop star Justin Timberlake will be playing a large role in the company's worldwide branding campaign. The "I'm lovin' it," campaign is launching in more than 100 countries beginning this month. Timberlake will record the vocals for several commercials and appear in cameo roles throughout the new campaign. McDonald's also plans to sponsor Timberlake's 35-city 2003 European tour, which kicks off in November in Germany. Ads featuring vocals by Timberlake are already airing in Munich, Germany, with the U.S. launch slated for September 29. German agency Heye and Partners created the ads.

    The Advertising Council has launched a second round of their Campaign for Freedom ads to coincide with the second anniversary of the tragedies of September 11th. Created pro bono by Ogilvy & Mather and TBWAChiatDay, the TV, radio, and print PSAs are designed to inspire Americans to celebrate freedom. First launched on July 1, 2002, the Ad Council's Campaign for Freedom is an initiative that was developed as an advertising industry-wide response to the tragedies of September 11th. The campaign seeks to inform, involve, and inspire all Americans to celebrate their freedoms. The new PSAs are the second phase of the "Inspire" campaign that is designed to remind Americans to reflect upon, relate to, and actively support and defend the underlying freedoms that define the American way of life. In mini-documentary-style interviews, the television and radio spots feature immigrants to the United States sharing their unique perspectives on freedom through personal stories. The print and TV spots use the tagline "Freedom. Appreciate it. Cherish it. Protect it."

    Amica Insurance has launched an ad campaign to answer the question, "How obsessive can one insurance company be about their unwavering commitment to customer service?" The campaign, "We make our customers' problems our problems," launched this week on spot TV and cable, and will air with an increased frequency during Thanksgiving broadcasts, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and NBC's NFL football coverage. The 30-second spots, entitled "Cast Away," "Golf," and "Supermarket," feature an Amica insurance agent who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. "Cast Away," opens in the middle of the ocean with a tired man stranded on a wandering paddleboat. Out of the vast ocean comes an Amica Insurance agent with an energy bar. The agent helps paddle and provides support for the stranded man, with the two sailing off to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." "Supermarket" takes place in a grocery store where a shopper is saddled with a squeaky wheel carriage. As she struggles to navigate the aisles, accidentally bumping into everything, the Amica agent suddenly appears from a freezer and swiftly repairs the cart. The ads were created by Cossette Post.

    Speaking of Insurance, Cramer-Krasselt has created a campaign for Wausau Insurance. The TV and print campaign relays the message that business policyholders' total cost of risk are impacted by a combination of direct costs (premiums and out-of-pocket expenses) and indirect costs (lost productivity value). Lost productivity value includes time lost from work by injured or ill employees, cost of training a new worker, loss in corporate earning power, damage to tools or equipment, and legal expenses. Wausau TotalValue helps to create a healthier bottom line. The campaign's tagline is "Bottom line, a better value," and will run through 2004. The ads will appear in Fortune, CFO, The Wall Street Journal and Wall Street Week with Fortune (PBS) to name a few.

    Kraft and Nabisco get back to school in a unique way. Playing off the bobblehead craze, EastWest Creative created a two-sided standee at grocery stores that features football great Jerry Rice on one side and baseball star Alex Rodriguez on the other. The figures are part of a Kraft and Nabisco back-to-school event that gives kids the chance to win a "sports star" for their school. Winning students will choose from Jerry, Alex, Mia Hamm, Lisa Leslie or extreme sports enthusiast Ryan Nyquist to come take over their school for the day. Their goal? Present Kraft and Nabisco products for kids in an entertaining and kid-friendly way. The in-store material began appearing in grocery stores in late August.

    Super 78 and Signal Theory have teamed up on a broadcast campaign for Nintendo of America and its recent Pokémon-e Trading Card Game EX Ruby & Sapphire. The campaign, entitled "Arrivals," includes three spots (two :30 and one :15), and has been airing nationwide all summer. Each campaign spot features a bullet train speeding into a high-color, futuristic train station as a female station announcer proclaims the arrival of 109 new cards and over 40 new EX Ruby & Sapphire characters. The announcer also details many of the product's new gaming features.

    In website launches this week:

    Makinita and iKidney.com have launched The Kidney Show, a bilingual game designed to entertain and inspire renal health patients, their friends and families. The Kidney Show features three unique stages: The Diet, Dialysis Room, and Red Blood Cells, each enabling players to interact with challenges that kidney health patients face regularly. Players team with Jimmy Nephro, the game's hero, and can select English or Spanish options. For example, in the Dialysis Room, the goal is to promote a positive environment. Jimmy Nephro doubles as a disc jockey and mixes music at a turntable while also delivering items such as blankets, CD players, and televisions to patients.

    Red Nova Inc. has launched RedNova.com, a website designed for science, space and technology enthusiasts to access news and information and share ideas. RedNova.com has created more than 20,000 pages of news and original content covering the vast spectrums of science, space and technology. Recent Mars reconnaissance missions, new discoveries about our universe, and the sequencing of the human genome have made this a popular site for those interested in science.