New Ad Campaigns

From Amy at Mediapost:

Eight tons of sprinkles. A walk-in fridge. Herding office chairs. Intrigued? Let's launch!

If I were in Orlando right now, and not braving frigid temps, I'd be smiling, too. The Orlando Convention & Visitors Bureau launched "Orlando Makes Me Smile," a print, outdoor and online campaign consisting of smiling faces and warm weather. Print ads feature smiling people and the reasons why they're so happy. One girl rode a bevy of roller coasters and had a spa day with her Mom. Another ad shows a couple kissing each cheek of their happy baby, with copy touting Orlando as an ideal destination for families. My favorite outdoor ad showed a group of frowning faces one day, and smiles the next, because Orlando bring smiles. See the ads here, here, here and here. Push created the campaign and 22squared handled the media buy.

Mammoth Mountain, a ski resort in Southern California, placed a billboard on interstate 405 that resembles a half-pipe, complete with a faux airborne snowboarder, clad in donated snow gear. See it here. The ad debuts a new tagline, "Play Big," which took on a whole new meaning for season passholders who received a 7-foot-wide trail map as part of their VIP kit. Now find me a pocket for that trail map. David&Goliath created the campaign and Initiative Media San Diego handled the media buy.

This is the perfect ad. It describes technology in a language I can understand: the language of food. Wireless broadband network Clear 4G uses cupcakes and sprinkles to illustrate the difference between Wi-Fi hotspots, phone company laptop cards and Clear 4G. The network launched in Portland, Oregon, making it the second city with 4G wireless Internet. The ad takes place in a bakery kitchen, where trays of frosted cupcakes, symbolizing Wi-Fi hotspots, are lightly sprinkled to represent minimal Wi-Fi coverage. Additional sprinkles are added to signify laptop cards offered by phone companies. There's more coverage, but surfing is still slow. And Clear comes along in the form of eight tons of sprinkles that rain down upon the kitchen, dousing everyone and everything with sprinkles. The ad, shot in Australia, caused a sprinkle shortage that required additional sprinkles to be flown in. See the ad here. Secret Weapon Marketing created the ad and Applegate Media Group handled the media buy.

A woman dreams of having a walk-in closet like the one Big built for Carrie in the "Sex and the City" movie. Men, on the other hand, would kill for a walk-in fridge stocked with Heineken. This spot-on ad launched on Dutch TV this month, and given its popularity, is making its way stateside. A woman gives her three best friends a tour of her new home, saving the best for last: a sizable walk-in closet. The four women yell, scream and jump around, until they're interrupted by the sound of men screaming. The men are standing in a walk-in refrigerator, filled with nothing but Heineken, screaming louder and jumping higher than their four female counterparts. Watch the ad here, created by TBWA/Amsterdam.

This is some wake-up call. Talk about a group effort. Nike Latin America launched a great 60-second spot promoting Nike football -- and by football, I mean soccer. The ad begins at 5 a.m.; an athlete opens an emergency flare and places it beneath a sprinkler system, sounding an alarm. The athletes rush out of their dorm, into town, and into a chain reaction of wake-up calls that are going off. The streets are alive with athletes and bystanders; a soccer player kicks a ball into a bystander, knocking them to the ground. Good times. At practice, players are slapped in the face; there's cross-training and vomiting. Again, good times. "Leave everything -- or leave soccer," concludes the ad, seen here. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the ad.

TheLadders.com, a job site for $100K+ jobs, launched two TV spots to differentiate itself from other online job sites. "Little Creatures" pays homage to Japanese monster movies with miniature Guilalas attempting to wreak havoc on a city, but failing miserably due to their short stature. The mini Guilalas are ignored, but people pay attention when the large Guilala, Ladders.com, breathes fire and destroys buildings. Watch the ad here. A herding group of office chairs attempt to outrun hunters in the next ad. The herd consists of ordinary office chairs and a lone leather chair. The hunters will not stop until they catch what stands out: the big chair that goes with the big job. See the ad here. If you enjoyed the mini Guilalas, you can see more of them online, in the form of six behind-the-scenes interviews in which a mini-creature complains to his agent, compares the size of his fireballs to those of a larger monster and describes being a Method actor. See the virals here, here, here, here, here and here. Fallon Minneapolis created the campaign.

StareWays placed an adStep graphics in Grand Central Terminal on the stairway leading to the S train that promotes the new season of "American Idol." Anyone besides me watch the train wrecks last night? The ad, seen here, is part of AI's station domination campaign and runs through January. Here's hoping that ads like this offset the NY MTA's plan to raise subway fares due to budget shortcomings. CBS Outdoor brokered the media buy.

EmblemHealth launched a massive advertising campaign last year to introduce New Yorkers to its new logo. The company even handed out mini hand sanitizers on high-trafficked streets; I snagged a bottle on my way to lunch. Main elements of the campaign were four 30-second TV spots, print, online, billboard, and wild postings. TV spots prominently feature EmblemHealth's new logo, displayed as something found in a New Yorker's life. In "Dunk," for example, an older man plays basketball and the hoop is the company logo. A cyclist en route to work uses a messenger bag in the shape of the logo. See the ads here and here. The final two ads follow a father grocery shopping with an EmblemHealth-shaped shopping cart and a young woman reading a chevron-shaped magazine. See them here and here. The animated ads are devoid of color except for the purple and gold EmblemHealth symbol and emphasize the plan's benefits for singles, seniors and families. Hill Holliday created the campaign.
Amy Corr is managing editor, online newsletters for MediaPost. She can be reached at amyc@mediapost.com.

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