Out to Launch
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Hanes and Diet Pepsi return to TV advertising. Skittles takes quirky ads to a global audience. Let's launch!
  • pepsi_sofiaDiet Pepsi returns to TV advertising with a spot starring two beautiful people: Sofia Vergara and David Beckham. Vergara is lounging at the beach, jonesing for a Diet Pepsi, but the line is too long. She tweets that she saw David Beckham at the pier -- and just like the swimmers ran from the water in "Jaws," the women in line for soda run to flock to the faux Beckham sighting. The joke's on Vergara, though. While she sips her drink, a soccer ball lands at her beach chair, retrieved by Beckham, who's curious about the fuss at the pier. I love Vergara's shocked look with a straw in her mouth. See the ad here, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles.

    Jet BlueI am having a childhood flashback, thanks to a trio of TV ads for JetBlue. Fast talker John Moschitta, Jr. stars in the ads, but I remember him best from the Micro Machine ads from the 1980s. See one here. Running in Boston, the ads promote JetBlue's 100 departures per day, with more direct flights of any airline from Boston. In "People Mover," Moschitta recites the number of nonstop destinations offered by JetBlue. With only 15 seconds available, even Moschitta can't name every city. Watch it here. Moschitta likes JetBlue because they are fast, like him. So he has no problem taking over the "Gate Counter" and telling passengers their plane is ready to board, prompting suitcase handles to snap up. Too bad he was just kidding. See it here. I've never seen someone stuck sitting in the "Middle Seat" act so happy, let alone want to high-five his neighbors. Watch it here. Mullen created the campaign.

    Hanes FireHanes launched its first TV ads for women in more than three years, promoting its ComfortFlex Fit Bras and No Ride Up Panties. Ads are running during morning, daytime and prime-time shows, and take place on a fictitious morning show. Two morning show hostesses present an atypical way of keeping photos at your fingertips -- think Lee Press-on Nails with photos of grandma on your pinky -- when a host loses a nail and her underwear rides up. You have to wait for a commercial break to fix that problem. Watch it here. I love the food segment where a blindfolded hostess tries to guess snack foods while her bra strap slips off her shoulder and she's swinging a marshmallow that caught on fire. Crisis averted, and the host eats a yummy burnt treat. See it here. The Martin Agency created the ads.

    Skittles Broken RainbowSkittles is expanding its quirky "Rainbow" campaign into several global markets, including Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Everyone is in for a treat. Three TV ads continue with the craziness, because it's worked for the brand so far. A group of friends rejoice over a handheld rainbow that dispenses Skittles in "Borrow." An outcast is invited to join the celebration, but he slips on the Skittles and breaks the rainbow. He duct-tapes the rainbow back together, causing it to periodically dispense Skittles and liquid rainbow goo. See it here. A man finds a small door in his new home that spews Skittles when opened. Thrilled at the find, he approaches another tiny door, expecting the same results. That door hides a small, friendly man reading a book. Watch "Door" here. Adult-sized pigeons wearing trench coats peck at Skittles falling from a man seated on a park bench. A dog runs through the park, briefly breaking up the pecking. Don't think to hard about this ad. Run with it. See it here. TBWA/Chiat/Day New York created the campaign. 

    LottoThey do say that a bird pooping on you is good luck... The Washington Lottery launched "Find Your Way To Play," consisting of two TV spots demonstrating unique ways to pick lotto numbers. Some people choose the birthdays of loved ones, while others park their car in a popular pigeon area, tarp their car with a numbered sheet and select numbers that are pooped on. That's "Tarp" in a nutshell. See it here. An energetic man, clad in a Velcro suit, screams his best warrior scream, jumps on a trampoline and onto a Velcro wall full of lottery numbers. That's certainly a fun way to choose numbers. Watch it here. Cole & Weber United created the campaign.

    Yahoo ChinaA young boy emails his mother, who's on a business trip to China, and metaphorically digs a hole there in an ad for Yahoo! Mail. The young boy's words come to life in the animated ad; once the boy sends his message, animated versions of him and his dog start digging in the backyard en route to China. The pair bypass dinosaur bones and buried treasure, use earthworms as rope and emerge from a manhole cover in China. In reality, mom received the email on her tablet device with ease. See the ad here. "Big Dig" was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, produced by Blacklist and animated by Wizz.

    NissanNissan asks consumers to define the value of zero in a TV ad for its 100% electric LEAF vehicle. Voiceover Robert Downey, Jr. has viewers "imagine zero dependency on foreign oil. Zero pollutants in our environment. Zero depletion of the ozone. Suddenly, zero starts adding up." Add to copy beautiful pictures of round and oval objects ranging from kiwis, tires, trees, avocados, frog eyes, icebergs and a woman's pregnant belly and zero does add up, as previously stated. Watch the ad here, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles.  

    VW Earth"By checking our tire pressure regularly, we could save 24 million liters of gasoline a day," says an ad for Volkswagen Canada. Who knew? "Globe" launched just in time for Earth Day, April 22. A deflated Mother Earth slowly inflates back to its normal shape when viewers are educated about how the simple act of checking tire pressure can save the planet from additional pollutants. The ad is part of Volkswagen's "Think Blue" program, where environmental protection and automotive progress go hand-in-hand. Watch the ad here, created by Red Urban Canada.

    RightnetRandom iPhone App of the week: Conservative-leaning RIGHTNETWORK launched an iPhone and iPad app providing unseen footage from episodes of Amped, The American Dream animation, the Original series Whaddya Know Joe and Five 4 Friday, among others. New episodes are added weekly. The app, created by ZooVision is available for free from the App Store.