Out to Launch
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
  • Vacations are important, but you shouldn't get a twitchy eye or break out in hives trying to book something relaxing. Save the stress for your daily life.

    Booking.com launched "Nothing Is More Important," a U.S. campaign consisting of two 30-second spots featuring people with stress-filled jobs in need of stress-free R&R vacations.

    The first person in need of a break is a kindergarten teacher. She's stretched thin and loves the idea of a free cancellation option, should she choose to go from a kid-friendly hotel to something kid-free.

    Isn't it an unspoken rule to try and hit the guy driving the enclosed golf cart and picking up golf balls at the driving range? Well, the driver is overworked and tired of being aimed at constantly. He likes the book now, pay later feature offered by the app, in case something more appealing comes along.

    Deutsch created the ads, directed by Jared Hess.

  • Sports fans might have missed this, but Tiger Woods has joined the TaylorMade family, partnering with the brand to use its line of clubs.

    TaylorMade swiftly launched a 15-second spot that shows a golfer teeing up and ready to hit a ball. Halfway through, viewers watch Woods send the ball off, and the camera takes its time to measure up the TaylorMade club that aided Woods. The spot ends with Woods placing a tiger golf club cover on his new club and a welcome message from TaylorMade: "#1 is never done. Welcome to the family."

    Zambezi created the campaign.

  • Feel like escaping, perhaps taking a vacation to outer space? Cisco created the "Space Hotel" using the Cisco Spark collaboration platform that allows teams to make impossible ideas possible.

    Goodby Silverstein & Partners created the campaign, which includes a 360 video virtual tour and product demo documentary. This galactic hotel is so amazing, I'd book a stay.

    GS&P collaborated with an interior designer, a space explorer, an astronautics professor and a travel expert to answer the question: With space tourism upon us, where will we stay?

    The end product includes a lobby, bedrooms, a dining area -- check out how visitors gather food -- an observation deck, a zero-G swimming pool and the quirkiest shower I have ever seen.

  • The White House's startup company, The United States Digital Service (USDS), launched two videos narrated by Steve Jobs that celebrates technologists who step out of their comfort zone to build items that can make a positive change on countless industries and individuals.

    USDS is a team of technologists tasked with improving public-facing services, like modernizing the immigration system and making Veterans benefits more accessible online.

    The campaign is the first time Steve Jobs has been featured in a spot outside of Apple.

    Havas New York created the campaign.

    The first film was directed by Jake Scott, with a focus on the experience of working for the USDS. The second video is an animated ad focusing on the purpose of the USDS.

  • This year, the Super Bowl is taking place in Houston, Texas. Skittles decided to send its superfan and retired NFL player Marshawn Lynch to Houston, Scotland, to see whether the other side of the pond knew and/or and cared about the Super Bowl.

    Lynch rode a bike throughout the city, gifting people with bags of Skittles. Chatting with the locals, Lynch discovered that residents know and follow the big game, even staying up crazy hours to enjoy the festivities.

    Aside from giving Skittles to strangers, Lynch also played bagpipes, toured castles, met with a kilt maker and came across warrior men fighting in the woods.

  • This ad for the U.S. Department of Transportation does not beat around the bush. "Stop! Trains Can't" is the latest in a two-year effort by the DOT to reduce railroad crossing accidents.

    The $7-million media buy targets 18- to 49-year-old men in California, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Mississippi, New Jersey, Arkansas and Arizona.

    The 30-second spot urges drivers to wait at a railroad crossing, rather than try and beat the oncoming train. A train will eventually stop, about a mile after it's hit your vehicle, and this is when the emergency brake has been applied. Not worth it. The Tombras Group created the campaign.

  • Random iPhone App of the week:Hinge relaunched its app -- removing the swipe feature -- to serve Millennials looking for a real relationship. To promote the app, Hinge created a 2:30 minute animated video, created by The STUDIO. The video likens dating apps to a creepy, Tim Burton-esque carnival called the "Date-O-Pocalypse."

    In the video, a lonely guy, stumbles inside the carnival. Exhausted singles are compared to zombies as they hobble pass rides like "Catch-a-Catfish," "Wheel of Loneliness" and the "Cycle of Loneliness."

    There's also the "One Nighter" roller coaster for one-night stands, and a free "eggplant pics" tent. I don't need to tell you what the eggplant is akin to; just take a look at the man pulling his pants down for the camera. Our guy finally spots an exit sign with the Hinge logo and leaves the carnival ASAP.

    Leaving the dark carnival, the guy is thrust into a bright, sunny world, where couples are frolicking by a pond. Look closely at the happy couples. They are reenacting famous movie scenes from "Ghost," "The Notebook," "Say Anything" and "Sixteen Candles."

    He meets a cute girl and when he tries to swipe right, it doesn't work; she simply takes his hand and off they go.