• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, August 24, 2005

It's love between John McEnroe and Travelex. The Episcopal Church targets the Gen X audience. The Aflac duck returns. Thankfully, Melania Trump does not. Let's launch!

Shifting away from a campaign focusing on the daily sections and news function of its newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel has launched a branding campaign entitled "The story of you." The campaign draws on the connection between the individual stories found in everyday life and how, when combined, they become the story of the entire community. Demonstrating "The story of you" concept, the campaign features some of the Orlando Sentinel's most touching, exciting, and emotional editorial photography with copy such as: "This is the story. Of rocket ships in the night. Birthdays and highways. Storms of the century. Of kids who grew up. And grandfathers who never will. Of ballet slippers and science projects. Motorcycles and minivans. This is the unwritten story behind every story. The story of you." The campaign began on August 20 and continues through the end of the year. The promotion consists of TV, print, outdoor, and radio aspects. PUSH created the campaign.

Thankfully, there's not a Coq Roq in sight in the Canadian TV spots for Burger King's BK Chicken Fries. The campaign consists of one 30-second and two 15-second TV spots, as well as three radio spots. The ads feature "revolutionary" chickens staging revolts in farms across the country. In one spot, a farmer and his wife find themselves trapped by dozens of barn storming birds. In another, tractor-driving chickens are in hot pursuit of a pair of fear-stricken farmers. In the third, a farmer's wife wakes up surrounded by rebel hens. The spots were produced in both English and French by Bleu Blanc Rouge.

Travelex, a foreign exchange company, has launched a U.S.-focused ad campaign featuring an interesting spokesman: tennis hothead and doomed CNBC talk-show host John McEnroe. The launch coincides with this year's U.S. Open Tennis Championship, beginning August 29 and ending September 11. Half-page ads will run in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Financial Times. The campaign will eventually use online, outdoor, and direct-mail promotions with the possibility of TV ads. The creative will show McEnroe as a tennis champion, expert commentator, art collector, and world traveler. The campaign hopes to raise Travelex's profile in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. M & C Saatchi created the campaign.

The Episcopal Church has launched a national campaign to get young people back into church. The campaign is targeting Generation-X viewers that are unaffiliated with any church. The TV spots focus on young adults facing everyday challenges and conclude with an invitation to visit the Episcopal Church. One of the spots features the Rev. Paige Blair of York Harbor, Maine and opens in a churchyard with Blair gardening, so you don't realize that she's a priest. The ad reveals her role as the congregation's rector and closes with the invitation: "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You: Come and Grow," listing a related Web site designed for young adults. The ads are running on ABC Family, Discovery Health, Hallmark, and Lifetime Movie Network, to name a few. PARTNERS+simons created the campaign.

Aflac's latest ad, "Helping Out," features our favorite duck handling many of the household responsibilities of an injured policyholder. The ad debuted on August 22 and is part of the company's ongoing brand campaign. "Helping Out" features an injured man relaxing in a hammock, concentrating on recovering while the Aflac Duck is seen taking on domestic tasks. KTG (Kaplan Thaler Group)New York created the ad.

Panasonic has launched three 30-second TV spots "Plasma," "Digital Camera," and "DVD-R" highlighting various products. In "Digital Camera," the spot shows a number of instances where life is shaky, such as riding a bike over cobblestones. Nobody minds the bumps because Panasonic's digital camera comes with optic image stabilization so memories won't be unsteady. In "DVD-R," people hold onto the things they love and now can hold onto photographs and old home footage with the help of a Panasonic DVD-R. Grey Worldwide New York created the campaign.

Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town created a TV spot for the Volkswagen Polo titled, "Skydiver." The spot shows a peaceful, open sky. The peace is temporary when viewers see a skydiver hovering in mid air who must choose between a parachute and a Volkswagen Polo to bring him back to terra firma. The skydiver chooses the Volkswagen, buckles up, and relaxes on his trip back to land. Radium completed the visual effects.

This week's Web site launches include sports and shopping.

Conference USA and CSTV have teamed up to introduce a new look for the league's official Web site, ConferenceUSA.com. The redesign gives visitors complete coverage of the league and its members, while reflecting the league's brand message, "New Look, Same Commitment to Excellence." Features of the new Web site include: Headlines from all 12-member institutions; an improved scoreboard; and an event calendar highlighting upcoming events.

Mervyns.com has relaunched and now sports a more promotional look, similar to its television ads and newspaper inserts. Visitors can check out the latest styles for school in the mStyle section. They can also read about the newest product launches and flip through newspaper inserts just as they would with the printed piece. I personally enjoyed the post-it notes, which you can add to any page and write notes in them! The site is not eCommerce yet, but visitors can compile a printable wishlist to take with them to the store. Grey San Francisco created the site.

Although good creative never takes a vacation, Out to Launch does. OTL will not be published next week, but will return relaxed, and possibly a bit sunburned, after Labor Day.