Out to Launch
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
"Missed Connections" reunited to promote VH1 series. Selfie a day helps determine next haircut. Let's launch!
  • carnivoreclubThe Carnivore Club is a delicious meat-of-the-month club looking for new ways to sell more subscriptions. Bensimon Byrne created a campaign that positions The Carnivore Club as a preemptive gift for someone when you screw up. Like when your husband comes home from work early to find you in bed with another man and entertaining additional guests. An NSFW video explains how "F-Up Insurance" works. When a man finds his wife bedding another man, he's not too upset. Actually, he's pretty happy when he finds out that he'll be receiving monthly meat now from the Carnivore Club. The wife then explains to the other folks in the bedroom how F-Up Insurance works, prompting the others to consider buying this new insurance plan. See the video here and check out the hysterical website here.

  • truckguydeodorantWho knew a man with a truck was so universally appealing? Chevrolet Colorado's "You Know You Want a Truck" is an amusing video series spotlighting focus groups of men, women, kids, seniors, guys with beards, rich housewives and other target audiences to prove truck drivers have a certain appeal not found in car drivers. The first video shows a man standing in front of a truck and a man standing in front of a car. It's the same guy, but everyone in the focus groups believes the truck owner is better-looking, a safer driver, stronger and owner of a equally strong pet. Not one person noticed it was the same guy! See it here. Chevy "trucked-up" a man's online dating profile, increasing his views from three to 97. Watch it here. The final video takes place in a grocery store. Chevy set up shop in the deodorant aisle, selling "Truck Guy Deodorant." People bought it, but I bet it was more for a gag gift than necessity. See it here. Commonwealth McCann created the campaign.

  • vh1VH1 went to Craigslist to promote its new series "Hindsight," about a woman given a chance to go back in time and change her life, starting on the night of her first wedding in 1995. The network found someone's "Missed Connection" post, contacted her, tracked down her missed connection and reunited the pair for this spot. The pair met at a laundromat and were about to exchange numbers until the woman's friend interrupted. The whole thing was much showier than I expected, with laundry bubbles and dancers that wrote one number each on the unsuspecting guy. The woman wrote the final number on the guy, completing her phone number. See it here, created by Mistress and directed by Joey Garfield.

  • The first of two Super Bowl ads Toyota will run during the big game stars Paralympic medalist, Team Toyota athlete and "Dancing With The Stars" finalist Amy Purdy as she handles highs and lows on typical training days. "How Great I Am" will run in the first quarter and follows Purdy while she runs, bikes, dances, snowboards and tweaks the fitting of her prosthetic legs. Some workouts are great and others show her falling as she rounds a flag while snowboarding. Throughout her training, viewers listen to Muhammad Ali’s famous "How Great I Am" speech, which Ali made before his "Rumble in the Jungle" bout with George Foreman in 1974. See the ad here, which promotes the 2015 Toyota Camry. Saatchi and Saatchi LA created the campaign.

  • snickersYou mess with the bull and you get... Danny Trejo? I had a hunch that the full ad for Snickers would tackle a famous scene from the beloved TV show, "The Brady Bunch": the one where Marcia takes a football to the face. Ow, my nose! The brand teased the 30-second spot last week, showing actor Danny Trejo playing Marcia Brady and brushing each side of her hair 100 times. Part of the brand's "You're Not You When Your Hungry" campaign, the hysterical big game spot shows Trejo throwing a violent ft of rage after being hit by Peter with a football. Trejo is ready to settle the score when mom gives her a Snickers. One bite and Marcia returns to being sweet and lovable. The best surprise is seeing who played Jan Brady in the ad's conclusion: Steve Buscemi! Watch the ad here, created by BBDO New York. Check out the interesting behind the scenes footage to see how the ad was made here.

  • kiaFor the sixth consecutive year, Kia has returned to the Super Bowl, with an ad running in the third quarter. Promoting the 2016 Sorento CUV, "The Perfect Getaway" stars Pierce Brosnan as he meets with his agent to discuss a new role. Brosnan, known for his action films and role as James Bond, assumes the role pitched is full of action, explosions and enemies at every turn. But as the agent describes the scenes, everything is calm and more tailored for, say, a Super Bowl audience. There's no sniper hiding in the trees, but there is a beautiful owl. Brosnan isn't going 100+ miles per hour up a snowy mountain road; he does 30 because he's not being chased and it's winter. When Brosnan arrives at his final destination -- a log cabin -- it doesn't explode as Brosnan assumes it will, but there are fireworks between the actor and the woman who greets him at the door. "The Perfect Getaway Vehicle," closes the ad, seen here and created by David&Goliath. Last year's Super Bowl ad, "The Truth," featured Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus from "The Matrix" trilogy singing operatic praises for the 2015 K900.

  • supercutsHere's an upside to taking daily selfies: you'll see when it's time to get a haircut. Supercuts launched a TV spot that follows a man after he gets a haircut. Viewers live vicariously through the man's selfies and active lifestyle; this guy packed a lot of action into a handful of weeks. The time-lapse meshes all the selfies into a 30-second spot and ends with the man back at Supercuts for a touch-up. Watch it here, created by Olson.

  • GrammysRandom iPhone App of the week:The Grammy Awards launched an updated app to enhance and expand music fans' experience of this weekend's 57th Annual Grammy Awards. The free app offers exclusive camera angles of the awards show, as well as backstage coverage and an archived video library of selected Grammy Awards moments. The app also includes a Twitter stream aggregating Grammy-related tweets and offers users the ability to purchase music from iTunes and Google Play music stores from each category's winner in past years. MJD updated the back-end technology running the application and added new interface elements that make it easy to browse through content streams. Download the app here.

  • coloradohealthColorado HealthOP launched a TV campaign that educates Colorado residents on the benefits of the state's first nonprofit health insurance cooperative. "Believe It" features a levitating magician who can't believe his ears when learning of Colorado HealthOp's extensive offerings. The magician, used to being the one to dish out surprises, begs to know the co-op's secrets. See it here, created by Cactus, Denver.