Out to Launch
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Campaigns for adults looking to relive their carefree childhoods. Let's launch!
  • Say goodbye to Coke's "Open Happiness" tagline. It's been replaced with "Taste The Feeling," and a handful of ads with the tag launched globally on Monday, starting with "Anthem." Four agencies created ads for this campaign: Mercado-McCann, Sra. Rushmore, Santo and Oglivy & Mather New York. The 60-second anchor spot (from Mercado-McCann) didn't feel like the rallying cry I was expecting. It's a bunch of moments in life with friends, family and Coca-Cola. Hardly anyone I know drinks soda anymore, so with that big hurdle to jump, watching a couple share a Coke and see friends frolic in the ocean with a bucket of Coke seemed cutesy but horribly outdated. See it here. "Under Pressure" (from Ogilvy & Mather) was more believable because it follows the lives of stressed teenagers who face deadlines, drama and obstacles on a regular basis, make it through all right, and celebrate with a Coke. Watch it here. "Break Up" (from Santo) follows a young couple from the moment they meet to their steamy love scene in the back of a car. Wherever they are, whatever they're doing, a pair of Coke bottles are creepily close by, watching. They break up and meet to talk it out. The guy knows he's got his girl back when he gives her his Coke bottle and she doesn't wipe off his cooties. She goes all in for a drink. L'amour. See it here. "Brotherly Love" (from Santo) shows an annoying older brother with a soft side when his kid brother needs him. Watch it here. "Supermarket" (from Sra. Rushmore) is my favorite ad. A young cashier on a hot day tweaks the store's security cameras so she get a close-up of a hot, sweaty guy drinking his Coke. See it here. The final ad, "What Is Coca-Cola For" (from Sra. Rushmore) shows a guy ordering a Coke at a bar. The bartender goes off on a tangent of reasons to drink Coke, and the patron tells him that he just loves the drink. Watch it here.

  • Tough Mudder, you're on my bucket list. The company launched its first global ad campaign, "It's All Been Training," the first work from its new agency, Rokkan. A series of four ads promote the extreme obstacle course as an event we've all been training for since childhood. For instance, that time you put your tongue on a battery connection to see if you'd render a shock was preparation for running through a mud pit with live electric wires hanging above you. See it here. Troublemakers escaping punishment by jumping bags of leaves and scaling a fence are ready for Tough Mudder's tall, muddy walls. Watch it here. All the times you jumped off a swing at the highest point means you'll have no trouble jumping off a platform, ringing a bell and ending up in freezing water. See it here. The final ad is 60 seconds and serves as a rallying cry to adults who yearn to recapture their youth, if only for a weekend. Those who work hard during the week want to play hard on the weekend and return to the days when running in mud was carefree and fun. As adults, we can now do that and drink beer afterwards. Watch it here.

  • Awaken your inner child by playing an adult version of Marco Polo. Celebrity Cruises launched "Modern Luxury Lives Here," the first work from the brand's new global agency, VB&P. The tagline, "Answer the call of modern luxury," encourages travelers to channel their inner child with an adult version of Marco Polo. Employees of Celebrity Cruises start the game by calling "Marco" and the viewer would expect anyone within earshot to answer "Polo." This is where the ad gets weird. People do answer the call and shout "Polo," but not current cruise attendees. There's a man in the middle of a business pitch, a man alone in a coffee shop, a woman outside a newsstand, a man in bed and a guy in an elevator. They each heard the call and responded immediately, confusing themselves and those around them. See the ad here.

  • We're only two weeks into 2016, and I watched the first ad from AXE that I actually like. Is this a sign of the apocalypse? "Find Your Magic" is the brand's new positioning that promotes individuality and AXE's new range of male grooming products. Gone is the bro mentality and the feeling that you can smell too much AXE through your TV. A 60-second launch spot features a handful of regular guys with different, unique qualities. One guy has awesome red hair, while another owns his big nose. Another guy has amazing dance moves, while a burly dude shows his sensitive side. Each has one thing in common: they use AXE grooming products. See it here. There are also a few 15-second videos that show men and women using AXE products to style their hair. Watch them here, here and here. 72andSunny Amsterdam created the campaign.

  • Colonel Sanders traveled the world to find the best Nashville Hot Chicken. Too bad he didn't just start in Nashville. In one of two new ads from KFC, Colonel Sanders, played by Norm MacDonald, scours the globe for the perfect Nashville Hot Chicken to bring to his countless stores. He even has the pins on a map to prove it. In the end, the Colonel finds the best recipe in Nashville. See it here. In "Boardroom," the Colonel shows a slideshow from his trip to Nashville, documenting each step taken to find the chicken recipe. Watch it here. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign.

  • To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its EOS Rebel SLR camera, Canon launched "Rebel With A Cause," an ad campaign where modern-day rebels help others show their rebellious side. The debut video stars American daredevil Nik Wallenda as he visits a retirement home in Florida. He chats with two people who describe things they longed to do in their youth, but fear it's too late to do now. One woman wanted to ride in a race car, and a man wanted to fly as a fighter pilot. Proving that it's never too late, Wallenda made their dreams come true, and those moments are captured in video shot on a EOS Rebel SLR camera. See it here, created by Grey New York.

  • America's Best Contacts & Eyeglasses launched its first campaign with a new spokesanimal: an owl. Needless to say, the first two ads are chock full of owl jokes. The bespectacled owl ambushes bespectacled strangers to inform them that they paid too much for their glasses. In "Keep Up," when man is stopped by the chatty owl, all he can muster up as a response is "who." No matter what the question, who is the response. By the end of the ad, even the owl has heard enough. See it here. In "Stop It," the owl encounters a woman on a park bench and the same banter takes place. She tries to add one more owl pun and the bird replies: "Stop It." Watch it here. The Richards Group created the campaign.

  • Autism Speaks and the Ad Council teamed up to build on the "Learn the Signs" campaign. The PSAs encourage parents to recognize and learn the early signs of autism by visiting the Autism Speaks website. "Jacob's Story" uses 3D and Stop-Motion Animation to illustrate his experience living with autism. Jacob didn't speak until he was four years old, which is how the story in the 75-second video begins. The animated scenes describe the signs of autism like lack of eye contact, sensitivity to light and delayed speech. The video ends with a glance at the real Jacob, who attends school and found his voice after his diagnosis. See it here, created by BBDO New York.

  • Random iPhone App of the week: Like playing scratch-off lottery tickets but hate the mess afterwards? Check out Scratchy, a virtual scratch-off game that awards winners gift cards to their favorite brands. Scratchy was created to remedy the backlash against mobile advertising and challenges faced by ad-blocking technologies. When players sign up, they select 10 brands to follow. In beginning rounds, players scratch three of six tiles hoping to find 3-of-a-kind brand logos. Players can win direct rewards from $5 and up off purchases depending on the level they are playing. Gift cards are awarded from Apple, Best Buy, Converse, Banana Republic, American Eagle, Adidas, Nike, Gap, H&M, Bloomingdales, Ray-Ban, Victoria's Secret, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Sephora, Bed Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrel, UBER and Amazon. Download the free app here.