Jeff Goodby's holiday rap for young and old
"New school, I'm sick of your shit." So begins Jeff Goodby's rap in this Goodby, Silverstein & Partners holiday video (posted below), as he squares off against a young employee in a battle of old and wise ("I kern my type") versus young and foolish ("We get naked and Skype"). Yes, the white-rap thing has been done, and Goodby's played the old-guy card before. Still, the ("whacked-ass") rhymes are amusing, and it's nice to see one of our Agency Executives of the Decade willing to slum it in a doughnut suit. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Are we laughing with eBay or at eBay here?
Would you buy a snowmobile on eBay because Jim Gaffigan tells you to? The answer, of course, is no. Could you enjoy his attempts to persuade you in a TV commercial? Well, yes ... in theory. In practice, however, viewers might hit the fast-forward button. Sadly, the same is true of much of this new campaign from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for the fading auction powerhouse. See a whole bunch of ads here. eBay crested during Web 1.0, and this effort seems hell-bent on delivering old-hat, mostly unfunny schtick from a who's-who of cable-comedy refugees in set-ups that go nowhere. Even the stuff with the younger performers feels dated. It's so ... '90s. The absurdly annoying Michael Ian Black in a tattoo parlor? There's only one way that works: jam a needle in his neck. Alas, he escapes unpoked. Other featured comics include Michael Showalter and Kevin Hart. Overall, the campaign generates more yucks than yuks. These spots perfectly mirror the advertiser: mired in the past and outbid for fresh ideas by a new generation of socially minded Web rivals. |
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Published on November 6, 2009 | Permalink
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White Gold returns in 'Got milk?' rock opera
It's been a year and a half since "Got milk?" introduced White Gold, the fake rock star with the fu manchu and the milk-filled guitar. The character, dreamed up by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, seemed like a flash in the pan, but apparently not, as he's making a grand return this coming Monday in "The Battle for Milkquarious," a 20-minute "rock opera" broadcast at Milkquarious.com. A clip from the production is posted above; the Milkquarious site has the trailer, which shows more of the plot. (Some bad guys steal all the milk from White Gold's lair, and after crying about it, he heads off on a quest to get it back.) The whole thing apparently benefits art programs at California public high schools, which are being invited to submit spoofs of the rock opera for a chance at prizes. It's still unclear why White Gold prefers milk over drugs, but he seems to have at least one groupie. —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Häagen-Dazs still trying to save honey beesHoney bees are dying out. Frankly, I don't see the problem, and they're welcome to take the hornets and the wasps right along with them. Yet according to press materials from Häagen-Dazs/Dreyer's: "Honey bees are responsible for one-third of all the foods we eat." I suppose this is true if one-third of your diet consists of honey. (Mine comes pretty close if you count doughnuts with a honey glaze.) Häagen-Dazs continues its efforts to save the honey bees (that's last year's spot posted above, from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) by urging folks to upload photos of themselves planting flowers to Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. The top three submissions each win certificates for a year's supply of ice cream. Forget the ecological issue—if the world's supply of Häagen-Dazs is threatened in any way, that's enough motivation for me! |
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Published on August 4, 2009 | Permalink
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Murro and Barrett, always on the same page
Director Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks and creative director Jamie Barrett of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, who have worked together a lot, held a seminar in Cannes titled "The Creative Relationship Between Agency And Director." According to the seminar overview, "Noam and Jamie do not profess to know all the secrets of a director/agency relationship. But they can certainly speak of their own experience." Which, judging by the video above, involves a common vision, a healthy creative give-and-take, some awkward and tender moments, and lots of sex. |
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Published on June 29, 2009 | Permalink
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Feast on Emerald Nuts, remain on the plane
According to this ad from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Emerald Nuts can spike your blood sugar high enough so you can avoid drowsily mistaking an airplane's emergency exit for the lavatory door. The trick is to eat them before you fall out of the plane. By the time the spot catches up with our ground-bound protagonist, he and the flight attendant falling with him could use some parachutes. But I guess Emerald Nuts doesn't make those. Pity. The lesson here is for Emerald to make ads where the product isn't too little, too late. Via @dabitch, who points out that the spot probably shouldn't be airing in the wake of a major air disaster. |
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Published on June 5, 2009 | Permalink
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KG out of the playoffs but has a nice laptop
Perhaps if Kevin Garnett had paid more attention to what was happening on the court and spent less time daydreaming about the functionality of his Hewlett-Packard notebook, the Boston Celtics wouldn't have been booted from the NBA playoffs. Maybe if he'd studied the moves of some Orlando Magic players on that screen instead of looking ahead to the L.A. Lakers, he'd still be playing some hoop. Lucky for Kevin, he'll now have plenty of free time—an entire off-season—to indulge his globetrotting online and offline pursuits. Enjoy the business trip to China there, Kev. No need to book a flight to Cleveland, where the Magic are heading. That town's for winners. I just realized that the word "globetrotting" has a hoops-related double meaning. That's apt. Wordplay is likewise for winners. So are Macs. Crashtastic, virus-prone HPs, like the one Garnett uses in this spot from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Psyop, are not. UPDATE: Oh right, KG was injured, wasn't he? Ignore me. Go Yankees! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on May 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Which is worse, a robot or a Denny's meal?I've often spoken out in this forum against the threat posed by robots. They're out to kill us all, and they never follow you back on Twitter. (I had to sneak that in ... SEO, keywords, etc.) But I also hate Denny's. They're out to kill us all, too—with their food. So, how to interpret Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' latest ad for the chain? On the one hand, processed breakfast sandwiches made by killer robots are indeed best avoided. And yet, the commercial suggests Denny's "Grand Slamwich" as an alternative. That's also pretty risky. Maybe the safest bet is bland fare like the stuff at P.J. Bland's. Sure, it's made of cardboard, but it beats that greasy pile of pig they plop on your plate at Denny's. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on April 24, 2009 | Permalink
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Is Sprint's ad the first inspired by a widget?I'm glad to hear I'm not the only nerd who loved Sprint's "Now" widget, which debuted in November. Apparently the lighthearted and mesmerizing tool was such a hit, Sprint turned it into the swank new ad shown above. If you haven't already, check out Eleftheria Parpis' writeup on Adweek.com about the campaign by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. So, what will be the next widget to inspire a big-budget TV spot? My vote goes to the Blog and Website Cuss-O-Meter. —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on April 8, 2009 | Permalink
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Snobby French squirrel loves Emerald Nuts
I miss the days when Emerald Nuts showed Robert Goulet messing with your stuff while you were in a mid-afternoon stupor. Now, judging by this ad from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, all they're good for is inspiring boisterous, culturally stereotypical nut snobs to yell at you. Which isn't nearly as fun. And who still listens to gramophones in this day and age? |
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Published on March 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Lay's chips and dip falling in love offscreenThe new "Made for each other" campaign for Lay's by Goodby, Silverstein and Partners suggests that Lay's chips and dip were destined to be together. Yet the five beautifully animated spots (see them all here), each done in its own lovely style, don't show either product. Instead, they tell stories of strange and delightful items falling in love. The spots are all engaging and endearing, and have lovely song choices to match. You can also try out the beautiful, intricate, also completely un-chip-related Web site. (There’s a crazy loading time, mind you.) I really wanted to dislike the campaign because of the utter lack of chips and dip, but the art direction is just so winning. What can I say for myself? Only the heartless feel nothing over the plight of a lonely firesprite. |
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Published on March 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Quaker Oats will have you going and going
I'd like to believe Quaker Oats CMO Annie Young-Scrivner when she tells Brandweek that the company's new campaign from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is designed to communicate that the oat is "not just a grain. It's a super grain that powers your day and helps you do amazing things. It lifts you physically and emotionally and makes you feel good knowing you did something good for someone and yourself, and it's one of the most nutritious grains." Still, given the product in question (and my propensity for reading scatological subtexts into pretty much everything), I can't help but feel that the tagline "Go humans go" is somewhat unfortunate. Of course, I could be completely misreading the brand's intentions. But if some subversive copysmith knowingly slid such a reference in (yuck), I salute you. Well played. Now, pull my finger! |
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Published on March 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Everyone's as cool as hell in Comcast Town
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners has created a bunch of new spots for Comcast with a groovy mix of live action and animation, with characters singing about the cable company in a Moldy Peaches/Juno-esque hipster monotone. See an assload of new ads here. They've also set aside a piece of the Internet, cleverly named Comcast Town, for consumers to nest in. There are customizable rooms à la Animal Planet, and they can be further customized by purchasing new items with Comcast Bucks. Comcast Town looks like a lovely community, but I would have preferred to see Olde Comcastte Towne, modeled on one of the early Moravian settlements in North Carolina. A town set 300 years in the past and controlled by a single monolithic entity is a spot-on representation of Comcast's business model. |
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Published on March 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Feast on data with Goodby's Sprint widgets
Keep current on all sorts of arcane data with this impressive page of Sprint widgets, available for download in a mini version. Via Kottke, who credits Mike Kellogg and Goodby, Silverstein. |
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Published on November 12, 2008 | Permalink
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Häagen-Dazs, Goodby saving the honeybee
We didn't expect the folks at Häagen-Dazs, of all people, to lead the charge for honeybee preservation, but they’ve employed videos (like the one above, from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Psyop) and a Web site, helpthehoneybees.com, that alert you to their plight. Apparently, bee pollination is necessary for the production of a lot of Haagen-Dazs’ premium ice-cream flavors, which is why they care enough to do all this, and the fruit of their efforts is a new flavor: Vanilla Honey Bee. They’re also pledging to donate money to pollination research programs. My cynical side wonders how much of their concern is heartfelt, but as far as ice cream flavors go, it’s a good thing they aren’t worried about unchecked methane buildup. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on April 24, 2008 | Permalink
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