Out to Launch
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Kraft runs a blind taste test and no one noticed. KFC tugs at heartstrings. Let's launch!
  • There's playing with your food -- and then there's making music with your food. Kashi debuted #GoTogether, an online video campaign featuring music by plant-based musician, Diego Stocco. Diego used the ingredients found in Kashi's new GOLEAN cereal, like red beans, pepita seeds and popped sorghum, to create the music. A 30-second ad features healthy, active people, actual Kashi employees, running, surfing, doing yoga and paddleboarding. The sounds from the ad are not just from the ocean or a runner's footfall; they're also the sounds from cereal ingredients, such as rolling red beans, illustrating how a healthy lifestyle and diet go hand-in-hand. See it here. Also check out this behind-the-scenes video on how Stocco creates music from various foods. VML created the campaign.

  • What begins as a trailer for a horror movie is actually an ad for the 2016 Chevrolet Malibu and Cruze vehicles. Any horror movie lover almost instinctively wants to yell at the main character who always turns a corner to find trouble waiting. The same happens in this 60-second spot. A woman enters an abandoned house, where ghostly shadows await. Despite her trepidation, the woman continues through the house and is about to open a door when voices tell her to stop and leave the house. She isn't crazy, it's the theatergoers warning her of trouble. "Wouldn't it be nice to have a warning before bad things happen?" asks the trailer. A shot of the two 2016 Chevrolet models close out the ad, helping drivers avoid danger on the road. Watch it here, created by Commonwealth//McCann and directed by Sam Raimi.

  • KFC launched an adorable two-minute video that combines family, teamwork and fried chicken. "New Kid" tells the story of a young boy and his family who recently moved to a city where the popular sport is hockey, not cricket, a game the young boy knows well. Hoping his son will make friends, dad buys him a pair of hockey skates and the two help each other master this foreign activity. When the boy arrives at hockey tryouts, things start off rocky. The boy is slow and unsteady on the ice, but when the time comes to shoot the puck, the boy scores, proving he has potential. Post-tryout, a bucket of KFC is passed around and guess who gets first dibs at a leg? See it here, created by Grip Limited and directed by Jorn Haagen of Assembly.

  • Leinenkugel's is launching "Leinie Side of Life," on April 4, illustrating that it's never too early to break out a summer shandy. The campaign is the first work from the brand's new agency, Venables Bell & Partners San Francisco. In "Campfire," a group of friends, who clearly met as kids in band camp, relax with a summer shandy by a lake and play Boston's "More Than A Feeling" on their instruments. I'd love to know how they got the piano in the canoe. Perhaps the next round of ads? See it here. "Lake Bar" is my kind of establishment. It's a bar in the middle of a lake, set up to provide refreshment for divers, fisherman and a passing canoe. Watch it here.

  • Stella Artois and Water.org teamed up to "Buy A Lady A Drink." Those who purchase a limited edition Stella Artois chalice online will give the gift of water -- five year's worth -- to a woman in a developing country. Supporting the campaign is two 90-second videos, one starring Matt Damon. The first spot features a tower of spiraling Stella Artois glasses inside a white room. As the glasses rotate, painted images on the glasses tell the story of one woman's long daily journey to obtain clean water. See it here. A second video features Matt Damon, who relays the story while watching the glasses turn. Watch it here. Mother London created the campaign.

  • Kraft Mac & Cheese informed fans that they were going to remove artificial ingredients from its beloved product, but never said when it would happen. The brand quietly relaunched its revamped macaroni and cheese, sans artificial flavors, preservatives or dyes. No one noticed. An ad campaign starring Craig Kilborn describes the massive blind taste test using the tagline: "It's changed. But it hasn't." The debut ad features Kilborn describing the world's largest blind taste test and how people of all ages, even dogs, never noticed the change. See it here. Another video goes inside Kraft and interviews employees about the relaunch. Watch it here. CP+B created the campaign.

  • Children of the '80s, put your nostalgic hats on and watch this throwback ad for the Colorado Lottery. "The Fun Is Back" promotes the brand's $5 ATARI scratch-off games with a 30-second spot that parodies an ATARI 2600 commercial from the '80s. Rather than promote game cartridges, the new spot promotes scratch-offs tickets like Asteroids, Breakout and Centipede. Players can win up to $100,000. That's a lot of games. Cactus, the agency behind the TV ad, also created a custom Tumblr page, which will feature new content throughout the campaign.

  • KBC bank in Ireland launched "You Be You, We'll Be Your Bank," encouraging customers buying their first home to embrace their quirky side when it comes to making a house a home. The ad, created by KK Outlet and MassiveMusic, features Gloria Gaynor's hit "I Am What I Am," and showcases new homeowners adding personal touches to their new abodes. One couple is taking DIY to a new level, while another makes the family room a place for singing and dancing. "You do the home bit and we'll do the house bit," closes the ad, seen here.

  • Don't call SoFi a bank. "This is the beginning of a bankless world" marks the company's first large ad push, positioning itself as a modern way to handle financial business. The spot describes traditional large banks that were created by men and considered too big to fail, as shots of brick-and-mortar establishments are shown. "Don't bank. SoFi," closes the ad, seen here, and created by MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER.