Who's Doing What

Catching up on some of the latest ad campaigns:

Out to Launch

by Amy Corr, Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 10:30 AM ET

Foosackly's gives Boeing a finger. Kia launches campaign for luxe SUV. Chazz Palminteri is the voice of Yankee Stadium. Let's launch! Round Table Pizza launched five simple yet amusing ads in California, Oregon and Nevada that act out the literal statements offered in each ad. Stay with me. Take the term "more for less." The ad stars Round Table spokesman Pizza Knight and a guy names Les. A group of people shower Les with an armload of gifts while Pizza Knight gets shafted. Watch the ad here. A Hawaiian piled high with goodness is dogpiled by a group of angels in a spot, seen here, promoting Round Table's Maui pizza. Killer pizza with a huge salad bar stars a pizza dressed as Jason from "Friday the 13th," yielding a salad bar at Pizza Knight. See the ad here. In the remaining two ads, Pizza Knight is rescued by a "super Hawaiian" and falls off a tricycle when he tries to cut a corner. Watch the ads here and here. WONGDOODY created the campaign and Pal 8 handled the media buy. T-Mobile USA launched three TV spots supporting T-Mobile@Home, a service that allows customers to make unlimited nationwide calls from their home phone for $10 a month by adding the line to their T-Mobile service. A chainsaw massacre takes place in "Sunday Drive." A woman pulls over on a deserted road and saws down a telephone pole, setting off a chain reaction of falling poles. "Your home phone company is going down," says the voiceover. See it here. In "Moving," goodbye is replaced with hello. Brett Favre retires by saying hello and a couple parts ways with hello. Watch the ad here. Same deal in "New York," where a mom keeps in constant contact with her family while away on a business trip. Porky Pig makes a cameo saying "Hello Folks" and Broadway's "Goodbye Girl" becomes "Hello Girl." See the ad here. The "Say Goodbye to Goodbye" also includes an informative, yet entertaining, microsite. Publicis West created the campaign. Helium, denim and duct tape. Put the three together and you get a viral video for Levi's. A guy slips on his Levi's as his friend slip some duct tape on his arms, legs and waist. He then puts a hose down his pants, allowing his outfit to fill up with helium, propelling him a few feet off the ground. A tricky situation ensues when he lands atop a fence surrounding a small electric grid. One gust of wind and he could be toast, but our quick-thinking guy saves himself by unbuttoning his pants. See the viral here, created by Cutwater. I love the tone Kia takes in its commercials. One of its Super Bowl ads featured a different take on the requisite plot twist and its latest cinema ad pokes fun at luxury car ads. Promoting the Borrego, a luxury SUV with a smaller price tag, the spot features things most likely seen in a typical SUV ad: off-terrain driving, a gratuitous cabin shot, a car parked outside a large mansion. The spot ends with something you wouldn't expect from a SUV commercial, the Kia logo. Watch the ad here. David&Goliath created the campaign and Initiative handled the media buy. Foosackly's Chicken Fingers, a local chain in Mobile, Ala., turned a handmade sign placed on its restaurant doors into a bona fide ad campaign. Foosackly's was none too happy with Boeing when a contract it had with the Air Force was placed in limbo, placing an economic development project in Mobile on hold. So the founder of Foosackly's placed handmade signs in his restaurants expressing his frustration. The sign became a digital billboard on I-65. The message? "We would like to offer Boeing a finger," with Foosackly's logo at the bottom of the ad. See the ad here and here. Red Square created the ad. Happy BINdependence Day, Philadelphia residents. The Philadelphia Recycling Office launched an outdoor, newspaper and online campaign deeming July 7 BINdependence Day, or the day residents stop sorting their recyclables. Everything goes in one bin! The campaign consisted of a special sideways issue of Metro, with the campaign on front and back covers, bus wraps, subway wallscapes and City Hall events where the Philly Phanatic made an appearance and a percussion team performed on blue recycling bins. And the water in Love Park fountain was dyed blue. Creative features the tagline "All Together Now," and hodgepodge of plastic, paper, glass and cans in one area. See the ads here and here. LevLane created the campaign and handled the media buy. If Yankee stadium had a voice, I can imagine it sounding like Chazz Palminteri's. The actor lends his voice to an ESPN ad promoting the networks' coverage of the State Farm Home Run Derby on July 14. "Welcome, sluggers. Come launch them over my fence. Knock one into my beloved bleacher," says Palminteri as black-and-white shots of the stadium are interspersed with scenes of MLB players hitting home runs at past Home Run Derbies. Watch the ad here, created by DCODE. Allstate launched a Web site targeting motorcycle owners, allowing them to get a quote and build a customized bike in 12 steps. This in-depth site also features scenic routes that can be viewed and mapped out for riding, courtesy of Google maps, safety tips, a forum to share riding experiences and a calendar page of local and national events. Each customized bike can be viewed in a showroom and downloaded as desktop wallpaper. Leo Burnett created the site. Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com.

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