Out to Launch
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Show your Valentine love on social media... or candy. Subway zombies. Let's launch!
  • walmartWalmart launched a trio of uplifting ads running during the Olympics, to promote its pledge to donate $250 billion over the next 10 years to create new manufacturing jobs in America. In "Lights On," viewers watch the inner workings of a factory, from the time the first person clocks in and brews a fresh pot of coffee, to finished products leaving the assembly line, packaged and ready to be shipped.  Watch it here. The next ad, "I am a factory," shows a once-thriving factory that is now boarded up and empty. The factory believes it will rise again.  See it here. My favorite of the bunch is "Working Man." It's a rockin' ad, using Rush's song "Working Man" as an anthem for factory workers creating and assembling everyday household products. Watch it hereSaatchi & Saatchi New York created the campaign.

  • intelThe latest online video for Intel, "Look Inside: Erik Weihenmayer," tells the inspiring story of adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, who, despite being blind, has climbed Mt. Everest and all Seven Summits, a feat only 118 people in history have accomplished -- and he's the only blind person to do so.  As we watch Weihenmayer reach the top of a mountain, he describes how many people are crippled and distracted by fears and doubts. He uses his challenges as a way to motivate himself, in a big way. The video is a follow-up to "Look Inside: Jack Andraka," an equally inspiring must-watch story.Christopher Hewitt of Knucklehead directed the video, created by Venables Bell & Partners.

  • evianEvian launched a social media campaign leading up to Valentine's Day called "I Love You Like." The campaign is running on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, promoting the brand's "Live young" theme. Users are encouraged to express their love for someone on social media by avoiding typical cliches and instead finishing the sentence "I love you like" while including the hashtag #Iloveyoulike. Would my response of "I love you like my belly loves bacon" fall under the non-cliched answer? Evian creatively responds to tweets to its US and UK handles -- @evianwater and @evian_uk -- with replies like: "I love you like Batman loves Robin." The brand posted some great Instagram content as well. "I love you like 80s loved a power ballad" is written on a record while "I love you like keys love hiding" is found on a key chain. The best responses will win Evian prizes. Heart-shaped Evian bottles, perhaps? We Are Social created the campaign.

  • tweetheartsNothing says "I love you" more than a customized tweet on a Necco Sweetheart candy. All kidding aside, this is an adorable and different way to let the one you love know you care. Hill Holiday created www.neccotweethearts.com, which allows users to send a tweet to the @tweethearts handle. Once the tweet is sent, the user receives a reply tweet with an image of their custom tweet on Sweethearts candies. The person then has the option to share the image via social media or purchase a 1 lb. bag of custom #Tweethearts candies for $29.99. Fun facts: Sweethearts Conversation Hearts were introduced in 1866 and more than four billion pounds of Sweethearts candies are sold in the six weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day. That's a lot of romantic conversations.

  • thewalkingdeadI tend to avoid walking over subway grates at all costs for fear of falling through. Now I have another reason to steer clear: walkers. To promote the return of "The Walking Dead" from its winter hiatus, AMC partnered with Relevent to scare unsuspecting New Yorkers walking through Union Square Park. In the beloved TV show, many of the surviving camps dig zombie pits to catch and trap walkers. Think of a subway grate as the top of a zombie pit and imagine what happens when someone walks over a subway grate: a hand pops out to grab a leg. Grunting and snarling gets louder. Relevent placed 15 zombies in full makeup and costumes underneath one subway grate and set up a series of hidden cameras to capture the scariness. Watch it here.

  • gatoradeHow many bottles of Gatorade does it take to fuel an NFL team to the Super Bowl? Try 3,840. During Super Bowl week, Gatorade launched "Bit Bottles," where projections of 3,840 bottles were placed on a panel outside the Trump Soho Hotel in New York City. Each bottle was projected with a different Gatorade flavor, to resemble individual pixels and give the panel a 3D feel.  Digital projections  also visualized the journey of both the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks as they played throughout the season, capping it off with playing in the Super Bowl.  Check out a video here, created by TBWA.

  • GameflyAfter watching this amusing ad for Gamefly, I'm starting to wonder: where's my jet pack? NBA star Blake Griffin reprises his role as funny man in the latest campaign for the video game rental service. The ad opens with Griffin flying out of the brand's previous spot as two guys watch the commercial from an old-school television, even though it's present-day. Griffin is now in their living room, wreaking havoc with his out of control jet pack. As Griffin crashes into shelves and looks for a bathroom, he tells the pals about the Gamefly service. Once Griffin's job is done -- he never did find a bathroom -- he returns to the TV, ready to return to where he came from. Watch it here. Gifted Youth produced the ad, directed by Ryan McNeely and Josh Martin. Therapy Studios handled editorial and Visual Creatures the visual effects.

  • nightmare: malariaRandom iPhone App of the week: To raise awareness and funds for fighting malaria, Psyop created a creepy, dark video game, called "Nightmare: Malaria." Inspired by a PSA created through Psyop’s nonprofit initiative, Establishment for the Greater Good, the game drops players into the bloodstream of a young girl infected with malaria. Players must move through 18 levels of fever-dream nightmares, avoiding killer mosquitoes by hiding under nets and collecting teddy bear tokens. Each year, more than 1 million people die from malaria. Contracting malaria can be prevented by sleeping under an insecticide-treated net that cost about $3, according to the Against Malaria Foundation. Download the game in the App Store.

  • littlecaesarsLittle Caesars eschewed Super Bowl advertising and instead posted "Lunch Combo" to its Facebook page during halftime. The ad promotes a $5 pizza and soda lunch combo with a mambo band enthusiastically singing, dancing and shaking maracas. "Bite, bite. Sip, sip. Do the deep deep dish combo mambo," closes the ad, seen here and created by Barton F. Graf 9000. And good luck getting that catchy number out of your head.