The Creative Brief » Ad/Campaign Review

Jimmy Dean ‘Morning Villains’

Dan — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 05:11:49 +0000

Jimmy Deans rolls out their full “Jimmy D’s” line with a summary right out of a police blotter: Creepy guys in costumes eff around with adolescents.

From MarketWatch. By TBWA\Chiat\Day.

Kenny Powers & K-Swiss

Dan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:44:28 +0000

Props to 72andSunny for recognizing the selling power of Kenny Powers (played by the incomparable Danny McBride) of HBO’s funny Eastbound and Down. The K-Swiss/Kenny Powers combo began with a bang; a hilarious, uncensored and crass bang hosted on Funny Or Die. After that comes some traditional broadcast commercials that, while censored and not quite the level the viral, still manage to be better than 90% of the ads out there.

As BrandFreak describes, the campaign is already making an impact. I’m glad… it’s good to see a campaign that uses bukkake as a comedic vehicle find success.

And for those of you who are unfamiliar w/Kenny Powers (first of all, punch yourself), I’ve posted some of his greatest hits at the bottom of this post. The new season premieres September 26th!

Google Search Stories

Dan — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:42:22 +0000

Google’s not done with the “search stories” campaign they debuted during the Super Bowl. The new spots easily run the risk of being redundant (and to a tiny extent, they are), but each retains just enough charm and slice of life to keep things fresh.

Great work by Google’s in-house agency, Google Creative Labs.

Diesel & Fiat: Disconnect Campaign

Dan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:32:16 +0000

Fiat joins forces with Diesel to launch the limited edition Fiat 500. The campaign encourages folks to “disconnect” from their online social lives and experience social media behaviors out there in the real world. As evidenced by the sex and potty humor, this spinoff campaign fits right in with Diesel’s current Be Stupid campaign. Which is kind of stupid.

Sent by Kevin Fuller.

The Making of the Old Spice Response Videos

Dan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 13:55:00 +0000

ReadWriteWeb has the scoop on how the Old Spice response videos were made; in other words, how Wieden + Kennedy managed to own the Internet for two days. The summary? Real-time surfing for comments, writing, taping, editing and uploading in order to average about seven minutes per video… and a very long couple of days for the W + K creative team and Isaiah Mustafa.

From t-minus.

Here are other recaps/results from the campaign:

The Old Spice Social Media Campaign by the Numbers (Mashable)
We Are Social’s Old Spice Analysis (We Are Social)
The Old Spice Campaign Generated 35 Million Views in Seven Days (ClickZ)

The Best of the Old Spice Responses

Dan — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:11:19 +0000

Well, I watched every single one. Yes, every single one of the 25 gajillibajillion Old Spice Response videos featuring everyone’s favorite towel-wearing, cake-making, kitchen-building, swan-diving, beast of a man who wears an array of wonderfully-scented Old Spice products.

As I stated before, I was hoping Wieden and Kennedy (the brainchilds behind these Old Spice commercials) would try not to overexpose Isaiah Mustafa and desensitize us to the campaign. So what do they do? They let Isaiah hold a video conversation with THE ENTIRE INTERNET.

But somehow… it worked. As quickly as it began, it ended and I actually found myself wanting more. Brilliantly written, it would have been quite a scene to be in the war room as the busy copywriters and creative team blitzed and poured over every relevant post, comment or tweet, then quickly rushed Isaiah onset to majestically translate every single response.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like talks to regular joes, his real-life daughter (Re: Haley), flirts with Demi Moore (Re: @mrskutcher), joshes with Twitter, and even dogs on rival ad agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky’s Subservient Chicken campaign. Which, when all is said and done, could prove to be the inferior viral marketing campaign based on the latest numbers and opinions. Enjoy.

Old Spice ‘Questions’: The Making Of

Dan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:57:20 +0000

Man of men Isaiah Mustafa walks us through the creation of the new Old Spice ad on G4′s excellent Attack of the Show. Yet again, the spot is supposedly CGI-free.

Other revelations? Prosthetic legs, real power tools, harnesses, and man-made waterfalls. The only thing he refuses to reveal is how he ends up in jeans at the end. My theory? The “jean legs” are fake and he’s standing behind them.

Hrusteam Snacks Versus Campaign

Dan — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:41:51 +0000

Odd pop culture pairings (Tetris blocks versus Contra, anyone? Worms versus Darkwing Duck?) abound in these awesome animated shorts for Russia’s Hrusteam Snacks. They’re clever, punchy and all about pure, unadulterated fun. Talented production house Red Medusa produced over 40 of these bad boys, and I have to say, they are a wonderful way to kill a paid afternoon at work.

From Motionographer.

SportChek Campaign

Dan — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:55:29 +0000

Like the ads for FirstBank posted previously, agency Bos shows us what happens if you don’t use the services of “said client.” Of course, to hilarious effect.

From AdFreak.

FirstBank ‘Plot Twist’ Campaign

Dan — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:07:13 +0000

TDA Boulder promotes Colorado’s largest locally-owned bank with three new :30′s and a :60 featuring (you guessed it) plot twists. Fun fun fun. If only the payoff copy hit a wee bit harder… From AgencySpy.