Out to Launch
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
The New York Times intentionally runs two blank pages. Fast-moving zombies. Let's launch!
  • XFINITYXFINITY launched a trio of TV spots catering to the ultimate sports fan who loves this time of year when college football, the NFL, the MLB playoffs, the NHL and the NBA are all on TV. "Live Sports Dog" shows an adorable dog being put to work by its sports-loving owner. The dog is equipped with a device that holds a tablet, laptop and cell phone, allowing the man to walk through his home and watch multiple games on different mediums. See it here. In “Huddle,” portable devices allow sports fans to watch TV anytime, even when strapped to a gurney en route to the hospital. Watch it here. The last ad, “Mattress,” shows a man with a hole in his mattress for his head to rest while he’s watching football. See it here. Goodby Silverstein & Partners created the campaign.

  • nytimesIf you have a physical copy of today’s New York Times close by, take a look at section A, the main news portion of the paper. Notice anything strange? Like two consecutive blank pages? Intentionally done, the pages are part of a 20th Century Fox ad campaign to promote its upcoming film “The Book Thief.” The first page of the ad is completely free of any text or images, while the second page shows only the URL for the film, wordsarelife.com, printed in a 12-point font on the bottom of the page. Both pages of the ads do feature paper's header, which includes its logo, date and page number. The campaign plays off the film’s “imagine a world without words” story, which follows a young girl in WWII Nazi Germany who begins to steal books from war-torn areas and share them with others. The ad is the first phase of Fox's rich-media campaign to promote the film, which opens Nov. 15.

  • searsThe latest brand to jump on the zombie bandwagon is Sears' DieHard battery -- an ideal fit for those living in a post-apocalyptic world. A man and woman are running for their lives, fleeing a large group of fast, hungry zombies. The pair scales a fence; the man easily makes his way over, while the woman struggles. Along with the zombies, chivalry is also dead because the man leaves his lady to struggle, assuming the zombies will get her. He runs to the nearest car and the battery is dead. At this point, the woman is not far behind him and spots a truck with a DieHard battery. Her vehicle starts with ease, in time to watch karma come back and devour the man, surrounded by zombies. See “The Getaway” here, created by Y&R Midwest.

  • carbon siteThe Climate Reality Project is launching its 3rd annual global broadcast on Tuesday, called "24 Hours of Reality: The Cost of Carbon." The event will stream from Los Angeles for 24 hours, detailing the price people are paying around the world for carbon pollution and why world leaders need to take a stand and make changes. Supporting the event is a website, "The Cost of Carbon," that takes user-generated data and calculates an individual’s daily cost of carbon depending on where they live. People can connect to the site through Facebook, Google+, or enter their information in manually. For example, a woman living in Ontario is at isk for droughts, hurricanes, floods or wildfires. These events can cause heat-related illnesses, loss of wildlife, property damage, water scarcity, higher insurance premiums and Lyme disease, among other issues. Users who choose to add their "cost of carbon" to the website will have their results live-streamed into the 24Hours of Reality broadcast and will be encouraged to send their Cost of Carbon assessment to world leaders of 20 of the most carbon-polluting countries via social media. See a video about the site here.Modern Assembly created the campaign.

  • tim hortonsTim Hortons tastes great and is fun to play with. The brand launched a 60-second stop animation ad that tells a story through coffee grounds. As a way to highlight the care and craftsmanship that goes into a cup of Tim Hortons coffee, a man creates pictures using coffee grounds, illustrating how Tim Hortons coffee is picked, packed, shipped and roasted. The ad was shot over a 17-day period. See it here. In addition to the TV spot, Tim Hortons is inviting customers to create and submit their own works of art using coffee grounds. JWT Canada created the campaign. Now go play with your coffee!

  • sprintJames Earl Jones can recite the phone book and I’d be a happy camper. For Sprint’s "Everything's Important" campaign, he recites the content of mundane phone calls, with help from Malcolm McDowell. Rather than showcase the big happenings on Sprint’s network, the ad pays tribute to a minor conversation between a husband and wife, looking for one another in a store. Better still, Jones and McDowell are dressed in tuxedos as they recite the phone conversation. The spouses describe the sections of the store they are in but the wife keeps moving around, making it impossible for her husband to find her. Can’t wait for Facebook status updates to get recited. Watch it here, created by Leo Burnett and DigitasLBi.

  • papa murphysNever go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, and never let your kids go trick-or-treating without eating dinner first. The result can be horrific. Papa Murphy’s launched a cute Halloween-themed TV spot that begins in color, following adorable kids collecting candy on Halloween. Soon the spot takes a dark turn, running in black and white, as children are shown fighting over candy, having temper tantrums and crying profusely. “Never trick-or-treat on an empty stomach” closes the ad, promoting the brand’s Jack-o-lantern-shaped Halloween pizza. See it here, created by Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener.

  • penny loafersMy penny loafers didn’t look this stylish when I was growing up. G.H. Bass & Co. launched a print brand campaign for its Penny Loafer shoes, paying homage to Weejuns, the original penny loafer that was first introduced in 1936. Even Abraham Lincoln gets a mini makeover in the “Power to the Penny” ads, where models are wearing outfits that combine preppy and outdoor styles. To the left of the models is a penny outfitted in the same attire as the Weejuns showcased. See the ads here, here, here and here, created by YARD.

  • mcdonaldsRandom iPhone App of the week: McDonald’s Germany launched an augmented reality app, "McMission," to educate consumers on the company's commitment to sustainability. Through four interactive mini-games, players can learn about the societal and environmental initiatives that McDonald's is involved with. There's "Eco-Spinning,” "Origin Puzzle," “Recycling Crash Course," and "Waste-dunking" where players learn about proper waste disposal. Each mission concludes with a quiz on the information delivered. Scanning items in McDonald’s like a box of French Fries can launch the games. Metaio developed the augmented reality portion of the app alongside LessingvonKlenze, and Heye. The app is available for free in the App Store.