Out to Launch
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Ron Burgundy promotes entire line of Dodge vehicles. Best Buy breaks out celebs for holiday campaign. Let's launch!
  • comcastComcast Business launched a pair of TV spots that mark the return of The Slowskys, a lovable turtle couple that initially promoted Comcast’s consumer-facing high-speed-Internet offering back in 2006. This time around, the pair are business owners who are slow to switch to a faster Internet connection. In “Intro,” the Slowskys are proud owners of a diner with a slow Internet connection. When their human nephew encourages them to upgrade, they ignore him. See it here. In “Busy,” the Slowskys use an intercom service to talk to one another, even though they are standing beside one another. Mr. Slowsky is waiting for a download to finish and remains unreceptive to upgrading. Slow and steady… Watch it here. Goodby Silverstein & Partners New York created the campaign.

  • agency video awardAgencies undoubtedly put a lot of thought and effort into creating their yearly agency award video submissions. Canadian agency Lowe Roche crunched some numbers and sifted through research about Canadians who fall into the ad industry professional category. Their findings were included in their video submission for Toronto-based Strategy Agency of the Year Awards. The results may or may not surprise you. Did you know that Canadians in the ad industry watch foreign films 2.8 times more than the average person -- and, this is a good stat, are 1.6 times more likely to mute the sound during TV commercials? Hopefully, not the ones they had a hand in creating. A whopping 62.3% consider themselves health-conscious eaters, and ad industry folks watch 1.7 times more online porn than everyone else. See the video here for additional tidbits about Canadian ad industry workers.

  • durangoThe latest round of Ron BurgundyDodge Durango spots launched yesterday, slated to air during “Mike & Molly,” “CSI” and Home Depot College Football, among others. Two of the four spots are extended versions of already-launched videos. Remember the ad with Ron Burgundy mocking a horse for only being one horsepower? A follow-up ad shows Burgundy mocking the horse, only to see the horse’s offspring step into the scene. “I’m so embarrassed,” quips Burgundy. See it here. In “It’s Not Enough,” Burgundy continues to mispronounce M.P.G. or understand what it means. Unless it involves women, he’s uninterested. Watch it here. In “Do – dge,” Burgundy promotes the entire line of Dodge vehicles using one-word sentences and extreme close-ups. See it here. In the final spot, “Downhill Fast,” Burgundy mispronounces another word: Dodge. Convinced it’s pronounced Yodge, he proclaims the ad is “going downhill fast.” Watch it here. Wieden + KennedyPortland created the campaign.

  • best buyI can’t believe that holiday ads are already up and running. Best Buy spared no expense in the celebrity department for its “Storybook” holiday campaign. Eleven spots were shot, featuring Will Arnett, Maya Rudolph, LL Cool J and Jason Schwartzman as holiday storytellers, regaling viewers with tales of successful holiday shopping stories. Will Arnett reads an updated version of “Twas the night before Christmas” that includes tech gifts for every family member, even Uncle Raymond, the forgotten relative. His gift was swiftly ordered online and picked up in-store. See it here. Maya Rudolph tells the story of Aunt Judy, a woman who will be voted best aunt ever once her nieces and nephews see their Christmas tech gifts. Watch it here. CP+B created the campaign.

  • fruitoftheloomDon’t get your panties in a bunch; it will ruin your day. Fruit of the Loom launched “Start Happy,” a TV campaign that’s light-hearted and honest. What you do when you wake up plays a huge part in how the rest of your day will pan out. And if your undies don’t fit properly, who suffers? The first ad shows stuntwoman Mickey Facchinello leaping from buildings and fighting ninjas. How productive would she be if her underwear was riding up as she drop-kicked a bad guy? See it here. The next ad shows a group of men working the pit crew at a car race. With the right boxers, these men don’t have to “recalibrate their own nuts and bolts in front of 20 million fans.” Watch it here. CP+B created the campaign.

  • bigredBig Red soda has deemed Nov. 1 as National Backwash Prevention Day, proving that anything can get a holiday of its own. The same brand that “invented” the Big Red pump bottle and Big Red BBQ Brisket bottle has now created the Big Red Backwash Can, to allow friends to share soda without the nasty side effects of backwash (accidentally spitting soda back into a can).  A supporting video shows a Big Red soda being shared with what appears to be every party attendee. When a partygoer questions drinking from the can, fearing backwash, his friend shows him that the can monitors the amount of backwash and purges it when threatening levels are reached. One man became collateral damage when he was doused with the can’s backwash. See it here.

  • walmartWalmart Canada launched a TV campaign for Halloween starring a mother who loves Halloween almost as much as Claire Dunphy from “Modern Family.” When children trick-or-treat at this mom’s house, she drops from the ceiling dressed as a spider, dispensing candy to wide-eyed kids. She is known as the “Lives-for-Halloween Mom” and she buys all her Halloween candy at Walmart, meaning she doesn’t skimp on the treats. See it here. Mom also has a Twitter handle, @Halloween_Mom, where she tweets tips and tricks for fellow Halloween lovers. JWT Canada created the campaign.

  • nissanNissan Europe launched an online video campaign for its Micra car, targeting women with a “just do it” attitude toward life. The first video in the “Go Get It” campaign is “Glitch.” A woman speaks with her boss via teleconference but the reception is spotty, forcing the boss to hang up. Turns out, the woman was intentionally making strange sentences so she could disconnect and do more important things, like sip a drink poolside. See it here. A woman looks for her keys at the bottom of her purse in “Bag Duel.” A Micra owner just presses a button on her car to gain entry, so she never has to fumble for her keys again. Watch it here. A woman wants the upper hand in an all-male business meeting in the final video. She arrives early and stages the meeting room so every chair except hers is at its lowest point, so she can look down at attendees. See it here. TBWA\G1, TBWA\London and TBWA\Paris created the campaign.

  • poptopiaRandom iPhone App of the week: Pop Secret created a mobile game for the iPhone called Poptopia, where players must pop kernels before they burn. Throughout the game, popcorn kernels fly across the screen and change color, meaning they are ready to pop. Players can earn points by tapping the kernels perfectly and feeding The Almighty Mouth God. If you take too long, the kernels will burn and the Mouth gets angry. Deutsch LA created the app, available for free in the App Store.