Billboard for Hot Wheels is pleasantly loopy

Here's a fun Hot Wheels ad from Ogilvy Bogota, presenting a life-size loopty-loop on a highway overpass. Lots of ads bring cars down to miniature size—for LG and Nissan, in recent memory—so it's nice to see an effort that goes playfully in the other direction. Via Adverblog.

Filed under Colombia, Hot Wheels, Nudd, Ogilvy, Toys
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Retailer buys ad space in crossword puzzle

How do you reach senior citizens to tell them about your department store's sweet retiree benefits? Take out ads inside crossword puzzles, which they play endlessly—at least in Brazil. In a neat little media buy, Ogilvy bought ad space inside a crossword puzzle for department store Magazine Luiza. "Retirees are the main audience for crossword puzzles in Brazil," the case-study video points out. The audience couldn't skip the ad, because they needed the solve the clue to finish the puzzle—they even had to write down the retailer's name. It's a little harder to reach older people in the U.S., since it's tough to procure ad space in Sudoku puzzles or on the backs of protest signs demanding Obama's birth certificate. Via Ads of the World.

Filed under Brazil, Kiefaber, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy sorry for promoting organ harvesting

Ad agency 1984, a unit of Ogilvy in South Africa (shouldn't it be a unit of TBWA?), has apologized for a controversial guerrilla campaign promoting a horror film called Night Drive. They made fliers for a fictional Dr. Uba, a member of the "Native African Healers Society," with copy promising that the good doctor will pay "the best prices for your body parts and organs." (The plot of the rather lame-sounding Night Drive involves the poaching of human body parts.) Sure, $230 apiece for testicles is tempting, especially if you don't plan on using both. Heck, that's better resale value than most Dell laptops! There were many clues that the whole thing was bogus. First of all, the phone number didn't work, and in my experience, testicle merchants are always on call. Also, the promise of "24-hour recovery" for such a procedure seems like a stretch—washing in "holy spiritual water" may speed healing, but if I'm losing a ball, I'd also like antibiotics and morphine, thanks. What's more, the ad solicits "rhino parts," which most folks wouldn't have lying around the house. (I keep mine in the garage.) Police apparently tried to track down Dr. Uba. I guess they weren't sure the ad was a joke. Maybe that's understandable, as the flier mentions tongue (worth $360!) but not cheek. Full flier after the jump. Via Adland.

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Filed under Africa, Controversy, Gianatasio, Health, Movies, Ogilvy
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AmEx spot takes Conan to ends of the Earth

Ogilvy has this great spot out for American Express starring Conan O'Brien. The two-minute ad shows Conan speaking what I'm assuming is Hindi in a perplexing quest in India that involves finding fabric, crushing berries and dyeing cloth—all to make curtains for his show. The entire thing is very funny and quite entertaining. It benefits from great music, beautiful scenery and Conan's terrific acting. (I'm wondering how his Hindi is to those who speak it.) The only quibble, as with most of these kinds of spots, is that the tie to the brand is tenuous at best. It's only in the last 15 seconds that AmEx is mentioned. Still, the spot is destined to be a YouTube hit among Conan loyalists—and will double as advertising for his new show, which (finally) premieres tonight on TBS.

Filed under AmEx, Conan O'Brien, Morrissey, Ogilvy
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Stoli adds Biz Stone to 'celebrity' campaign

Ogilvy continues its celebrity-based "Would you have a drink with you?" ads for Stolichnaya vodka with this spot, in which non-celebrity Biz Stone, the Twitter co-founder, has a drink with himself and debates the merits of his creation. Mark Zuckerberg, the only true social-media celebrity, would've been a more obvious choice, but of course he's focused more on salvaging his reputation than making extra cash off it. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe Twitter is just a constant stream of meaningless babble?" Stone says to himself. The part about @BarackObama ordering a Caesar salad doesn't seem to be based on a real tweet, but Stone's exchange with himself at the end is a nice nod to the criticism of Twitter as simply a record of people's lunches. "The Caesar went back. Too many anchovies," Stone says. "Interesting," he replies. Check out the earlier Stoli spots with Hugh Hefner and Julia Stiles.

Filed under Alcohol, Celebrity endorsements, Nudd, Ogilvy, Stolichnaya
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Huggies ad visits theme park of parenthood

Huggies depicts the emotional experience of parenting as an amusement park in this lavishly detailed new commercial from Ogilvy South Africa. Some parents might disagree that childrearing is an endless fun-park adventure (see: "All Joy and No Fun"), but the spot is fantastical and fanciful enough to surely make the metaphor enjoyable for most viewers. The parents in the spot seem to be having a great time, anyway—probably because there's no ride called the Poop Explosion. See a seven-minute making-of video after the jump. Via Ads of the World.

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Filed under Africa, Diapers, Huggies, Nudd, Ogilvy
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Spin a boring clip into gold, win employment

The Big Ad Gig is back for its second year, granting 30-day entry-level jobs to the gaggle of unemployed creatives shuffling about on the edges of the industry. And all you have to do to get one of these gigs is submit a video. But instead of an open call to upload anything you like, this time you’ll have to complete a video based on one of the judges' "abstract nuggets." Apparently, an abstract nugget is a small bit of a story. You’ll have to transform your nugget into a compelling brand story for…something. Once again, eight finalists get to come to Advertising Week and work on an Ad Council brief, but this time there will be five winners instead of four. Plus, they're guaranteed the contents and a pink mystery box. Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Ogilvy in New York, Proximity Atmosphere and TBWA\Chiat\Day are partnering on the project. May the compellingest nugget win.

Filed under Advertising Week, Crispin Porter, Cullers, Job hunting, Ogilvy, TBWA
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Dita Von Teese cools off with help of Perrier

The core product benefit communicated in this Perrier spot is simple: Looks good poured over Dita Von Teese's heaving bosom. If you don't have a famous burlesque artist handy on whom to personally test this, that's a shame, but not Perrier's fault. Done by Ogilvy & Mather in Paris, whose creatives probably needed their own Perrier showers afterward.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Food and drink, Nudd, Ogilvy, Perrier
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Julia Stiles and Julia Stiles in latest Stoli ad

Ogilvy has released another celebrity self-pairing for its Stolichnaya vodka campaign. They debuted with Hugh Hefner, which we wanted no part of, and their newest ad sees Julia Styles discovering that she's kind of a bitch. Guess that whole "having a drink with herself" thing didn't work out so well. Better luck next time, Stolichnaya. Via AgencySpy.

Filed under Alcohol, Kiefaber, Ogilvy, Stolichnaya
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Ogilvy reverses assumptions in AIDS appeal

A couple of recent road-safety PSAs have shown time running backwards to make the point that drunken accidents can't be reversed. The ravaging effects of AIDS can be reversed, however, as shown in this powerful Ogilvy spot for South Africa's Topsy Foundation—which uses a time trick that's not revealed until the end, when we realize that woman isn't dying but is actually getting better. Potential contributors should be suitably stirred by seeing their patronage imbued with the power to cheat the reaper. Via Adland.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Africa, AIDS, Gianatasio, Ogilvy, PSAs
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MC Hammer's beer spot is too hot to handle

MC Hammer, perhaps pissed that he didn't get a tumble with other past-it celebs in that retro Butterfinger spot, takes his revenge by appearing in Ogilvy's latest South African spot for Castle Lite beer. Hammer's got nearly 2 million Twitter followers, by the way, which says something about the enduring nature of pop icons and our society's predilection for crap. In the spot, he maintains his dignity about as well as a beefy, middle-aged rapper in a sparkly gold outfit can: He stays seated at the bar and delivers his lines without wacky parachute-pants dance antics. Not so Vanilla Ice, who busted some furious moves in his own Castle Lite ad a while back. "Busted" also means that something doesn't work. Kidding, of course—these guys are too legit to ever quit. Peace out, homeboys!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Africa, Alcohol, Celebrity endorsements, Gianatasio, Ogilvy
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Double your Hefner with Ogilvy's Stoli effort

Trying to find its voice in the vodka market, Stolichnaya is unveiling a campaign from Ogilvy & Mather that poses the question, "Would you have a drink with you?" The ads will show celebrities paired with duplicates of themselves, starting with Hugh Hefner, who is split into his dichotomic halves: "creepy old man" and "creepy old man in a silk bathrobe." More celebs are on the way, but Ogilvy won't say who they are. It's a shame Garth Brooks isn't really a celebrity anymore, because he would have been perfect for this campaign. Plus, he could have drunk that goof Chris Gaines under the table. See the full Hefner print ad after the jump.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

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Filed under Alcohol, Celebrity endorsements, Kiefaber, Ogilvy, Stolichnaya
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'Beyond petroleum' not looking so slick now

BP's "Beyond petroleum" campaign, launched by Ogilvy & Mather almost a decade ago, has always been borderline ludicrous, positioning the oil company as essentially anti-oil (or at least post-oil). Critics have long characterized the ads as the height of hypocrisy and greenwashing (given BP's relatively small investment in alternate energies compared to its core business, and its pursuit of environmentally controversial projects like its oil sands work in Canada). Now, its purportedly green image has been dirtied once again with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, caused by a sunken rig it was operating. Anger toward the company has been muted so far, with only isolated calls for a boycott, but that may change when the spill reaches the coast. For BP's sake, hopefully there aren't too many overly dramatic, attention-seeking otters around.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under BP, Energy, Environment, Nudd, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy turns bar tabs into drunk-driving ads

Here's an interesting street-level campaign from Ogilvy Brazil to fight drunk driving. Working with bars, the agency came up with a machine that spit out wildly inflated bar tabs, ambushing patrons with charges of up to $73,000 for the booze they just sucked down. Upon closer examination, the bills actually featured an itemized list of medical costs associated with a drunk-driving accident. The video case study below shows customers' reactions caught on hidden camera by Hungry Man's Paulo Gandra. Ogilvy Brazil is doing lots of this kind of stuff lately. Check out this recent campaign for Burger King, in which the agency photographed patrons waiting in line and printed their photos on Whopper wrappers—another way to personalize the "Have it your way" positioning.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Brazil, Nudd, Ogilvy, PSAs, Road safety
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Ogilvy sets mouthwash ad in a gas chamber

Execution by lethal gas is such an interesting theme for dental-care ads. Here, we have a commercial from Ogilvy & Mather for Frezza mouthwash in which a man is killed by bad breath. Pretty weird idea, but hey, great execution! Via Copyranter.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Filed under Asia, Freaky, Nudd, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy seeking world's greatest salesperson

Ogilvy is looking for closers. The shop's OgilvyOne unit is running a YouTube contest that's billed as a hunt for "the world's greatest salesperson." Contestants need to hawk a brick (Ogilvy red, of course). The idea is that advertising has gotten too much away from sales, and what better way to test marketing acumen than taking a commoditized product and amping up the persuasion? It's a bit depressing that this is the lot of agencies: Businesses create me-too products, then expect a dash of clever copy and cool art direction to make people forget how unremarkable it is. Wouldn't agencies much rather be in the business of turning the product or service into something more remarkable? Three finalists get a three-day boondoggle to Cannes to present in front of judges and 100 euros in pocket money, enough for approximately three croque monsieurs. The top closer gets to stay for free the rest of the week in Cannes and a paid internship at OgilvyOne, which the agency, in classic sales fashion, is billing as a "three-month fellowship."

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Morrissey, Ogilvy
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Canada preparing giant butt-mob for cancer

Taking the flash-mob concept literally, the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada is staging a "butt-mob" on March 31 to raise awareness for the cause. It's billed as the biggest-ever gathering of butts on Facebook. I dunno, the Republican National Committee has a page. Ha ha! The CCAC's effort, via Ogilvy in Montreal, is called "Get Your Butt Seen," and it underscores the importance of screening for early detection. According to the organization: "Users can upload images of different bottoms that appear to have been taken by a photocopier or upload an image of their own backside and then send it to their friends via e-mail or for posting on Facebook." Hmm, I'd do that even without the cancer tie-in. I'm an ass.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Butts, Canada, Cancer, Gianatasio, Ogilvy, PSAs
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Any who would disgrace Capri Sun must die

Transformation is the theme of these Willy Wonka-esque Capri Sun ads by Ogilvy. Kids who toss away or otherwise mistreat the product's distinctive pouch packages are turned into balloons, chew toys, sand sculptures and turtles. That seems like harsh punishment for littering, and positions Capri Sun as a vengeful drink with dark, magical powers to visit harm upon consumers. Awesome! I'll offer one to that guy in the next cube who's been running around screaming "Respect the pouch!" all day. That happens to be Capri Sun's tagline. And I'm switching to Kool-Aid.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Capri Sun, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy spot presents the bad-driver musical

The uptight, goody-good star of this Australian AAMI ad by Badjar Ogilvy seems like a major tool, bellyaching about other drivers' supposedly ridiculous car-insurance claims. Hey pal, mind your own business. If you don't like it, ride a dingo to work, or move to New Zealand. Like those blonde hotties who couldn't figure out the roadmap would give this guy the time of day. Even they're not that stupid. Crikey, this remake of the best-forgotten '80s power-ballad "What About Me?" is enough to make anyone tear his or her hands off the wheel in a screaming fit, cover their ears and wrap their car around a telephone pole.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Australia, Gianatasio, Insurance, Ogilvy
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U.K. anti-homophobia ad: too homophobic?

U.K. football fans being obnoxious, vulgar, intolerant and one step away from inflicting bodily harm? Shocking! Such behavior isn't permitted in other settings, like white-collar places of business. And that's the premise of "Unacceptable" (posted below), a 90-second anti-homophobia clip by Ogilvy London for the Football Association. The video's Wembley Stadium premiere, set for today, was canceled, and the film leaked on the Web amid growing controversy. Some have blasted it as a mean-spirited "shock advert" that could do more harm than good. Whether you admire or revile the creative approach, you won't soon forget this expletive-laden piece, which follows a doughy-faced, middle-class lout as he goes about his mundane, workaday routine—verbally abusing everyone in sight. The actor's performance is right on the edge, and his outbursts are especially startling because they seem so unforced and natural. The lack of any music soundtrack and the generally quiet atmosphere allow his invectives to hit home even more forcefully. It's no stretch to imagine oneself on the receiving end of such a tirade, so in that sense, the piece succeeds in building empathy and awareness. The abusers, however, are unlikely to recognize themselves in the face of the miscreant. It usually takes a prison cell for them to have an unobstructed view of their actions.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Europe, Homophobia, Ogilvy, PSAs
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Kodak brings a smile to paper cut-out's face

Two hot advertising trends right now: anthropomorphic hamsters and paper stuff that comes to life. This new Kodak video from Ogilvy & Mather, posted below, belongs to the latter (joining the NeatDesk monster and the New Zealand Book Council's animated pages). In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, called "Lost Smile," Marjolaine Siriex's artwork provides a storybook feel, and the mix of animation and live action from Paranoid director Sophie Gateau lends a pleasingly magical, art-film quality to the piece. The techo-chick-pop soundtrack wiped the smile from my face, but I suppose it suits the mood of the video. So, will our heroine get her smile back by the end? Spoiler alert: Nope. In fact, she dies lonely and sad, without even a cat for company. I'm kidding. It's an ad, so you know the grin's coming, revived in part by Kodak photos, naturally. Read more at Adland.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Gianatasio, Kodak, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy lets it snow in Christmas iPhone app

This could be a first: an ad agency building a holiday iPhone app rather than a Web site. Ogilvy Group in the U.K. has rolled out the free White Christmas application, which lets iPhone users add falling snowflakes to any photo. As the agency puts it, the app is "cheaper than hiring a snow machine." Ogilvy has apparently learned from Dish Network by making it a prominently Christmas-oriented app. There's no talk of a White Holiday.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Filed under Europe, Holidays, iPhone, Morrissey, Ogilvy
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Get superhuman strength with bottled water

Ever need to carry around really heavy stuff like racehorses and houses? Who hasn't!? If you're in France, Vittel bottled water can help, according to a new campaign from Ogilvy Paris (with production company Henry de Czar and director Lionel Goldstein). See all three TV spots here. The ads have some drawbacks. The "It must be the water" message is derivative. (Plus, why must it be the water? There's nothing in water.) The soundtracks are appalling: These French songs would suck in any language. And the house in that one commercial seems a bit too obviously phony. (Maybe it's made of gingerbread. I like the festive notion of gingerbread, but it's too sweet, tastes like crap.) However, the ad below, with the riders carrying the horses, rocks! Damn, those nags look like the real deal! They almost seem to be smiling, enjoying the ultimate equine revenge. Don't kid yourself. They'd turn us into dog food and glue if they could.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Europe, Gianatasio, Ogilvy, Water
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Not everyone is smiling at Kodak's new ads

Dave Bry at The Awl is unnerved by this Kodak commercial, part of Ogilvy's new "It's time to smile" campaign. For Bry, it isn't time to smile. At most, it's time to laugh uneasily. He wonders: "Is the grandma supposed to be a ghost? Are they both ghosts? Is this a commercial about the victims of some grisly, long-ago mass-murder coming back to haunt the living?" All that's missing is a dream sequence involving Kodak's dual-cyclops dog.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Previously on AdFreak:
Mutant dog helps sell new Kodak camera

Filed under Kodak, Nudd, Ogilvy
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Ogilvy ad breaks through against prejudice

Ogilvy & Mather in Istanbul presents a quietly powerful metaphor for prejudice in this effort for the Zaman newspaper in Turkey. We get surreal scenes of average folks who literally run up against their ignorance in the form of unseen, transparent barriers that inhibit their progress. They become trapped, unable to move forward or connect with others. In effect, they are no longer full and active participants in daily life. They've exiled themselves to a no man's land where they're on the outside looking in. The ambient soundtrack works with the bleak visuals to evoke a mood of sad isolation. The climactic "breakthrough," though predictable, provides catharsis and hope. "Our prejudices. Our invisible walls. Isn't it time to demolish them?" says the copy. At 1:45, this is the director's cut (there's also a :60), but the length allows for an almost hypnotic effect to take hold. Those who think the spot's too long should watch without prejudice.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Filed under Europe, Gianatasio, Newspapers, Ogilvy
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