Robots: Switch them on, and they just do it

Big Lazy Robot Visual Effects created this "spec commercial inspired by Nike." Whatever that means. I guess nobody's got paying clients these days. Now, I'm no fan of robots, but this is one impressive vignette. It subverts expectations by using a mechanical subject and lifeless cement-and-steel cityscape to vividly communicate pursuits of the human spirit, or at least the robot spirit, like pushing oneself to new heights, smashing limitations and being in total sync with the environment. Or running on all circuits. There's no need for this sprinter to chug Gatorade at the end of his gravity-defying run. That would just burn out his transistors, anyway.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on July 2, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Big Lazy Robot, Gianatasio, Nike, Spec

Cheryl Hines' focus group for Vitaminwater

Cheryl Hines is one talented woman. Not only is she an accomplished star of stage and screen, she's a virtuoso when it comes to leading focus groups for Coca-Cola-owned non-carbonated beverages. This is gleaned from the video above, where she adroitly steers a Vitaminwater research session with a female consumer. Her inquiries about shirtless pilates instructors, in particular, reveal brand truths that would be inaccessible otherwise. The video was done on spec by marketing agency Ideocracy. And if Vitaminwater's not interested, maybe Hines has the makings of a sitcom character here. With the axe having fallen both on her show, ABC's In the Motherhood, and on TNT's ad drama Trust Me, the timing could be right.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on April 29, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Ideocracy, Nudd, Spec, Vitaminwater