New Ad Campaigns

Monday, December 01, 2008

New Ad Campaigns

Mediapost presents this each week. This came while you were out eating turkey last week, so I'll have another before the week is over:

Rediscover music from your past. Do you "get" blues? Let's launch!

It's all about the Washingtons, baby. Boost Mobile launched two TV spots promoting its $1 a day Chat Plan -- and who better to be the spokesman than George Washington, himself? Sure, he's let himself go, but he can sing a classic LL Cool J song, so it all evens out. In "Car," Washington describes how the dollar bill was forgotten until Boost Mobile launched its latest chat plan. George drives a beat-up car (I'm thinking it's an Oldsmobile), his house is a mess and when he cranks up his car window, its filmy residue resembles the dollar bill, serial numbers and all. See it here. Viewers receive a tour of Washington's house in "Comeback." Mount Vernon, it's not, but the spot concludes with a rousing rendition of "Mama said knock you out." Watch it here. The spots are airing on MTV, TBS, Comedy Central, FUEL and Fox Sports through February 2009. 180LA created the campaign.

Everyone has his or her own definition of comfort food: mine happens to involve peanut butter; Yao Ming's comfort food is still breathing. T-Mobile launched a great NBA-themed TV spot featuring Yao Ming, Dwyane Wade and Charles Barkley, promoting T-Mobile's myFaves plan. The commercial will air during TNT games and features Barley and Wade readying to dine on Ming's favorite food, live shrimp. Ming calls Barkley from the road to see how he likes the shrimp. "It's moving and it's got eyes on it," quips Barkley. "Don't be like a baby," retorts Ming. The spot ends with Barkley and Wade poorly attempting to hide the moving shrimp in their napkins and pockets. Watch the ad here. Publicis in the West created the campaign and Optimedia handled the media buy.

"When was the last time you discovered something new?" That's the question asked in a 60-second spot for SIRIUS Satellite Radio Canada, encouraging people to rediscover music from their past. "Discover Again" uses online and TV components to convey the excitement people feel when they make an unexpected discovery. The spot is comprised of a series of firsts: a first kiss, a first slow dance, the birth of a child and trying a new food. Interspersed with the "firsts" are discoveries: a child finding a prize at the bottom of a cereal box, a guy making an amazing find in a record store, and a young boy climbing over a wall to see what's on the other side. "Discover music again. Discover again," concludes the ad, seen here. BBDO Toronto created the TV ad; Proximity Canada created the online ads; and OMD Canada handled the media buy.

The National Blues Foundation launched two viral videos and a series of print ads to support a Web site that lets users experience the different styles of the blues, find places to see live performances, and download posters. Two viral videos were created to show viewers what music would resemble if blues didn't exist, since most music has been heavily influenced by the genre. In one viral, the Rolling Stones video "Start Me Up" is dubbed over with polka music, making Mick and the gang look like polka fanatics. See the video here. Another viral pairs Ray Charles with opera music. "Without the blues, music wouldn't be the same," conclude the videos. Print ads are simple, yet amusing, with Britney Spears even warranting a name drop. See the ads here, here and here. Ames Scullin O'Haire created the campaign and handled the media buy.

BuyYourFriendaDrink.com, a site that lets users electronically buy drinks for their friends, launched an online, print and in-bar campaign promoting the service. To date, seventeen states, with dozens of bars participating per state, are involved in this concept. It seems like a gift card for the friend who likes to party hard. Print ads consist of provocative shots of women partying, one wasted-looking guy, and copy like, "It's happy hour somewhere in the World Wide Web" and "You have email. You like free booze. Hey, this thing could work out nicely." See the ads here, here, here, here and here. Looney Advertising created the campaign and media buying was handled in-house.