French Alzheimer's ad not quickly forgotten

It's French PSA day on AdFreak. Here's a powerful Alzheimer's awareness ad from Saatchi & Saatchi Paris. Compare it with the fluffier British Alzheimer's spot below, produced by Red Bee Media.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 22, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Europe, Freaky, Health, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi

Luvs empathizes with cast-off older siblings

Psychologists might disagree with the premise of this Luvs ad from Gerry Graf and Harold Einstein over at Saatchi & Saatchi. There's a pretty wide gulf between telling a kid he's getting a sibling and telling a husband he's getting cuckolded. Different emotional and physical bonds, different stages of brain development, etc. Plus, the ad feels a bit long. Still, it's an amusing way to highlight an issue that parents, already overloaded at that stage, usually shrug off. But if your younger, more attractive brother starts putting the moves on Mom, you'll want to call someone other than Luvs.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on June 19, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Diapers, Kiefaber, Luvs, Saatchi & Saatchi

Toyota eyeing the giant-tire-swing business

Call me dense, but I don't see what this Toyota spot from Saatchi & Saatchi in New Zealand has to do with, well, Toyota. In fact, it seems to encompass nearly everything but Toyota, including envy, materialism, good parenting and the sturdiness of Oceanic craftsmanship. The only time Toyota even enters into things is when the dad goes out for supplies, and that's maybe five seconds out of 60. Although it has convinced me that Toyota should start producing enormous tire-swing contraptions.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on June 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Automotive, Kiefaber, New Zealand, Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota

Modern dancers interpret the art of Cadbury

The performing arts are taking a beating from advertising today. First, we had the Breathe Right nasal-strips guy who quietly snoozes through a pretentious theater performance. Now, we get this Cadbury Caramilk ad from Saatchi & Saatchi New York, in which the process of creating the candy bar is "revealed through modern dance"—which is another way of saying, revealed through a bunch of jiggling, costumed buffoonery. A commercial ridiculing an orchestra would round things out.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Cadbury, Candy, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi

T-Mobile turns London into big karaoke bar

T-Mobile is getting good at these big public advertising stunts over in London. First, they organized the spontaneous dancing in Liverpool Street Station (below). Then, last Thursday, they managed to get 13,000 people into Trafalgar Square for what they thought might be another dance-a-thon, but which turned out to be a collective karaoke rendition of "Hey Jude" (above). The American singer Pink showed up and joined in, too, for some reason. These flash-mob stunts, coordinated by Saatchi & Saatchi, are less notable for how they reinforce T-Mobile's brand message, which is the typically vague "Life's for sharing," than for the brand-specific way in which they're mobilized: via text message to T-Mobile customers.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on May 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Europe, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi, T-Mobile, Telecom

Disabled dancer going with the flow for Visa

Saatchi & Saatchi London created this fun new spot as part of its European "Life flows better with Visa" campaign. It stars Bill Shannon, a freestyle dance artist who was born with a degenerative hip condition and has come up with a fascinating way of dancing on crutches. Some are ragging on Saatchi for essentially copying a music video by the band RJD2 that also features Shannon. And that's a fair point, though it's still nice to see Shannon getting a wider audience through advertising. Visa has posted a behind-the-scenes video from the shoot to its YouTube channel. And check out a short documentary about Shannon here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Europe, Finance, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi, Visa

High Life guy tries out one-second comedy

Even Windell Middlebrooks, the Miller High Life delivery guy, has trouble being funny in just one second. He's asked to do so in MillerCoors' new campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi. The idea is to poke fun at Anheuser-Busch for shelling out so much cash for its Super Bowl slots. In contrast to A-B's big outlay, Miller will run just a single one-second ad on game day—and a :30 all next week advertising the :01. There are also a slew of one-second spots with Middlebrooks on 1secondad.com. In this lousy economy, the idea isn't so bad. But of course, by focusing so much on A-B, Miller does run the risk of seeming a little jealous.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on January 21, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Alcohol, Miller, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi, Super Bowl

THE FREAKIEST AD OF 2008: Saatchi's comic, gory spot for 'Evil Dead the Musical'

In the end, it wasn't even close. This gory/comic spot for Evil Dead the Musical, by Saatchi & Saatchi in Toronto, has bloodily sauntered off with the title of AdFreak's Freakiest Ad of 2008, after collecting 49 percent of the vote in the four-way final. Converse's KissingWithRoss.com came in second, with 22 percent. The Dutch Socialist Party and Doritos rounded out the top four, with 18 percent and 11 percent, respectively. The Evil Dead spot is a worthy successor to the Dexter viral that won our contest last year. So, congrats to Saatchi. To see all of this year's 32 freaky finalists, click here.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 24, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Freakiest Ads, Freakiest Ads of 2008, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi, Year in Review

Heads off to this 'Evil Dead the Musical' spot

Standing beneath a marquee for Evil Dead the Musical can be hazardous, judging by this ad for the production, which just wrapped after almost 400 performances in Toronto (making it the longest-running Canadian show of the past 15 years). Earlier we looked at some of great print ads from the same campaign. All of the work is by Saatchi & Saatchi Toronto, of whom Bruce Campbell would be proud. Via YesButNoButYes.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Freaky, Nudd, Saatchi & Saatchi, Theater

Toyota storms our turf: high-school football

As if it weren't bad enough that Toyota crushed our proud domestic auto industry by making quality, fuel-efficient cars, the company now has to shame us further by stealing our heritage. This fall, Toyota took to the road with Saatchi & Saatchi and visited select high-school football teams across the country for Line of Scrimmage, an ultra-folksy take on what's goin' on in small-town America, the last safe haven for freedom-loving car buyers. What will happen to GM if there are no football moms left buying Yukons to take their kids to practice in? And to Ford if the Tundra becomes the football-coach truck of choice over the F150? Not even the U.S. government can save the Big Three if Toyota wins the battle in the small-town trenches. Then they'll just have to be saved by zero.

—Posted by Jeremy Greenfield

Published on December 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Automotive, Greenfield, Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota

Saatchi CEO does enjoy his Thai massages

These are tough times. Every day seems to bring more grim news to agency land. Thankfully, those at the top are showing their solidarity with the troops. Well, sorta. On his BNET blog, my former colleague Jim Edwards points out that Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide CEO and sisomo advocate Kevin Roberts blogged about his recent extravagant vacation at a Thai resort. K.R. isn't averse to Internet oversharing, raving about his "classic cleansing" and daily massages, including his first facial. Jim points out that the resort charges a sweet $615 per night. But let's be real here. Times are tough, but agency CEOs, particularly at top-of-the-line shops like Saatchi, are paid handsomely. How handsomely? The Publicis Groupe 2007 annual report says K.R. got $3 million in lovemarks in 2007. For that kind of coin, $615 a night at a Thai resort seems pretty reasonable.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on December 9, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (9)
Filed under Kevin Roberts, Morrissey, Saatchi & Saatchi

JC Penney earns own spot in the doghouse

JC Penney this week rolled out just what the world needs: another Flash microsite for the holidays. I have to look at so many microsites that my expectations are never high. Still, some do stand out—the ones that make me wonder why anyone in their right mind would spend time there. "Beware of the Doghouse" is one of those sites. First, upon arriving at the site, it tells me my browser isn't good enough. You know what, JC Penney, it is. Next, there's an intro video to sit through—nearly five minutes of painful setup to the site's "idea." Which is: Men are doofuses—shocking that advertising would portray them that way—and get women dumb holiday gifts, even vacuum cleaners. They are then banished to a mythical doghouse until they buy their way out. Get it? Hey, it worked for Kobe. JC Penney employs an eye-rolling user-generated approach by letting visitors put men in the doghouse. (There's a techie twist with one of the earliest uses of Facebook Connect, which lets visitors check if their friends are in the doghouse. None of mine are, it seems.) How to get out? Diamonds! Men simply need to buy their ladies the three-stone ring, journey pendant or diamond studs—from JC Penney, conveniently enough. Saatchi & Saatchi and Razorfish boldly take credit for this.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on December 5, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (10)
Filed under Digital, JC Penney, Razorfish, Saatchi & Saatchi

Spoken-word artist fired up about Guinness

This Guinness commercial from Saatchi & Saatchi London, starring spoken-word artist Ainsley Burrows, might seem pretty far afield from the product, but it's not. Lots of Guinness drinkers walk around counting out loud. Police are usually making them do it, but that's beside the point. Even all the New Agey stuff about journeys is relevant, although that usually occurs when they're still in the bar. Read move over at Adland.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on October 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Kiefaber, Saatchi & Saatchi

Who wants a big funnel cloud of Guinness?

So wait, Guinness is made from distilled tornadoes? We always thought it was roasted barley that gave it the dark ruby color and robust taste it's so famous for. That, or mice falling into the St. James Brewery vats. We've certainly never heard any weather-related explanations. We don't even know if Ireland gets any tornadoes, for that matter. Spot by Saatchi London.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Alcohol, Guinness, Kiefaber, Saatchi & Saatchi

Your rooster wants to play in the nighttime

Cryptic ads urging me to "silence my rooster" have been receiving heavy play during the convention coverage. In the 15-second spots from Saatchi & Saatchi, people are woken up by noises only to discover ... um, a big fat cock. View the short spots "Drum Kit," "Basketball," "Car Alarm," "Hair Dryer," "Pay Phone" and "Vacuum." At first, I thought they were selling a pill that prevents nocturnal emissions. Then I saw a woman in one of the ads and figured I had misinterpreted. Eventually, I was curious enough to check out their slow-loading Web site, SilenceYourRooster.com. I was greeted by the heading "Tired of morning coming in the middle of the night?" Once again, I should point out that the product has nothing to do with nocturnal emissions. Apparently, it's for the sleep aid Ambien CR. I'm not the only one who's confused. DeadRooster.com has seen its traffic jump since the campaign started. By not telling us anything, the campaign is indeed driving traffic—just not necessarily to the right place.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on August 28, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Ambien, Cullers, Pharma, Saatchi & Saatchi, TV

The Age of Sisomo

For the first time since the dot-com boom, this year's Ad:Tech attracted a couple of bigwigs from the world of traditional agencies. Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts, sporting a Madonna-like headset contraption, gave a keynote address on Tuesday that introduced his new Grand Unifying Theory: sisomo. In addition to lovemarks, the world is now ruled by Sight, Sound and Motion. It's a fun word, particularly with Roberts's many mutations: sisomoments, sisomovies, sisomojo, etc. The long and the short of sisomo isn't exactly earth shattering: TV is mutating into video on lots of different devices and advertisers need to find ways to engage consumers. Conveniently for Saatchi, despite this fragmentation, Roberts believes consumers still make decisions based on emotion rather than reason, a world "for everyone who was ever thrilled by a car chase or wept over a motherless deer." Forget Google, targeting and optimization: storytelling still rules. He even gave attendees a photo-heavy, soft-cover book about this emerging world of many screens (eBay price: $9.48). Curiously, in illustrating this new world, Roberts made it look a lot like the old one: He trotted out over a dozen TV commercials, like a funny spot for a soft drink and a precious one for diapers. The only interactive bit introduced was a Lexus campaign that let people beam their photos up on the Reuters sign in Times Square. In fact, Roberts said most creative on the Web (and mobile) is "appalling."

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on November 11, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Kevin Roberts, Morrissey, Saatchi & Saatchi

Saatchi 17 saga hits ‘New York’ magazine

Thought we’d point out that even though many of you have read detailed accounts about the renegade Saatchi 17 already, the saga has finally found itself into New York magazine, which has a lengthy piece on the ad industry's favorite soap opera this week which carries the unoriginal title “Cheerio!” (The visual accompanying the headline in the opening spread is much better…it’s a box of Cheerios, its contents spilling out, that looks like it’s been run over—repeatedly—by a steamroller). To read the magazine’s take on the whole Mike Burns (pictured here) vs. Kevin Roberts saga, click here.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Kevin Roberts, Saatchi & Saatchi

Love among the Saatchis

Love is in the air at Saatchi & Saatchi this morning, and we’re not entirely sure that’s a good thing. We received this excerpt from an internal e-mail by New York CEO Mary Baglivo and creative chief Tony Granger encouraging employees to send Valentine’s Day cards to each other (caution: if you’re diabetic, you may want to have some insulin on hand):

“As we know, making Saatchi & Saatchi NY a Lovemark takes more than hard work and respect. It calls for emotion, gratitude, loyalty, warmth and love.” (What’s a Lovemark you ask? You might be inclined to think it’s a hickey. But not in Kevin Roberts’ world.)

“Do you remember back in grade school when you wrote Valentines to all your friends and put them in the big red box on your teacher’s desk? To help build some love in the Agency, we will be distributing two blank note cards to everyone. Please write a simple message to two colleagues whom you love working with and then place your ‘Valentines’ in the boxes located outside the cafeteria and in the reception area on the 16th floor. We will sort and distribute the cards on February 14th.

“Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Your Co-workers are Eager
To Hear From You!”

So, if you work at Saatchi and don’t get any Valentines today, perhaps a visit to CareerBuilder.com is in order.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Credit: Getty Images

Published on February 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Kevin Roberts, Saatchi & Saatchi