Out to Launch
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Gatorade shows a glimpse of the future. NY Lottery thinks you'd make a great rich person. Let's launch!
  • To further emphasize its "We Don't Make Sausage. We Make Family. And Sausage" motto, Johnsonville teamed up with Uber and Nonnas, aka Italian grandmas, to deliver homemade sausage meals to families in Chicago. The adorable Nonnas, branded "Sausage Nonnas," traveled in miniature homes hauled by Uber. These houses had a living room, kitchen, working phone and framed family pictures on the wall. And clean-up's a breeze! When pasta spills on the floor, Nonna simply grabs a broom, opens the door and sweeps it out. Nonna Gina might be my favorite grandma because she makes homemade meatballs and always has wine at the ready. See it here. Nonna Lidia believes Johnsonville sausage is almost as good as sausage in Italy. Almost. And she likes a clean house, even when it's only a replica of her own. Watch it here. Nonna Antonia makes a delicious meal, goes with the flow and is too adorable for words. See her here. The Nonnas cooked more than 100 meals of sausage rigatoni, sausage lasagna and Italian sausage and meatballs. Droga5 created the campaign.

  • Take a virtual spin on this websiteCP+B created for Domino's, showcasing the brand's 2016 DXP. This delivery car is one of 97 slated to be built. For starters, the DXP has a built-in warming oven that keeps pizza at the perfect temperature en route to delivery. It seats only one person, with the rest of the room going toward keeping drinks and condiments secure and in an upright position. A large branded light sits on the roof of the car -- when the light is on, there's pizza in the oven. One crazy feature is delivery path illuminator that lights up puddles and curbs at night, so if your driver is on the clumsy side, he has a fighting chance of not dropping your dinner. Users can enter their Zip code to find a DXP close to them -- but good luck trying, since they're mostly in Texas, California and Washington.

  • For the last three years, FirstBank has used humor to raise awareness for its services including tech-savvy Amish, reluctant astronauts, driverless cars and Google Glass (neither of the last two working as they ought to). Now, the Lakewood, Col.-based bank is making fun of Millennial slackers. Developed by TDA_Boulder, the campaign features a TV spot showing a bank manager telling her coworker that she switched the company's account to FirstBank to compensate for hiring her useless, man-bunned, selfie-obsessed nephew. "Now," she gushes to the glowering employee -- whose desk is opposite the Millennial slacker's -- "business is better than ever." VO: "No matter the reason, switching to FirstBank can help your business grow." The campaign targets business owners with a media buy running in Arizona and Colorado on sports channels and morning and late-night talk shows, as well as AMC's "The Walking Dead."

  • To celebrate its first 50 years, Gatorade looks to the future in a 75-second ad that teases future products coming down the Gatorade pipeline. "Moving the Game Forward" stars many of the world's top athletes, like Lionel Messi, Usain Bolt, Abby Wambach, Eli Manning and Elena Delle Donne, describing their work ethic. Once these athletes attain top-level success, they don't just stop striving, they continue forward to achieve the next big thing. Just like Gatorade. One new product looks like a sticker attached to a football player's arm, analyzing the player and sending data to a coach's iPad. Another new item is a funky custom sports bottle that allows users to add fuel to water and lights up when ready to drink. Watch it here, created by TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles.

  • The New York Lottery launched an amusing TV and online campaign called "You'd Make A Way Better Rich Person." The campaign highlights the fact that the New York Lotto has made millionaires out of more New Yorkers than any other in-state game, while poking fun at eccentric wealthy people and the obscene ways they spend their money. In one ad, a New York man spends million on his collection of dead, framed bats. Another millionaire spends $28,000 a week on wine to bathe in. And if a piece of cork falls in the tub, watch out. Then there's an eccentric woman who paid a crazy amount of money so she could be a pet whisperer. The last ad profiles a man who uses gold staples to combine historic documents. There's also RichPeopleGuide.com, a site for the 99% to identify every type of rich person. Look for the "Skate Dad," "The Grown-Up Child Star," "The Reclusive Artiste" and "The Aristodack," to name a few. McCann NY created the campaign.

  • Talk about pimping your ride. Total Wireless launched an amusing online and TV campaign encouraging mobile phone users not to spend an arm and a leg on things they don't need or use. And what better way to illustrate that tidbit than an oversized, expensive, unnecessary baby stroller to entertain your tot? In "Stroller," a man is just soooo  proud of saving money on his wireless bill after purchasing a Total Wireless phone. The only problem is that he's pushing his son in a SUV version of a stroller, with a bubble machine and sandbox -- not to mention strong tires. "Why waste money on something you don't need?" he asks. See it here. In addition, the brand created an ad just for The Latot stroller -- which is total spelled backwards -- that looks legit, until visitors actually head to the brand's website. "If you think this is ridiculous, take a look at your wireless plan," says the site, after you click on the "find a dealer" link. The Martin Agency created the campaign.

  • The Los Angeles Coalition for Water Conservation launched a pair of ads that shed some humor on a serious situation: the drought situation in LA. The organization was founded by McGann | Zhang, the agency behind the debut ads. In "The Actress," a diva hires a landscaping crew to water her rock garden and stone wall. And she wants the work done for free in exchange for a few autographed headshots. See it here. An aging rock star who surrounds himself with scantily clad younger women insists that his pool be emptied and refilled on a weekly basis. Watch it here. "There's nothing glamorous about wasting water," closes both ads.

  • Kia launched a sweet father and son ad promoting its 2015 Optima. A son takes a big chance and a father gets a second chance to do something he always wanted to: drive across the county. In "Quit Job," a son left his job and sold all his possessions so he could buy a car and drive cross-country. His dad sounds like he's going to scold him, but instead laments that he didn't do something similar. The ad ends with the son driving and dad slurping a soda in the passenger seat. See it here, created by David&Goliath.

  • Random iPhone App of the week:Cole Haan has updated its app so users can make purchases on Pinterest with live buyable pins and a shoppable Instagram feed via the app. Customers can shop any product featured in the @ColeHaan Instagram feed from the Cole Haan app. For those who do not have this app, the brand is creating social integrations, beginning with Pinterest, that bring product purchase ability to apps already on a user's phone. The app is available for free in the App Store. Download it here.