Out to Launch
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Prevent #Catmageddon. Captcha tool helps find missing people. Let's launch!
  • This should be an unspoken rule every day, not just for Valentine's Day. RTO+P launched an amusing in-house video to serve as a PSA for those celebrating Valentine's Day. You might think the phrase #KeepItInYourPants means something dirty, but it's referring to phones. The message is: Pay attention to your special someone. Don't whip your phone out at every free moment. The black-and-white video features men and women reliving disastrous dates, where "during the most romantic scene in the movie, I look over and it's in his lap." "I've got one. You don't see me whipping it out," says a disgruntled man. Watch the video here.

  • Lenovo launched an adorable online video for Valentine's Day starring two shy neighbors who clearly have a crush on each other -- yet no one is making a move. Thankfully, the guy has a cat and said cat gets the ball rolling. The adorable millennials talk sporadically, and the young man, a cat owner, draws his crush on a Lenovo tablet. During a sketch session, the man leaves his tablet unattended. His cat walks across it, opening the projector version of the tablet so the picture of the woman is projected on a white sheet hanging out to dry. The pair trade googly smiles while the cat pats himself on the back. See the video here, created by The Woo Agency.

  • As part of its global platform "For Those Who Truly Love," Zurich Insurance Group launched a Valentine's Day campaign that allows users to digitally carve their name, and the name of the person they love, on a tree or lamppost on any street in the world. TrueLoveMaps.com will generate, in real time, a virtual engraving to allow lovebirds to revisit a place that may no longer be local to them. Supporting the site is a sweet video that profiles one of Europe's longest married couples: Matilde and Paco from Spain, who have been married 72 years! The pair, who met as children, revisit Paris, a city that hold many memories for them. Paco surprises his wife by carving their names and the year they were married on a bench overlooking the water. Watch the video here, created by McCann Worldgroup London.

  • Norwegian Airlines launched a Valentine's Day-themed campaign called "Love On First Flight." Last fall, Norwegian launched its first nonstop flight between Stockholm and Las Vegas. Rather than focus on casinos, shows and food, a digital billboard in Stockholm was hooked up to the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas, encouraging commitment-shy Swedes to take the plunge, right inside a mall. How often can you say you were married by Elvis? Couples brave enough to get married were given a free Honeymoon in Vegas. See the video here, created by M&C Saatchi Stockholm.

  • Angel Soft launched its latest sentimental video in time for Valentine's Day, highlighting the love between stepparents and stepchildren. "Related by Love" follows in line with previous Angel Soft videos, "Happy Father's Day, Mom" and "Grander Parents" videos, meaning it will make you cry. Stepparents and stepchildren are interviewed and each discuss the initial complications that arise when families blend. Kids hate the idea of a new "parent" and the stepparents have to walk the fine line of being a friend and disciplinarian. Times were rough for everyone involved, but as the kids grow up, they realize that love doesn't mean being blood related and an expanded family isn't so bad. Watch the video here, created by Deutsch.

  • In its continued effort to convince teens to stop smoking, truth launched a video that shines a light on secondhand smoke and what it can do to a beloved pet. Cats are twice as likely to get cancer if their owner smokes, and if cats die, there will be less adorable cat videos to watch online. "#CATmageddon" will launch during the Grammy Awards, urging teens to prevent this catastrophic event from happening. Apparently there are more than 1.1 million cat channels on YouTube, way more than I ever imagined. Created by 72andSunny, the video stars some of the Internet's most famous felines, including Aaron's Animals, Keyboard Cat and Lil Bub. There are so many adorable clips in this one ad that it's hard to pick a favorite. I love the sharkcat sitting on a Roomba and the cat trying to leap to a window sill only to fall to the floor. As the ad states: "Smoking=no cats=no cat videos." Watch it here.

  • A great example of technology doing good: Leo Burnett Tailor Made created a new captcha tool for NGO "Mothers of Se" in Brazil that can be used to help find missing persons. An estimated 40,000 people go missing in Brazil each year. When visiting a website that uses a captcha tool, people typically need to enter a random word or numbers to prove they are not a bot. Sites that use the Missing Captcha have visitors type the name of the missing person into a box and show a picture of the missing. See how the Missing Captcha works here.

  • Where do I sign up? Harvard Pilgrim arrived in CT in 2014 and brought an interesting contraption to the Connecticut Health and Wellness Expo: a bicycle-powered apple cider press. Demonstrating that great things happen when people work together, Hill Holliday partnered with Brooklyn-based SFDS to create this large, interactive installation. More than 175 participants powered the #pedalpress, producing more than 1,200 cups of apple cider. See the #pedalpress in action here.

  • Random iPhone App of the week:MemoryBox is an app that enables brands and consumers to organize, view and share digital pictures. The free app uses a cloud-based system to help users manage images and create "Shows" to share via social networks or email. Users begin by defining the Memory Type they wish to create: People, Places, Things, Animals, Ideas or Events. It's ideal for sharing highlights from special events like weddings, vacations and graduations. Shows can be shared both publicly and privately. Users must change their settings to unlisted, so only members who know the URL can access these memories, and they can't be found through the MemoryBox search engine or Google. Download the app here.