New Ad Campaigns

Thursday, September 24, 2009

New Ad Campaigns

Our weekly update from Amy:

Goat tears heal. Food flags incite hunger. Harley-Davidson honors Harlistas. Let's launch!

I've always thought of Pearl Jam as a band I'd never see in commercials. Color me shocked to see Eddie Vedder and crew in an ad for Target, promoting the exclusive partnership between band and brand. The ad is clips from Pearl Jam's video "The Fixer," with Target's logo interspersed throughout. The spot ends with a plug for Pearl Jam's new album and exclusive content available at Target. See the ad here, created by Wieden+Kennedy Portland and directed by Cameron Crowe.

An office full of people is showered with $12 million in bills and coins and not a single person is hit in the head by loose change. "Cashalance" promotes twice-weekly Mega Millions drawings from the Illinois Lottery. Jackpots start at $12 million, the amount of cash dropped upon a seemingly normal office environment. A woman, holding the office's ticket, screams with delight when the numbers match. One worker looks less than enthused: Either he's in shock or missed out in the lotto pool. Who knew it paid to be nice to people? See the ad here, created by Energy BBDO.

DirecTV ran six minute-long commercials during Fox's NFL Opening Day, promoting its NFL Sunday Ticket package. Tom Arnold, hoarse voice and all, leads a group of displaced NFL fans that joined a DirecTV NFL Support Group for aid and advice. Arnold helps a fan that moved from Oakland to San Diego to catch Raiders' games every weekend. Watch it here. A man with a weak bladder doesn't miss a moment; he brings his mobile phone into the bathroom. Let's hope he doesn't drop it after an exciting play. See it here. A fan with cable TV, shown here, makes the switch to DirecTV in HD to feel closer to the players. Here, Tom Arnold is a displaced fan like those attending his support group. The only difference: he's rich, famous and lives in Hollywood. Watch it here. One man learns how to prevent fantasy football failure. Arnold then makes an amusing quip about time travel and Brett Favre. See it here. The final ad, seen here, helps a traveling tube-sock salesman watch NFL games on his laptop. Deutsch LA created the campaign and Deutsch New York handled the media buy.

This campaign made me hungry while simultaneously testing my knowledge of world flags. The Sydney Morning Herald launched a delicious print campaign to promote the Sydney International Food Festival, taking place throughout October. The campaign unites foodies from around the world with flags crafted from food. Hold me back. Look for Italy, Japan, Greece, Hungary, South Korea, Switzerland, Brazil and Australia, among others, to receive the edible treatment. View creative here, here, here, here, here, here and here. Whybin/TBWA created the campaign.

Mission Pharmacal launched an amusing ad for its Thera-gesic brand called "Goat Tears." It made me laugh. A woman living on a farm uses goat tears to soothe her aching muscles. Since goats aren't big criers, she must resort to creative means to incite tears. The poor goats are forced to smell onions, listen to a rendition of "Danny Boy," and visit their mother's grave. See the ad here, running on The Weather Channel and Game Show Network. Moroch created the ad.

Harlistas, a group of Latino Harley-Davidson riders, are being honored with a print campaign and microsite. The brand chronicles the lives of three Harlistas in a documentary running on YouTube, Facebook and Harlista's microsite. A series of Web TV spots profile Harlista stories and encourage viewers to submit their own tale for a chance to be part of a feature-length Harlista documentary. A print campaign reveals additional information from each man's personal journey and drives traffic to the Harlista microsite. "Life in the saddle will teach you one thing: Life's a lot more fun if you live it while you're alive," reads one ad. Really? Stop the presses! See print ads here, here and here, created by Carmichael Lynch.

1800 Tequila launched two TV spots starring Michael Imperioli, of "Sopranos" fame, poking fun at its competition, Patrón. In the first ad, shown here, Imperioli wonders what happened to tequila. "These days, it's all velvet ropes and posture," he says as he kicks his feet onto a table, knocking a bottle of Patrón to the floor. The top of an 1800 Tequila bottle pours Imperioli a shot in the next ad, seen here. The same can't be said for the Patrón bottle. Agent16 created the campaign.

Birdwatchers need not travel far to see colorful birds if they use Scotts Songbird Wild Bird Food. Scotts attracted twice as many cardinals, goldfinches and indigo buntings than its competitors. Researchers used inventive forms of camouflage to gain this knowledge -- from blending into a wood shed, peeking out from a tree, hiding in bushes and beneath rocks. See the ad here. ML Rogers created the campaign and Mediaedge:cia New York handled the media buy.

Random iPhone App of the Week: Tylenol PM created a sleep tracker app that lets users record sleep patterns and moods while charting a person's sleep history over time. Users can also create mood icons (happy, sad, sleepy, etc.) using pictures from their own personal photos. Is there one for nightmares? The free app offers tips to help improve sleep habits, aside from taking Tylenol PM. Deutsch created the app, found here.