Out to Launch
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Would you eat honey made form hamburgers? Cleveland rocks. Let's launch!
  • #CannesScan is a live Twitter poll of the emojis being used to reference #CannesLions. Grand Visual is using Le Grand Screen, a 16-meter-long digital billboard atop The Grand Hotel in France, to publish hourly emojis based on the most popular symbol used to describe Cannes. No need to scour your social media feed to find out the Cannes vibe. Attendees can simply look up. One hour might be a happy face emoji,and the next could be the poop emoji. You never know.

  • Break out the tissues before watching this 2:30 video for American Family Insurance that tells the touching story of a father supporting his son's dream of being a dancer. The video begins with the son watching a video of flamenco dancers, followed by a package from his dad. Is it a flamenco outfit? No, it's a Gi, the white uniform for the martial arts lessons the son will be taking, courtesy of his dad. This shy kid starts training the next day, is made fun of by neighborhood kids, but all the while his dad is by his side. As time goes by, this kid is training hard, gaining physical and mental strength, and winning tournaments. Soon, the boy's room is filled with trophies and advanced degree belts. Dad now presents his son with another gift, and this is where the tissues are needed: it's a flamenco dance outfit, and classes begin the next day. The boy leaves his house, alone and in his dance costume, and holds his head high when the neighborhood kids poke fun at him. One head nod puts them in their place. BBDO New York created the video.

  • I'm not a basketball follower, but how can you not be happy for the fans in Cleveland? The Cavaliers' win over the Golden State Warriors ended the 52-year streak since the city won a sports championship. Nike launched "Worth The Wait," a 60-second ad that pays tribute to the city's long-suffering fans, some unsure of how to react to an event that most have never experienced in their lifetime. As a Mets fan, I can relate on a certain level. Fans are shown watching the game on a bus or with family and friends or listening to the game while working. Each resident has the same reaction: shock and awe and a stunned silence. The spot ends with fans crying and a young Cavs fan screaming with joy. Team players Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and LeBron James can be seen in the ad, but the spot is more about the fans than players. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign.

  • Hamburger honey might have a nice ring to it, but chances are you wouldn't buy a jar of honey that was made from beef. In an ingenious campaign to illustrate the hidden sugars found in processed foods -- not to mention showing how badass worker bees are -- Nas Grunt, a health food chain in the Czech Republic, made honey from unexpected foods. Apparently, bees can make honey from anything containing 15% of sugar. Since hamburgers and salad dressing contain 18% sugar, ketchup contains 23% sugar, barbecue sauce is 38% sugar and breakfast cereals are 61% sugar, Nas Grunt put the bees to work and in a week's time had some interesting samples to give away. Spoiler alert: no one wanted honey made from beef, salad dressing or instant soup. McCann Prague created the campaign.

  • The best athletes never lose the love of the game, which serves as the theme of Gatorade's Olympic marketing campaign, "Never Lose The Love." The company pays tribute to its brand athletes Usain Bolt, Serena Williams and April Ross. The first of four videos highlights each athlete as a mini-version of themselves pushes them through hard drills and workouts. "Young At Heart" plays throughout the ad, which concludes with each adult athlete taking center stage at their respective sport. The next three videos are mini-profiles of each athlete and how the help received in their young impacted their game and instilled a want to give back to others. Watch the videos here. Gatorade is also giving back with an online contest that relies on votes from everyone to help Gatorade select youth sports organizations that will receive donations. TWBA\Chiat\Day LA created the campaign.

  • Romania has seen low test rates in recent years for high school kids taking the equivalent of the SATs. KFC Romania wanted to play a role in increasing test scores, and the WiFi Test campaign was born. KFC restaurants throughout the country changed their entire router software and free WiFi network with 1,600 questions from the baccalaureate test. Rather than just getting KFC WiFi for free, customers are asked a random question. Answer it correctly and you get free WiFi for an hour. If you're wrong, you're redirected to a summary that explains the right answer. MRM//McCann Romania created the campaign.

  • Travel Oregon launches a series of 15-second ads that promote tourism to its lovely state. "We Like It Here. You Might Too," gives unique factoids about regions throughout the state, while highlighting gorgeous reasons why folks should visit. Whether it's canoeing, swimming in a lake or hiking, there are plenty of things to do and see in Oregon. My favorite spot featured a woman biking in a desert. The state might lack cell service, but it makes up for it in nature service. Just don't get lost. The spots will air in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Boise and Vancouver, B.C. markets. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the campaign.

  • In response to the rhetoric spewed by Donald Trump on the campaign trail, the CHIRLA Action Fund launched the "Turn Ignorance Around" to highlight the many positive contributions made by Latinos. Formed in 1986, CHIRLA seeks to promote harmonious multiethnic and multiracial human relations. T-shirts take racist stereotypes and make a positive statement from them. For example,  a shirt will read "I'm a Trafficker" on the front and "A Trafficker of Knowledge, I'm a Teacher and I'm a Latina" on the back. Another reads: "I'm a Killer" on the front and "I'm a Killer of Fires, I'm a Fireman and I'm a Latino" on the back. Walton Isaacson, Los Angeles, created the campaign pro bono. Shirts and mugs can be purchased online.

  • Random App of the week:AMC and video game publisher Versus Evil launched "Fear the Walking Dead: Dead Run," a mobile game based on the AMC show, available for free in the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I hope the game is better than the series; I gave up on it shortly after the second season began. "Fear the Walking Dead: Dead Run" lets players select which series character they would like to play as they try to escape Los Angeles and walkers that are overtaking the city. Many scenes are taken straight from the show, like the abandoned church, high school, and the local sports arena.