Out to Launch
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Flowers make people happy. The lightbulb has evolved. Let's launch!
  • kiaBeing vertically challenged, I never stress about having enough legroom on in a car, because there's always enough for me. Now that the Kia K900 is the official luxury vehicle of the NBA, neither do tall basketball players. The most talked-about basketball player of late, LeBron James, stars in an ad promoting the partnership. In "Valet," James drives himself to an event and asks the valet to keep his car safe and close by. The star-struck valet takes a peek at the car's roomy backseat and trips over his words upon meeting James. "Fit for A King," closes the ad, seen here, and created by David&Goliath.

  • footlockerFoot Locker has launched a funny commercial to promote Washington Wizard point guard John Wall's new signature line of adidas shoes, sold exclusively you know where. Wall's overly enthusiastic friend is thrilled with his line of shoes and tells him it's just the first step in the "process" of a professional athlete's life. Once the shoe deal is inked, Wall will win a championship, get married, live in a mansion, retire, and open a wing joint. And then comes the downside to fame. Wall will get lazy, have his money stolen by his accountant and lose his wife, mansion and the wing joint. Wall will truly hit rock bottom when he becomes a spokesman for a local car dealer. Watch it all unfold here, created by BBDO New York.

  • stevenashTopLine Game Labs has tapped Steve Nash as spokesman for its short-duration fantasy sports game destination and app, DailyMVP. In "Have an MVP Day," the NBA star dons a wig and plays the role of quiet librarian lady, who lets her inner athlete take over when using the app. She can amplify her quiet life by picking a fantasy roster and challenging friends. See it here, created by barrettSF. The next athlete in DailyMVP's campaign will be Tom Brady, to be released toward the end of football season.

  • clippersLast season, the Los Angeles Clippers faced drama both on and off the court. With the launch of a new basketball season comes a new attitude for the team: "Be Relentless." A 60-second spot with the same name launched nationally during the NBA 2014-2015 season opener doubleheader games. The black-and-white ad shows players succeeding on the court, coaches and players rallying in the locker room, fans awaiting the start of a game and a voiceover that describes the Clippers 2.0: "We are harder, battle-tested. We are relentless. We've walked through fire and come out on the other side," says the voice. See it here, created by RPA. The Clippers start the season on Oct. 30 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

  • flowersStash this video away and when you're having a bad day, watch it. The Flower Council of Holland launched a sweet video called "The Flower Effect" to show the positive influence that flowers have on people and to promote fresh flowers from Holland to the U.K., France, Germany and the Netherlands. The video stars Sophie, a quirky young woman who reminds me of Audrey Tautou's character in the movie "Amelie." Sophie loves popping bubble wrap -- who doesn't -- and people-watching in the park. While her attention is elsewhere, someone has left a beautiful bouquet of flowers beside her. She believes they are from her crush and rushes over to his house, only to have him shut the door in her face. Sad and dejected, she walks the city and is comforted by strangers. Sophie then decides to spread the flower love by leaving the bouquet beside an unsuspecting man. See the ad here, created by Kingsday.

  • lightbulbRoyal Philips launched a digital ad campaign promoting its Philips hue connected lighting products. Boy, have lightbulbs changed. "How Many Years Does it Take To Change a Lightbulb?" illustrates the evolution of lighting since the lightbulb was first invented. The 90-second ad takes place in one family's living room. As home decor, pop culture and design change throughout the years, one thing stays the same: the lightbulb -- and the family. They never age. The kids never grow old. The ad begins in 1879 -- the year the first commercial incandescent light was unveiled -- depicting a family who's excited about their first lightbulb. We follow this family through many decades, until we see a shot of a present-day living room. Dad replaces the lightbulb with a Hue lamp -- and the many ways to change the mood of a room are a click away. See it here, created by Iris and directed by Martin Stirling.

  • cheeseWindstream Communications launched Locally Crafted, a content series hosted by Tumblr and curated by Windstream that spotlights unique entrepreneurs, sharing their stories with a larger audience, which may boost business for them. The latest video I stumbled upon profiles artisan cheese maker Ed Puterbaugh, founder of Boone Creek Creamery. If you love cheese, you will love this video. Puterbaugh left his previous job as a microbiologist to launch a company that could showcase both his creative side and his book-smart side (there's a lot to know about bacteria when it comes to making cheese). Viewers follow Puterbaugh and his employees as they make cheese by hand -- no industrial equipment here. It's fascinating to watch cheese in its early stages until it's ready to be packaged and personally delivered to local stores that carry locally made cheese. Business has increased so much that Puterbaugh is moving shop to a larger facility. Watch it here, created by KBS.

  • stickboyTo draw a younger crowd to its production of Stickboy, the Vancouver Opera created an awareness campaign that profiles the work of four Vancouver artists: Nick Gregson, Carson Ting, Ben Tour and Ola Volo. Stickboy explores the inner life of a young boy transformed by bullying. The artists were tasked to create murals that interpret their own inner bullies as monstrous graffiti shadows, placed at various sections of the city. Each mural is tagged, "There's a monster in all of us," and encourages people to visit www.stickboyopera.ca to learn more about each monster and Stickboy. Once on the site, people can explore sketches from each piece, read the artist's statements and purchase tickets through Nov. 7. Users can also share their own stories about bullying and contribute their own monster interpretations to the gallery. Watch a making of the murals here, created by DDB Canada.

  • speedoRandom iPhone App of the week:Speedo has launched a fitness app designed to help swimmers of all levels set and reach their swim -- and fitness -- goals by providing platforms for motivation, guidance and community. Speedo Fit allows users to log and track swims, join challenges, interact with friends, find pools, learn proper technique, find the right swim gear and watch training videos by Ryan Lochte, Summer Sanders, Natalie Coughlin and Jessica Hardy, to name a few. My favorite part of the app is how users can track their distance, duration and sets over days, weeks, and months. It's like a swim version of my running watch. Another nifty feature through the app's Map Goals section allows swimmers to calculate their distance swimming in the pool by "virtually" swimming some of the world's most exotic swim destinations, including an "Amazon Adventure" and "Bali Escape." This would be a big motivator for me: pretending I'm someplace else. Download the free app here.