Out to Launch
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Mac and PC invade online territory. Totino's crashes the Winter X-Games. Kodak speaks to its consumers. Let's launch!
  • Mac and PC invade online territory. Totino's crashes the Winter X-Games. Kodak speaks to its consumers. Let's launch!

    One must have strong legs to keep the earth turning. Monster.com's latest TV spot shows a man with ginormous legs walking through his small country town, rocking a pair of short shorts. He walks to the middle of a field, where what looks like a phone booth resides. This booth, however, takes its passenger to the middle of the earth, for his job as "earth spinner." The shift change is noticeable to those above ground as the earth comes to a temporarily, sudden halt. "There's a perfect job for everyone," concludes the ad, seen here. In "Daybreak," a group of modern-day warriors attempt to fight the enemy that is Monday morning. The group fights the sun and loses. Watch the ad here. "Slots" features a group of workers walking the same path rather than breaking out and going in an entirely different direction, as one man does. Click here to watch. BBDO New York created the campaign and Macglobal handled the media buy.

    Nike launched the first in a series of four TV ads promoting the Jordan Brand. "It's not about the shoes" is a culmination of found footage of 10 Jordan athletes before they made it big. Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter and Ray Allen are featured in the ad, supporting the launch of the Air Jordan XXIII Shoe. "It's not about the shoes. It's about what you do in them... It's about being who you were born to be," says the very familiar voiceover. "Become legendary" concludes the ad, which motivates me -- as most Nike ads do. Watch the ad here. Wieden+Kennedy New York created the campaign and handled the media buy.

    The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign launched two TV spots under its "Above the Influence" initiative. A teenager builds himself a "Cocoon" made out of marijuana in the first ad. As time goes by, the boy emerges from the cocoon as a grown man, his youth wasted. The spot ends with the copy, "What you choose today affects who you are tomorrow." Watch the ad here. "Marijuana costs you more than you think," says the voiceover in "Fire," as two teens are seen burning important things in their lives, from their car and guitar to their high school diploma. Click here to watch. GSD&M's Idea City created the campaign and DraftFCB handled the media buy.

    Honda Civic launched a green TV spot last year that used the familiar theme music to "The Odd Couple." "Trashed" follows two distinctly different men throughout their everyday lives. One man drives a beat-up car and litters relentlessly while the other drives a Civic and picks up after him. The spot ends with the Civic driver presenting the litterbug with a gift: a tree made from the man's discarded trash. Someone has a lot of free time on his hands. Watch it here. RPA created the campaign and handled the media buy.

    Apple launched an online contextual ad starring Mac and PC on The New York Times site, CNet, Gizmodo, ZDNET, The Onion, Slate, CNN Technology, WSJ.com and Yahoo News. PC believes that a WSJ quote stating that Leopard is better and faster than Vista is an embarrassing typo. PC can be seen climbing up a ladder to staple a paper with the word "Not" at the end of the "incorrect" quote. "Come on, Mac. We've got the whole Internet to correct," says a chipper PC at the end of the ad. Click here to watch "Quote." TBWA/Media Arts Lab created the campaign and handled the media buy.

    Totino's Pizza Rolls launched an engaging Web site targeting teens called "Crash the Winter X Games." The site serves as an online documentary that counts down to the ESPN Winter X-Games 12 (which starts tomorrow), using two winter sports enthusiasts' brothers as the spokesmen for Totino's Pizza Rolls. Den and Ken Buongiorno from Vernon, N.J. take to Aspen by storm armed with Totino's Pizza Rolls and a video camera. What more do teenage boys need? The site features 18 Webisodes from the boys leading up to the games. Additional behind-the-scenes footage will be posted once the games begin. Visitors to the site can share videos, download MP3s from different punk rock bands, vote for their favorite kind of Totino's rolls and create their own mashed-up snowboarding videos. Publicis Modem & Dialog EAST created the site.

    Wow. That's one thin notebook. Apple launched "Envelope," a 30-second ad promoting MacBook Air. The spot launched Sunday and it's pretty simple: a manila envelope is slowly opened to remove a MacBook Air. The notebook is placed atop the envelope and shown from up to down and side-to-side. I must see one of these up close and personal. Click here to watch the ad. TBWA/Media Arts Lab created the campaign and handled the media buy.

    Kodak built a mythical creature, a winged horse, for a spot promoting the economical benefits of its Easyshare printers. In this day and age, saving money is a good thing. The spot launched last week during "The Apprentice" and time-lapses the giant wooden art project as it is covered with an array of digitally printed pictures. Watch the ad here. The ad drives traffic to http://www.printfreedom.kodak.com/, where users can find more information on the art project and pricing for printers. Ogilvy New York created the ad.