Angry college football widows give Fox Sports 1 the finger for adding more college football games this season.

That’s the creative concept behind the new “Sorry for All the Football” campaign launching today from Pereira & O’Dell, New York.

Robert Gottlieb, evp of marketing for Fox Sports, gave Adweek an exclusive preview of Fox's biggest-ever college football promotional campaign, which includes TV spots, print and online ads and social media.

The tongue-in-cheek campaign gives voice to long-suffering wives, girlfriends and pets left bereft when their loved ones become consumed with college football, for which FS1 will "apologize" to noncollege football fans for putting a strain on those relationships.

(While the ads all feature frustrated women, Gottlieb is quick to note that the football widow phenomenon also extends to husbands, boyfriends, sons and daughters.)

One long-form mockumentary Web video opens with a resentful college football widow giving FS1 the bird for adding more Pac-12 and Big 12 games to its Saturday lineup.

The long-form videos for the Web will be cut down to 30-second TV spots that will air across Fox channels as well as paid media. The social media strategy calls for Facebook/Twitter posts and Vine/Instagram videos.

The highlight of the print effort will be this full-page "letter of apology" from FS1 to the American people planned for The New York Times and New York Post:

With more than 100 college football games on its 2014 schedule, the campaign humorously acknowledges FS1 will create some “unhappy” households.

“People are going to be neglected by their football fan who will be couch-bound for an entire day—watching us,” Gottlieb said.

Social media ads will take a similar approach. One cartoon depicts a guy in his easy chair holding his clicker. “I know I’ve been a jerk and I promise that … Oh, the game is back on. Sorry.” The bottom reads: “Fox Sports 1. Happy Saturday.”

Another shows a guy with eyes only for his TV. His bored girlfriend looks away. “Just be thankful it’s not a 16-game season. #Sorryforallthefootball,” reads the ad, which will be customized according to game matchups.

FS1, Fox’s year-old startup competitor to ESPN, hasn’t officially named Pereira & O’Dell its AOR. But Gottlieb sounds happy with the agency's work: “They killed it on this one. It’s such a well-rounded campaign.”

College football ranks as the third most popular sport in America, according to the Harris Poll. The game ranks behind pro football and baseball but ahead of auto racing, pro basketball and hockey. FS1 kicks off its college football season with Rutgers at Washington State on Aug. 28 and finishes with the Pac-12 and Big Ten conference championship games on Dec. 5-6.

CREDITS

Client: Fox Sports 1
Executive Vice President, Head of Marketing: Robert Gottlieb
Senior Vice President: Bill Battin
Creative Director, On-Air Marketing: Joshua Nichols
Producer: Christy Cofer

Agency: Pereira & O’Dell, New York
Executive Creative Director: Dave Arnold
Managing Director: Cory Berger
Creative Director: Todd Feitlein
Associate Creative Directors: Jake Dubs, Alexei Beltrone
Head of Production: Tennille Teague
Associate Strategy Director: Mike Lewis

Who needs Shark Week? An octopus steals the show in Charter Communications' latest campaign touting its Spectrum fiber-optic network.

In the most memorable of three new spots from Saatchi & Saatchi N.Y., a young couple, inspired by a Travel Channel cooking segment, venture to Chinatown and bring home a cephalopod. As you might imagine, things don't exactly go according to plan when they try the dish at home. 

"It's funny how seeing a clearer picture can lead you to see the bigger one," the voiceover says, closing with the campaign's overall "Where will it take you?" themeline.

The visuals are memorable, though a bit unclear in how this is all selling high-speed Internet, since basic Web browsing seems to do the trick. Still, the Octopus spot highlights the urgency that can come about when you need to learn something new without a second to spare. 

Charter poses the same question of "Where will it take you?" in two additional ads that show, respectively, a father and son building an elaborate working volcano for a science fair (what could possibly go wrong?), and a distraught dad who can't get his newborn to stop crying (because we've never seen that scenario before).

Ben Saunders' slick, naturalistic direction gives the humor an unforced, understated feel, and the spots, all charming in their way, help Charter convincingly convey the real-world impact its service can deliver.

The octopus, however, is the campaign's break-out star, and the sight of the beast clinging to the husband's fingers with its tentacles (as he prepares to drop the creature into a pot of boiling water) is genuinely affecting. Guess I'm just a sucker for the sentimental stuff.

CREDITS

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Management Director:  L Parker Barnum
Account Supervisor:  Kathryn Neugold
Assistant Account Executive:  Ted Walker
Executive Creative Directors: Justin Ebert and Anthony DeCarolis       
Associate Creative Director:  Mark Potoka
Copywriter: Ross Wolinsky
Chief Production Officer:  Tanya LeSieur
Director of Content Production:  John Doris
Executive Producer:  Diane Burton
Music Producer:  Christine Hunt

Production Company: Exit Films
Director:  Ben Saunders
Executive Producer:  Katrina Latour
Director of Photography: Ryley Brown

Tribu International /Uruguay
Line Producer: Warren Keuning
Head of Production:  Eduardo Ruggieri

Editing Company: No6
Editor:   Jason Macdonald
Executive Producer:  Deborah Sullivan                     
Producer:  Malia Rose

Music Production: Human
Producer:  James Wells
Original Music: Human

Add the mind-numbing slowness of '90s dial-up Internet, the panic surrounding the Y2K bug and the  hair styles of the '80s to the list of reasons why bite-size Twix candy bars weren't introduced years ago.

Four amusing new spots from Mars Chocolate and BBDO New York continue the tongue-in-cheek Twix campaign explaining how all kinds of crap in decades past delayed the miniaturization of the chocolate-coated caramel and cookie treat.

The latest ads focus on the follies and foibles of Web 1.0, with "Dial Up" recalling the plodding pace of old-style Internet connections, while "Y2K" revisits the turn of the century, when some feared that computers would malfunction en masse. The latter clip features a great comic turn by an office geek who's so obsessive, balding and paranoid, he's clearly management material.

Another new spot features the unfortunate side effect created by combining tall '80s hi-top fade haircuts with pump sneakers, while the fourth mourns the loss of an office drone's beloved Tamagotchi. Apparently, Twix employees in earlier eras had incredibly short-term memory.

You can also call 1-844-WHY-SO-LONG for year-by-year information about the Twix Bites delay. (According to the message we got, in 1980, the company spent its entire R&D budget removing the shag carpeting from its offices.) 

Two earlier TV spots in the campaign had an '80s vibe and dealt with, respectively, an overabundance of noxious hairspray and the addictive qualities of Walkman-style cassette players. The "Walkman" spot boasts the killer line "They put Billy Ocean in a box!" That ad will run during the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 24.

Much like the mini-snacks they advertise, this campaign's morsels of humor don't completely satisfy, but they're sweet enough to leave you craving more.

CREDITS

Agency: BBDO New York
Client: Mars, TWIX Bites
Title: “Dial-Up” & “Y2K”
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
ACD/Copywriter: Matt Herr
ACD/Art Director: Justin Bilicki
Director of Integrated Production: Dave Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Executive Producer: Alex Gianni
Producer: Patrick Smith
Senior Account Director: Lisa Piliguian
Account Director: Phil Brolly
Account Manager: Ashley Gill
Account Executive: Aparna Joshi
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Jun Diaz
Executive Producer: Lisa Rich
Producer: Alex Waite
Project Manager: Justyna Wojcik
Director of Photography: John Barr
Art Director: Rene Vas
Recording Studio: Heard City
Sound Engineer: Evan Mangiamele
Editorial Company: P.S. 260
Editor: Robert Ryang
Producer: Zarina Mak
Visual Effects House: Eight VFX

Gatorade must think its customer base is too big, as the brand's new ad campaign from TBWA\Chiat\Day shows people in convenience stores being denied the sports beverage unless they're actively sweating.

Eight hidden-camera style videos are anchored by Rob Belushi (son of Jim), who plays the deadpan store clerk doing the denying—explaining to the customers that they have to "sweat it to get it" (the campaign's tagline) and "burn some to earn some."

Peyton Manning and Cam Newton then make cameos—the former as the ostensible manager of the store, the latter as a fellow customer.

The agency says the campaign was shot on location at an actual convenience store with over 15 hidden cameras and directed by Jody Hill of Eastbound & Down fame. (Hill also directed the new Dodge Dart campaign out of Wieden + Kennedy.)

"Gatorade was invented to replace what athletes sweat out. So the intent was to create something that might cause someone who reaches for a Gatorade to think, 'Hold up…have I earned this?' " says Brent Anderson, ecd at TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles.

"Sweat it to get it" signage will appear in more than half of all Gatorade convenience store retail locations through the NFL preseason and regular season. Presumably no one who's dry to the touch will actually be turned away.

CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Chief Marketing Officer: Morgan Flatley
Senior Director, Consumer Engagement: Molly Carter
Marketing Director: Jamie Davies
Manager, Branded Entertainment: Nancy Laroche
Senior Director, Sports Marketing: Jeff Kearney
Director, Sports Marketing: Tom Prochaska

Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Stephen Butler
Executive Creative Director: Brent Anderson
Global Creative Director: Jayanta Jenkins
Senior Art Director: Dave Estrada
Senior Copywriter: Nick Ciffone
Copywriter: Nick Cohen
Art Director: Jon Soto
Director Of Production: Brian O'Rourke
Senior Producer: Tim Newfang
Managing Director: Peter Ravailhe
Branded Entertainment Manager: Marc Johns
Sports Marketing Manager: Erika Buder
Project Manager: Parker Adame
Associate Brand Manager: Ralph Lee
Group Planning Director: Scott MacMaster
Planning Director: Martin Ramos
Planner: Rebecca Harris
Junior Planner: Katie Acosta
Junior Planner: Matt Bataclan
Director Of Business Affairs: Linda Daubson
Executive Business Affairs Manager: Lisa Lipman
Talent Payment Manager: Mirielle Smith
Director, Traffic Operations: Dessiah Maxwell
Broadcast Traffic: Jerry Neill

Production Company: Caviar Content
Director: Jody Hill
Executive Producer: Luke Ricci
Producer: Brian Quinlan
Production Designer: Mark Snelgrove
Director Of Photography: Michael Svitak
Managing Partner: Michael Sagol

Editorial Company: HutchCo Technologies
Editor: Jim Hutchins
Assistant Editor: Joaquin Machado
EP: Jane Hutchins

Postproduction: The Mill, Los Angeles
Sr. Executive Producer Sue Troyan
EP: Enca Kaul
Producer: Kiana Bicoy
Production Coordinator: Jillian Lynes
2D Lead Artist: Robin McGloin
2D Lead Artist: Scott Wilson
2D Lead Artist: Patrick Munoz
2D Lead Artist: Scott Johnson
Colorist: Nick Sanders

Aaron Paul was just going on about how he misses playing Jesse Pinkman. Well, he gets a bit of a Breaking Bad fix here by reuniting with Bryan Cranston for this amusing comedic short from Audi for next Monday's Emmy Awards.

Cranston and Paul once again play colleagues in a sketchy trade, though this time, instead of cooking blue meth, they're running a pawn shop together. The video also stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus—that makes three Emmy winners—who tries to pawn her 1996 Emmy (for playing Elaine on Seinfeld) to help pay for a private island she's bought in a fit of Celine Dion envy.

The video was produced by PMK-BNC and written and directed by Paulilu (the comedy team behind Dollar Shave Club's viral launch video as well as last year's great Spock vs. Spock ad for Audi with Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy).

"We knew we had a great concept, a winning team and a client, Audi, who understood the value of this type of content," says Joseph Assad, executive producer at PMK-BNC. "We flew in face of convention by putting out a video at six minutes, but with the high-caliber acting and the quality of the idea, we knew we could push some boundaries."

The whole thing is pretty hilarious—particularly the sly nod to Walter White and Mr. Pinkman at the end.

UPDATE: Were the creators perhaps inspired by an actual episode of Pawn Stars Las Vegas in which a guy tries to sell a Grammy Award?



CREDITS
Client: Audi
Executive Producer: Joseph Assad, PMK·BNC
Featuring: 2015 Audi S3
Written and Directed by: Paulilu (Paul W. Downs & Lucia Aniello)
Producer: Jake Cassidy
DP: Chris Westlund
Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Hashtag: #BarelyLegalPawn
Audi Twitter Handle: @Audi

When was the last time you saw an ad for a TV provider and thought to yourself, "Wow, this is enjoyable," rather than, "Oh my God, I hate you, stop trying to take all my money, and by the way I'm shocked that your service is actually working long enough for me to see this ad"?

Never? Well, then you've never seen this spot from McCann and MRM for Verizon FiOS starring the delightful Craig Robinson.

Robinson, who also stars in the new Dodge Dart ads, is one of those actors who's virtually impossible not to like, assuming you're not a sociopath. (Regardless of how over The Office you were by Season 9, Darryl Philbin was never not endearing.) He's also an excellent song stylist, as evidenced by his roles in films like This Is the End (even Rihanna was taken by his original ballad, "Take Yo Panties Off") and the classic Hot Tub Time Machine (in which he manages to make the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started" considerably less terrible).

So, what better way for Verizon to promote its FiOS Quantum TV service than to have Robinson sing about it in a mock infomercial for a CD compilation?



In songs like "Record Your Heart Out" and "I Save Every Show About Hoarders," Robinson drops not-so-subtle hints about his DVR capacity (200 hours) and the number of Hoarders episodes he has saved (167 and counting). Even without audio previews, the titles of other tunes like "Girl, I'm 'Bout to Binge With You" and "Damn, Fishing Gets All Dangerous" speak for themselves. In Robinson's smooth voice, that is. Which you will never, ever, ever want to stop listening to.

Verizon, incidentally, doesn't even really even need much of a reputation boost compared with its industry competitors. Seriously, just ask any Verizon customer (yours truly included) how they feel about the company, and you're likely to find a level of enthusiasm generally reserved for puppies or Jennifer Lawrence—although much of that goodwill probably comes by virtue of Verizon simply not being Comcast or Time Warner.

Still, if you're going to run a legitimately funny ad campaign, it's undeniably a plus to know your customers aren't throwing blunt objects at the screen instead of laughing along.

CREDITS
Client: Verizon FiOS

Agency: McCann, MRM
Global Creative Chairman: Rob Reilly
Chief Creative Officers: Sean Bryan, Tom Murphy
Group Creative Director, Copy: Jesse Potack
Group Creative Director, Art: Benjamin Vendramin
Creative Director: Doug D’Arrigo
Associate Creative Director, Copy: Justin Feinstein
Associate Creative Director, Art: Dai Tran
Senior Art Director: Bill Chamberlin
Copy: Nick Morgan
Senior Integrated Producer: Meredith Rizzardi
Executive Producer: Alice Mintzer
Producer: Shelley Giera

Production:
Director: Randy Krallman
Production Company: Smuggler
Editor: Miky Wolf
Editing Company: Big Sky
Mix Studio: Sonic Union
Sound Mixer: Paul Weiss

Music by JSM Music
Post/GFX: Charlex

Group Account Director: Michael Goldstein
Account Directors: Nicole Witover, Jennifer Prieto
Management Supervisor: Brynn Todesco

Ikea is really going down the rabbit hole to promote its new catalog, and it wants to take you along for the ride.

The brand has launched a campaign from Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors (maker of Volvo Trucks' "Epic Split") in which it claims to hypnotize visitors to one of its stores, and then use actors to trick them into believing they are living in their own future bedrooms and bathrooms with their future family.

In the first episode, one couple's future turns out to be particularly bleak. Their daughter turns out to be a spoiled brat who develops a troubling romance in her teen years with her yoga teacher. At least the furniture and fixtures are nice and affordable, though.

Justin Tranz, a longtime Las Vegas stage entertainer who also starred in a Playboy TV show The Extreme Truth, does the hypnotizing, puppeteering the man and woman into various encounters with their feral offspring, and discussing his process in a sit-down interview with an Ikea salesman named Fred.



The ads have a certain charm to them, in part because the hypnosis is quite unconvincing, in part because of the evergreen schadenfreude of watching anyone trying to parent an adolescent, and in part because of the hapless father character's enthusiastic lines (even if the dunce dad is a stereotype other ads have bucked in recent years).

In other words, it's an offbeat path even for Ikea, which doesn't tend to shy away from getting personal or weird. (Check out Wes Anderson's ads for the brand.) It could seem odd that Ikea consumers are portrayed as easily manipulated chumps, but it's ultimately all in good fun—basically a sitcom with an reality-style interview component. Maybe not unlike Modern Family, with a hint of Arrested Development and a mystical twist.

The campaign—whose focus is bedrooms and bathrooms, to which Ikea is paying extra attention this year—supports the global launch of the new Ikea catalog. This year's theme: "Where the everyday begins and ends."

But really, what we want to know is whether Ikea furniture is any easier to put together in the future. Though unfortunately, the fact we're even asking must mean the brand has brainwashed us, too.

CREDITS
Client: Ikea
Agency: Forsman & Bodenfors

The State Farm-meister wants to pump … you up!

The insurer has found some amusing brand endorsers deep in the Saturday Night Live vaults, as '90s characters Hans & Franz (Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey) and Richmeister (Rob Schneider) will star in the new Discount Double Check campaign.

Launching Sunday on the MTV Video Music Awards, the campaign by DDB Chicago will include four new TV spots as well as what the company is calling a "huge digital and social branded content push."

Aaron Rodgers, who has worked with State Farm for three years, will appear in two of the four spots. But the campaign is aimed at a broader general market, while still appealing to the football/sports audience.

The campaign is the result of a new relationship between State Farm and Lorne Michaels' media and entertainment company, Broadway Video Entertainment (BVE), and its Saturday Night Live properties. SNL is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

Check out the first spot from the campaign, and credits, below. The Hans & Franz spots will roll out later.



CREDITS
Client: State Farm
Agency: DDB Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: John Maxham
Group Creative Directors: Barry Burdiak, John Hayes
Chief Digital Officer: Joe Cianciotto
Group Strategy Director: Gustavo de Mello
Group Business Director: Penn French
Director of Production: Diane Jackson
Executive Producer: Scott Kemper
Producer: Luke LiManni
Director: Hank Perlman, Hungry Man
Editing: Cutters (Grant Gustafson, Matt Walsh, Aaron Kiser, Patrick Casey)
Finishing: Filmworkers (Rob Churchill, Daniel Pernikoff, Derek de Board)

—Richmeister
Creative Directors, Art Directors: Kurt Riemersma, Mike Porritt, Andrew Bloom
Creative Directors, Copywriters: Matt Ben Zeev, Frank Oles, Nathan Monteith
Art Director: Chris Bruney
Copywriter: Nick Novich

—Hans & Franz
Creative Directors, Art Directors: Brian Boord, Andrew Bloom
Creative Directors, Copywriter: Chad Broude, Nathan Monteith
Art Director: Chris Bruney

Jean-Claude Van Damme is still ice cold, but also still not as frosty as a Coors Light, says the brewer.

It's been more than two years since the Gen X icon philosophized about his tight, frozen pants and post-coital penguin walks, from a snowy mountaintop, for the brand. Now, in another U.K. ad, he's returned to the summit to talk less, and do more—namely, build an entire lodge out of ice, mostly with his bare hands.

There's no easy way dissociate Van Damme from Volvo Trucks, given their collaboration on one of the most popular commercials of the past year. Even if Coors Light was working with him first, it still casts something of a shadow over the brewer's message.

But like "Epic Split," the new beer spot—directed by Rattling Stick's Daniel Kleinman—plays mainly on Van Damme's own brand. Instead of straddling a pair of moving tractor trailers, he uses his ponytail as a hitch to drag a sled loaded with large ice blocks, and his high kick to chisel an incredibly detailed likeness of a taxidermy buffalo head. In other words, complete with super '80s montage music, it's nicely done (despite the fact that any epic beer action commercial is likely to knack a little of Hahn's SuperDry masterpiece, too).



To Coors Light's (and agency VCCP's) credit, the brand is also promising to construct real-life versions of the ice bars at three locations in Europe—London, Manchester and in Austria. It's hard to imagine them approaching Van Damme's master craft, though.

It's also tricky not to wonder how Chuck Norris would have handled the challenge.

CREDITS
Client: Coors Light
Agency: VCCP, UK
Agency Producer: Andy Leahy
Creative Director: Jim Capp
Copywriter: Jermaine Hillman
Art Director: Paul Kocur
Planners: George Everett, Sandie Dilger
Media Agency: ZenithOptimedia
Media Planners: Guy Edwards, Aidan O’Callaghan
Production Company: Rattling Stick
Director: Daniel Kleinman
Postproduction: Framestore
Executive Producer/Producer: Johnnie Frankel
Editor: Julian Tranquille, Cut & Run
Sound: Sam Ashwell, 750mph
Music: Wake the Town

Despite winning only seven of the 31 Emmys its shows were nominated for, Netflix still found a clever way to cash in on the popularity of its original programs during Monday's telecast.

The streaming service rolled out a new ad featuring Ricky Gervais (himself a star of the Netflix original Derek) traipsing into lead roles on shows like Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards and Lilyhammer.

"You know when you're watching your favorite Netflix show," Gervais wonders, "and after five straight episodes, you want to be in it?" 

With real stars and sets from the shows, the ad imagines if Gervais were to bring his accent and antics to unexpected places. (I'd argue he almost seems more at home in a women's prison than the show's protagonist, Piper, the waspy artisanal lotion maker.)



We haven't yet heard which agency made the ad, though Deutsch/LA did this Christmas spot last year. Netflix has mostly been focusing its marketing efforts on growth areas like Canada, where DDB Vancouver has done some pretty fun work.

(UPDATE:Ignition Creative created the spot.)

The Emmys ad doesn't go as far as you'd like it to, and doesn't really give Gervais the room he needs to truly ham up a scene. Instead, it seems to cut away before we really even get to a satisfying punch line.

On that note, this is one of those rare cases where the outtakes are arguably better than the ad. Anyone who's watched the blooper reels from Gervais classics like The Office knows he's notoriously difficult to keep on script and will hijack a production for hours by cracking himself up with ad-lib lunacy. 

So, be sure to check out the outtakes below.

CREDITS

Client: Netflix
Brand Marketing Director, North America: Gene Willis
Creative Director, Global Marketing: Trent Good
Brand Marketing Manager, North America: Blair Josephs
Senior Producer: Julie Rousseau

Agency: Ignition Creative
Executive Creative Director: Goktug Sarioz
Senior Creative Producer: Spencer Kaplan
Senior Agency Producer: Kristine Ling
Copywriter: Rose Chirillo

Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Randy Krallman
Founding Partners: Brian Carmody, Patrick Milling Smith
Executive Producer: Shannon Jones
Director of Photography: Bryan Newman
Line Producer: Cory Berg

Postproduction: Ignition Creative
Editor: Reina Holtzman
Producer: Dillon Tucker

Music: The Hit House

Visual Effects, Finishing: Method Studios
Artist: Wensen Ho
Producer: Colin Clarry

Audio Post: Play Studios
Mixer: John Bolen

Ravi Dalchand really, really believes in his product.

The senior brand manager at Bissell Canada demonstrates the effectiveness of the new Bissell Symphony All-in-One hard floor cleaner (it vacuums and steams at the same time!) by using it to scrub the floor of a subway station in Toronto.

But then the stunt, devised by KBS+, gets even wilder. Check it out here:



The eww! factor is awfully high (in a way, it's reminiscent of Extended Stay Motels' notorious licking ad from 2008), although the subway stop doesn't look quite as dirty as some—and for good reason.

It turns out the video was filmed at Bay Lower Station, which has long been closed off to the public and is used primarily for training and filming movies, TV episodes and commercials. So, while Dalchand does eat off a genuine subway platform, which can't be hygienic under any circumstances, it's not quite the same as doing so in an in-service station.

Plus, as the Huffington Post points out, the onlookers were almost certainly actors who may well have been in on the gag.

Still, the core of the stunt is real, and certainly memorable—even if you have to take it with a grain of salt (and in this case, a dash of oregano and pepper as well).

CREDITS
Client: Bissell
Agency: KBS+, Toronto
Chief Creative Officers: Matt Hassell, Gary Watson
Creative Director: Raul Garcia
Art Directors: Jessica Toye, Raul Garcia
Copywriter: Alex Bird
Account Director: Hanh Vo
Account Executive: Megan Chown
Agency Producer: Margaret Callaghan
General Manager: Craig Emmerson
Senior Brand Manager: Ravi Delchand
Production Company: Circle
Executive Producer: Karen Tameanko
Director: Jeffrey Zablotny
Line Producers: Elizabeth Findlay, Amanda Field
Postproduction Company: Married to Giants
Executive Producer: Denise Shearer
Editor: Monica Remba
Assistant Editor: Alain Elliott
Online Artist: Trevor Corrigan
Online Assistant: Preeti Torul
Color, Visual Effects: Alter Ego
Colorist: Tricia Hagoriles

For years, Gap's ads—and its clothes—were all about bubbly, drenching color. But this fall, it's time for a new look in both, as the brand has brought in David Fincher to drain the color, quite literally, from the TV work—and tell enigmatic stories in artful, cinematic black-and-white instead.

Four spots below, created by Wieden + Kennedy in New York as part of the new "Dress Normal" campaign, were released online Thursday (fittingly, perhaps, given their throwback vibe). The story lines are brief and somewhat inscrutable snapshots of guys and girls pursuing each other—with off-kilter payoff lines like "Dress like no one's watching," "Simple clothes for you to complicate" and "The uniform of rebellion and conformity."

The black-and-white style evokes film noir, though the vibe is lighter than that—and the lack of color (except for the Gap logo at the end of the spots, presented in various hues) ties directly into a product Gap is pushing hard this season: black denim.

"We want these films to get people talking," says Seth Farbman, Gap's global chief marketing officer. "Each one features a confident woman at the center and tells a story of how liberating it is when you are being your most authentic self. We believe everyone who watches them will identify with one or more of the characters.

"We were thrilled to work with David Fincher, one of the greats of modern American cinema and a superb storyteller. His highly detailed and authentic style resonates with the Gap brand and these films truly bring to life what our 'Dress Normal' message means."

What the line means is certainly up for debate, as we mentioned in covering the print component of the campaign. (It appears to be Gap's take on normcore, which it seems to want to half-embrace and half-reject.) But it's definitely a provocation.

And for a company long addicted to celebrity talent on camera, putting this particular celebrity director behind it certainly shifts the brand in an interesting direction. By moving into the shadows, perhaps Gap can actually emerge from them.

CREDITS
Client: Gap

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, David Kolbusz
Creative Directors: Stuart Jennings, Susan Hoffman
Copywriter: Sheena Brady
Art Director: Kim Haxton
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Executive Producer: Alison Hill
Producer: Lisa Delonay
Brand Strategists: Erik Hanson, Hayley Parker
Account Team: Tamera Geddes, Dipal Shah, Patty Ehinger
Business Affairs: Lisa Quintela

Production Company: Reset
Director: David Fincher
Executive Producer, Chief Operating Officer: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Line Producer: Laura Miller
Director of Photography: Jeff Cronenweth
Production Designer: Don Burt
Costume Designer: Trish Summerville

Editing Company: Work Editorial
Editor: Kirk Baxter
Post Producer: Sari Resnick
Post Executive Producer: Erica Thompson
Editorial Assistants: Nate Gross, Mike Horan, Billy Peake

Visual Effects Company: Mill
Senior Executive Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Dan Roberts
Coordinator: Jillian Lynes
New York Producer: Clairellen Wallin
2-D Lead Artists: Tim Davies, James Allen
2-D Artists: Robert Murdock, Tara Demarco, Timothy Crabtree, Jale Parsons, Brandon Danowski, Jamin Clutcher

Telecine Company: Light Iron
Colorist: Ian Vertovec

Mix Company: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Tom Jucarone
Sound Designer: Tom Jucarone
Producer: Vicky Ferraro

Music: Drive
Song: "L'amour LaMort"
Artist: Martial Solal

Music: Golf
Song: "Wait A Minute"
Artist: Performed by Eddie Ray; licensed by Bank Robber

Music: Kiss
Song: "Kiss"
Artist: David Holmes

Music: Stairs
Song: "Inner Babylon"
Artist: Written by Shabaka Hutchings; performed by Sons of Kemet

Johnny Manziel isn't Johnny Football when he's hungry. He's Johnny JamBoogie.

In this new Snickers ad from BBDO New York, the Cleveland Browns quarterback stars as a Spandex-clad man leading an aerobics class full of women. That is, until he's rescued by a teammate bearing a candy bar.

It's a variation on a joke that by now is familiar. Last year, the late, great Robin Williams possessed a football coach in a commercial for the brand. In another, Kenny G sat in for a boring storyteller. Before that, Joe Pesci, Don Rickles, Aretha Franklin, Betty White and Abe Vigoda all had their moments. This February, we learned that even Godzilla is a pretty fun guy when he isn't peckish.

But Manziel is topical, and his buffoonery helps keep the idea going.

USA Today, meanwhile, wonders why Snickers used an actor as his savior, instead of a second, actual Browns player. And on the ad's YouTube page, one armchair quarterback takes issue with a different point: "A better ending would have backup quarterback Manziel eating a Snickers bar and turning into starting quarterback Brian Hoyer."

Zing. Regardless, plenty of football fans seem to be getting a kick out of the clip—it has more than 500,000 views since being posted on Thursday.



CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Spot: "Johnny JamBoogie"

Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Directors: Gianfranco Arena, Peter Kain
Director of Integrated Production: David Rolfe
Group Executive Producer: Amy Wertheimer
Executive Producer: Alex Gianni
Producer: Patrick Smith
Executive Music Producer: Melissa Chester

Global Account Director: Susannah Keller
Account Director: Joshua Steinman
Account Manager: Dylan Green

Production Company: Radical
Director: Steve Miller
Executive Producers: Frank Scherma, Gregg Carlesimo
Producer: Barbara Benson
Production Supervisor: Ted Liotopoulos
Director of Photography: Mandy Walker
Production Designer: Tom Foden
Recording Studio: HeardCity

Mix House: Heard City
Audio Engineer: Philib Loeb

Editing House: Cutting Room
Editor, Managing Partner: Chuck Willis
Executive Producer: Melissa Lubin
Producer: Anna Petitti

Visual Effects House: Light of Day

Colorist: Tim Masick, Company 3

Music Track: "You're My Love"

In its advertising, GE usually sticks to one of two themes. There are the "cool technology stunt" ads ("Drop Science,""#SpringBreakIt") and the "human face of technology" ads ("Childlike Imagination,""Kumiko's First Ultrasound"). In both cases, you're left feeling pretty good about the world and/or impressed with the stuff GE is coming up with.

This is not quite the case with BBDO New York's latest GE spot, "Ideas Are Scary." While it ostensibly has a happy ending, there's a good chance that it will leave you mildly unsettled, if not deeply disturbed, by humanity's callousness.

You've been warned.

The ad, directed by Noam Murro, begins in a hospital, where a bizarre creature (apparently the embodiment of a "scary idea") has just been born. It's pretty creepy looking, and the doctors look suitably concerned.

By the next scene, the "idea" has grown up into a bigger, more unattractive and even more pitiful creature, dejectedly wandering the streets of a big city. He gets angry looks and objects thrown at him, is kicked out of businesses and sleeps in a box in a dirty alley—because "ideas are the natural born enemy of the way things are," per the narrator.



Finally, just when you feel like you're about to drown in sadness, the creature happens to walk past a GE office, where he's taken in by a kindhearted employee and embraced by the rest of GE's scary-idea-loving staff. And then he really gets a chance to shine.

"Under the proper care, [ideas] become something beautiful," the narrator concludes.

So … I guess we're supposed to feel uplifted now? And not be bothered by the really depressing first part of the ad? You know, the part that portrayed the world as an evil place full of terrible people who hate things that are different and were totally horrible to this poor, sad creature?

Because in the end it turns out that GE employees, unlike the rest of humankind, are nice? Yeah, good luck with that.

CREDITS
Client: GE
Spot: "Ideas"

Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Copywriter: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Michael Aimette
Supervising Art Director: Ralph Watson
Supervising Art Director: Matt Vescovo
Executive Producer: Diane Hill
Head of Music Production: Rani Vaz
Worldwide Senior Account Director: Brandon Fowler
Senior Account Director: Peter McCallum
Account Manager: Gabriela Benitez

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Noam Murro
Director of Photography: Eric Schmidt
Line Producer: Jay Veal

Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Stewart Reeves
Assistant Editor: Luke McIntosh
Producer: Melanie Gagliano

Puppets: Legacy EFX
Chief of Design: Alan Scott

Visual Effects: Method Studios
Producer: Pip Malone

Music/Sound Design: Emoto
Composer: Steve Hampton

Mix House: Heard City
Mixer: Keith Reynaud

Guinness's provocatively themed "Made of Black" campaign links the color of its beer to the vibrant spirit of young Africans.

AMV BBDO in London, working with BBDO offices in Africa, launched the pan-African push last week with a five-hour takeover of MTV Base. That programming featured the debut of the two-minute spot below starring local artists and performers in a dazzling montage of dance, performance art and surreal set pieces—propelled by the insistent groove of Kanye West's "Black Skinhead."

"This campaign is a celebration of an attitude that epitomizes individuals who aren't afraid to truly express themselves," says Mark Sandys, the client's global brand director. "With #MadeOfBlack, we will provide a stage for those who are an inspiration to others, as they carve their own path with confidence, flair and boldness."



"Made of Black" ties in with Guinness's global "Made of More" campaign. That initiative has generated some memorable advertising, including a short film from AMV BBDO about the Society of Elegant Persons of the Congo, better known as the Sapeurs. That campaign won seven Lions this year at Cannes.

"Made of Black" takes a multimedia approach that includes lots of video, social outreach by Fuse OGD and other stars sharing their personal stories, along with hand-painted print ads by Dan Funderburgh and Steve Caldwell.

The centerpiece, however, is the stirring launch spot, directed by Sam Brown via Rogue Films. It fuses elements from different time periods, combining tribal beats and imagery with jazz-age choreography and more modern trappings like a wall of video screens and cutting-edge visual effects. The approach suggests a dynamic cultural heritage powering a self-assured drive toward the future.

CREDITS
Client: Guinness Africa
Agency: AMV BBDO, London
Creative Director: Mike Schalit
Creatives: Mike Sutherland, Antony Nelson
Production Company: Rogue Films
Director: Sam Brown
Postproduction: The Mill
Editorial: Final Cut
Editor: Amanda James

Is print really dying? Not according to Ikea, which has good reason to still believe in dead trees. After all, the company prints around 200 million copies of its catalog every year in 27 languages for 38 countries. That's more than twice the number of bibles produced in a given year.

But is a print catalog too low-fi for the high-tech age? Again, not according to Ikea, which just rolled out this amusing promo for the 2015 catalog, slyly suggesting that print is actually a wondrous technology that equals—nah, exceeds—the power of digital media.

The well-written campaign, by BBH Asia Pacific, invites you to "experience the power of a book" and rediscover "the original touch interface." Amazing features include "eternal battery life" and pages that "load instantly, with zero lag." As the charmingly goofy on-screen narrator says: "It's not a digital book, or an e-book. It's a bookbook™."

I'm sure the concept has been done before. But it's done well here. Check it out:



The gag extends to the press release, in which BBH creative director Tinus Strydom raves: "To be given the opportunity to launch such an innovative content delivery system is a once in a career opportunity."

Adds regional Ikea marketing manager Yeong Tze Kuen: "Like we say in the campaign, at Ikea we feel that technology that is this life-enhancing should be in the hands of everyone. We invite you to download one from your mailbox. The one you open with a key. Or you can upload yourself to the Ikea store and find one there."

The campaign will run in Singapore and Malaysia using newspaper, outdoor, radio and cinema ads, and an animated microsite.

CREDITS
Client: Ikea
Agency: BBH Asia Pacific
Creative Directors: Tinus Strydom, Maurice Wee
Executive Creative Director: Scott McClelland
Art Director: Germaine Chen
Head of Planning: James Sowden
Business Director: Jun Shea
Project Director: Lesley Chelvan
Account Manager: Manavi Sharma
Account Executive: Cheryl Cheong
Social Strategist: Josie Khng
TV Producer: Daphne Ng
Print Producers: Brell Chen, Lesley Chelvan
Digital Producers: Phil Dabrowski, Chris Salonga
Director: Carlos Canal
Production Company: Freeflow Productions
Photographer: Eric Seow, Nemesis Pictures
Photography Producer: Jasmine H
Microsite Developers: Construct Digital

Gisele Bündchen kicks butt in a new ad breaking today for Under Armour's "I Will What I Want" campaign by Droga5.

The supermodel and wife of NFL quarterback Tom Brady (a fellow UA athletic endorser) also shows off her kung fu and yoga abilities at iwillwhatiwant.com/gisele, which will stream real-time comments from social media.

Leanne Fremar, executive creative director for UA's women's brand, gave Adweek a sneak preview of the 60-second film, which rolls out Thursday on YouTube. Look for the raw, real video to go viral—much like the previous one with Misty Copeland, which has been watched nearly 6 million times.



Forget designer gowns. This is the Brazilian supermodel like you've never seen her before. With her fists wrapped like a boxer, she's athletic, fierce and formidable. She throws powerful roundhouse kicks and punches at a heavy bag. She looks like she's training for the UFC, not Fashion Week.

As Gisele works up a sweat, we see real-life insults from social media critics questioning why UA would sign her. "Stick to modeling sweetie," reads one. "Protect this blouse," says another." But others are supportive as Gisele tunes out the noise—and keeps punching. "She's a mother and an inspiration," reads one.

"I appreciate her taking a risk, and allowing us to show her in a different light," said Fremar.

"We wanted to show a new side of Gisele—the unguarded, raw, real and brave side that shows what it's like living in the public eye," said Droga5 creative director John McKelvey. "To the world, most people have only seen her in a context of beauty and polish. But when we came to Gisele with the idea, she embraced the truth of the concept and its potential to be a positive message. The campaign shows all the contradicting opinions she is constantly exposed to and the focus and determination it takes to tune out the noise and will what she wants."

Carlos Silva, president of golf lifestyle cable network Back9Network, said signing Bünchen is a smart way for UA to stand out. Much like UA is taking an unconventional approach with model and ballerina endorsers, Back9Network is focusing on golf lifestyles rather than PGA Tour pros.

"It's very similar to how we're approaching the mass market following the game of golf," Silva said.

CREDITS
Client: Under Armour
Campaign: "I Will What I Want"
Film and Interactive Experience: Gisele | Will Beats Noise
Launch Date: Sept. 4, 2014

Agency: Droga5, New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Directors: John McKelvey, Hannes Ciatti
Copywriter: Felix Richter
Art Director: Alexander Nowak
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-­Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Executive Broadcast Producer: Matt Nowak
Associate Broadcast Producer: Goldie Robbens
Executive Interactive Producer: Justin Durazzo
Associate Interactive Producer: Ian Graetzer
User Experience Director: Daniel Perlin
Senior User Experience Designer: Lily Cho
Head of Design: Rich Greco
Digital Designer: Devin Croda
Executive Director of Technology: David Justus
Technology Lead: Joachim Do
Group Brand Strategy Director: Donny Jensen
Brand Strategy Director: Zach Foster
Digital Strategist: Candice Chen
Communications Strategy Director: Alex Kniess
Group Account Director: Julian Cheevers
Account Director: Lauren Smith
Account Manager: Scott Sullivan

Client: Under Armour
Senior Vice President, Women’s Executive Creative Director: Leanne Fremar
Vice President, Women’s Marketing: Heidi Sandreuter
Women’s Brand Manager: Kameryn Stanhouse
Guidance Counsel: Meredith Chase

Broadcast Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Jaron Albertin
Director of Photography: Andrij Parekh
Partners: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody
Executive Producer: Allison Kunzman
Producer: Andy Coverdale

Editing: Work Editorial
Editor: Ben Jordan
Assistant Editor: Trevor Myers
Executive Producer: Erica Thompson
Producer: Sari Resnick

Postproduction: The Mill
Head of Production: Sean Costelloe
Head of Computer Graphics: Vince Baertsoen
Producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Flame: Aron Baxter

Interactive Production Company: Active Theory
Executive Producer: Nick Mountford
Technical Director: Michael Anthony
Creative Technologist, Designer: Andy Thelander
Interactive Developer: Rachel Smith

Sound
Broadcast: Heard City
Interactive: Plan8

Quality Assurance: Hook QA

Ad agency 72andSunny assembled quite the crew for its latest live-action trailer for an Activision video game—in this case Destiny, a new post-apocalyptic shooter game coming out Tuesday that's set 700 years in the future and features humans struggling to stay alive in a solar system they've colonized.

Joseph Kosinski (Oblivion and Tron:Legacy) directed it, with help from Oscar-winning DP Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi), Oscar-winning effects studio Digital Domain, Oscar-nominated effects studio Legacy Effects and Oscar-winning sound designer Per Hallberg (Skyfall, the Bourne movies).

The results are impressive. It has that now-familiar mix of epic visuals and sly comedy. But once again—as is true in so many cinematic video-game trailers—it's the music that really makes it. And you can't get a much more epic track than Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."

Kosinski, of course, knows this, having directed the famous "Mad World" spot for Gears of War way back when. Kosinski also likes to shoot as much as possible in camera—and did so here by traveling to remote locations in Mexico, Arizona and Utah to film the scenes on the moon, Venus and Mars.

Oh, and the levitating AI character of the Ghost is voiced by Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), who plays the same character in the game.

"The live-action trailer is the culmination of an ambitious marketing campaign befitting what we hope is our next blockbuster franchise," says Activision CMO Tim Ellis. "The campaign has included a previous live-action commercial by Jon Favreau, a Beta played by 4.6 million people, the first selfie sent into deep space, the first Newsweek special edition for a commercial product, gameplay trailers exploring Mars, Venus and the Moon, and Destiny Planet View, a chance to walk through these worlds using Google Street View—the first time a video game has been mapped using Google technologies."

Check out the Destiny Planet View site here, and the trailer for it below.

CREDITS
Client: Activision Publishing
Chief Executive Officer: Eric Hirshberg
Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis
Senior Vice President, Consumer Marketing: Todd Harvey
Vice President, Consumer Marketing: Ryan Crosby
Senior Manager, Consumer Marketing: Alonso Velasco
Associate Manager, Consumer Marketing: Pam Caironi

Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Executive Officer: John Boiler
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Chief Strategy Officer: Matt Jarvis
Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap
Head of Production: Sam Baerwald
Executive Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director, Writer: Tim Wolfe
Creative Director, Designer: Peter Vattanatham
Lead Designer: Garrett Jones
Copywriter: Ryan Iverson
Art Director: Vincent Barretto
Senior Producer: Eric Rasco
Production Coordinator: Michael Quinones
Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Brand Director: Eli Hoy
Brand Manager: Morgan Murray
Brand Coordinator: Kirbee Fruehe
Business Affairs Director: Amy Jacobsen
Business Affairs Manager: Kelly Ventrelli
Business Affairs Coordinator: Amy Shah

Production Company: Reset Content
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Director of Photography: Claudio Miranda
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Producer: Julien Lemaitre

Costumes: Legacy Effects
Effects Supervisor: J. Alan Scott
Key Artists: Vance Hartwell, Anna O' Kane, Marilyn Chaney, Greg Smith, Won Song

Editing Company: Union Editorial/Circus
Editor: Jono Griffith
Assistant Editor: Jedidiah Stuber
Executive Producer, President: Michael Raimondi
Senior Producer: Joe Ross

Visual Effect: Digital Domain
Chief Creative Officer, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor: Eric Barba
Senior Producer: Carla Attanasio
Producer: Charles Bolwell
Senior Visual Effects Coordinator: Alex Michael
Computer Graphics Supervisor: Greg Teegarden
Compositing Supervisor: Dan Akers
Animation Director: Steve Preeg
Effects Lead: Eddie Smith
Computer Graphics Lead: Daisuke Nagae
On-Set, Data Integration: Viki Chan
Art Director/AFX: Cody Williams
President, Advertising and Games: Rich Flier
Executive Producer, Head of Production: Scott Gemmell

Sound Design: Formosa Group
Supervising Sound Editor: Per Hallberg
1st Assistant Sound Editor: Philip D. Morrill
Sound Designers: Ann Scibelli, Jon Title

Mix: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Assistant: Jeff Malen

Marketers seeking to celebrate diverse families have focused a lot lately on same-sex parents and interracial parents. But there's another type of family that's much more common, yet rarely named in advertising—divorced and remarried parents and their stepchildren.

More than 40 percent of Americans are part of a so-called "blended family," with one in three U.S weddings today creating a stepfamily, according to Honey Maid. Yet divorce is rarely mentioned in ads, beyond those from divorce lawyers.

And why would it be mentioned? Unlike same-sex and interracial couples, divorced couples result from an objective breakdown of family. Yet Honey Maid, which has been saluting the changing face of American families all year, sees that as little reason to ostracize them—indeed, quite the opposite. (Everyone buys graham crackers, divorced or not.)

In this two-minute spot from Droga5 (breaking Monday as a :30 on TV), the brand salutes two blended families—who share a son—for being as loving as any other.



"Sometimes it's hard to explain our family to people. I have two moms, and I've got two dads," the little boy says at the beginning. The ad, shot like a mini documentary, then goes on to interview the parents, who explain—with quiet pride—how they made the transition as smooth as possible for the kids.

It's nicely made, and pointedly includes a scene of the family praying together before dinner. (Divorce isn't just for heathens, after all.) And it obliquely references an older, less-P.C. term for families of divorce—"broken homes"—in the hashtag, which is #NotBroken.

In some ways, this is actually a trickier topic than gay or interracial families. Objections to the latter are just bigotry, which is uncomplicatedly batted away by marketers. Divorce isn't as straightforward. While it's clearly heartwarming to see how well this family has fared, how will viewers react whose divorces didn't have quite as sunny an outcome? Will they be able to see themselves in this family?

In the end, of course, it's just advertising—i.e., obviously more aspirational than realistic. And as an idealized view of a situation that most parents—divorced or not—would probably admit is not ideal, it's skillfully presented. Overcoming adversity is always a popular ad theme; and a huge percentage of the population will relate to this particular adversity, if not necessarily the transcendence this family has found.

And anyway, for Honey Maid, the whole campaign seems to be working. Gary Osifchin, senior marketing director for the Mondelez brand, tells USA Today that sales jumped 7 percent in June and July, and Google searches for the name Honey Maid were up 400 percent.

CREDITS
Client: Mondelez International/Honey Maid
Senior Marketing Director, Wholesome Sweet: Gary Osifchin
Senior Brand Manager: Tracey Benitz
Senior Associate Brand Manager: Funbi Ibe
Agency: Droga5, New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Executive Creative Director: Kevin Brady
Copywriter: Tara Lawall
Art Director: Devon Hong
Copywriter: Nicholas Bauman
Art Director: Sean Park
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-­Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Senior Producer: Anders Hedberg
Interactive Producer: Benny Goldman
Brand Strategy Director: Matthew Springate
Communications Strategist: Will de Lannoy
Group Account Director: Jodi McLeod
Account Manager: Joan Wortmann
Associate Account Manager: Jasmine Moesel
Production Company: Über Content
Director: Eliot Rausch
DOP: Jackson Hunt
Executive Producer: Preston Lee
Producer: Sarah McMurray
Editorial: Cosmo Street
Editor: Stephen Mirrione
Head of Production: Jaclyn Paris
Producers: Marie Mangahas, Anne Lai
Music: Sion Dey

Attention, pet owners. Do you indulge in the perfectly reasonable habit of talking to your cats and dogs as if they could grasp human ideas? Of course you do. Does watching other people who engage in the same kind of behavior amuse you? Of course it does.

Well, Big Lots wants you to know it understands.

To prove its commitment, it is gracing you with a series of online videos that feature two professional humans—improv comedians, actually—having totally sane conversations with animals about the quality of products made for animals.

The "Pet Focus Group" campaign's ads are bound together by the hashtag #PetsRPeople2, because it is important to maintain an appropriate sense of gravitas around such a message.

The commercials feature dogs with names like Boots and Hippo and Porkchop, and cats with names like Tabitha. The dogs act like dogs. The cats act like cats. The humans act like humans. Guess which turns and runs when asked a stupid question. Guess which asks a stupid question. Guess which licks another dog's butt, even though that's pretty gross.



In a rare moment that makes little sense, one human seems to struggle to keep a straight face while trying to recommend an outfit for a pooch. "I think it's a pirate?" she says, snickering, as if dog clothes were a laughing matter.

"We realized that instead of scripting this, it would be so much more fun to let pets be pets, and get really good improvisers to react in real time to whatever those animals are doing," says Sue Gillan, creative director at the agency, O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul. "And because you have these human facilitators in the room with the pets, they get to do the heavy lifting around uncovering the quality of the products without the event feeling commercialized. The result feels like a genuine discovery of the products."

O'Keefe is the agency and pet-whispering firm that has also in the past served as Big Lots's awkward-mom-dance choreography consultancy and millennial a cappella production company, in attempts to sell more Hostess snack cakes to humans.

Those commercials were clearly shortsighted by comparison, given the dog demographic is so vocally an underserved market for Twinkies.

CREDITS
Client: Big Lots

Agency: O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul
Chief Executive Officer: Tom O'Keefe
Chief Creative Officer: Matt Reinhard
Creative Director: Sue Gillan
Exectutive Producer: Scott Mitchell

Production Company: Community Films
Director: The Hoffman Brothers
Executive Producers: Lizzie Schwartz, Carl Swan
Producer: Francie Moore
Director of Photography: David Wilson
Production Designer: Craig Reynolds

Editing: Whiskey & Bananas
Executive Producer: Scott Mitchell
Editor: Mark Jepsen