Dodge loves car chases, appropriate or not

I think we can all agree with Dodge's premise, in the commercial below, that car chases make any movie better. Imagine how great The King's Speech would have been if George VI's Bentley had smashed through the gates of Buckingham Palace and exploded on the royal cricket pitch. A cool chase is shown in the Dodge spot, depicting the high-speed hijinks of some Merchant-Ivory type historical characters. It ties in with the movie Fast Five, the latest entry in the Fast and the Furious franchise. The commercial, from Wieden + Kennedy, isn't as revolutionary as Dodge's patriotic outing last year, but seeing a hammy "unscrubbed son of a blacksmith's apprentice" punch out a windshield to woo his beloved is worth it. Eagle-eyed YouTubers with too much time on their hands point out that in the final shot, the glass is magically intact again. Hey, many real action films have even worse continuity. Also, Dodge's invisible chimp delivers some Oscar-worthy work in this new spot. You can't see him, though—so you'll just have to trust me on that.

Filed under Automotive, Dodge, Gianatasio, Movies, Wieden + Kennedy
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W+K designs charity poster for tsunami aid

The flag of Japan gets a charitable makeover from Wieden + Kennedy designer Max Erdenberger in this poster to raise funds for disaster relief. Some commenters have noted that W+K's effort resembles the Swiss flag. Fair enough, but it also suggests the reverse color scheme of the Switzerland-based International Red Cross, so there's perhaps some added poignance and sense of purpose there. An even more poignant image can be found on Signalnoise, where the familiar red circle is altered in a way that's emotionally charged (conveying the fury of storms and earthquakes) and subtly powerful (the orb is cracked, but not destroyed). Sadly, the Signalnoise poster is sold out with no word on reprints. If you find similar initiatives by artists and ad agency creatives, let us know in the comments. And feel free to pass the info along to Gilbert Gottfried and 50 Cent, who should quit tweeting a while, open their checkbooks and rejoin the human race.

Filed under Gianatasio, Japan, Wieden + Kennedy
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ESPN chronicles bracket-picking process

Here's a fun spot from the hoopsters at Wieden + Kennedy promoting ESPN's Tournament Challenge. (Is there a big college basketball tourney this month? Someone really should alert the nation's advertisers.) Anyway, the ad depicts creative ways for fans to choose which teams to pick in the March Madness bracket. Among the best: dropping a shoebox with two eggs inside, revealing Villanova cracking up against Georgetown (a matchup that's about as likely this year as the odds of only breaking one egg in a dropped shoebox). We're also shown two strips of flypaper representing Vanderbilt and Texas, respectively; there are more flies on the latter, but — think about it — is that really such a good sign for the team's chances? My alma mater, Boston University, is in the field this year. The Terriers' odds of winning are roughly 50 zillion to 1, which, ironically, are also the odds of my ever sending them a check in response to those alumni appeals they keep mailing me. Go BU!

Filed under Basketball, ESPN, Gianatasio, NCAA, Wieden + Kennedy
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Wieden + Kennedy rules the TED ad contest

TED has named the 10 winners in its inaugural "Ads Worth Spreading" contest. There's really one big winner, Wieden + Kennedy, which placed three videos among the top 10—for Chrysler, Nike and Nokia. TED curator Chris Anderson says of the ads: "We're seeking to reverse the trend of ads being aggressively forced on users. We want to nurture ads so good you choose to watch—and share. On TED.com, ads run after our talks, not before. As well as avoiding the annoyance of interruption, this positioning means they can run longer than the TV-standard 30-seconds. And that's the key. In 2-3 minutes, there's more time to tell a story, share an idea, make an authentic human connection. These winning ads, many of them long-form, powerfully demonstrate these strengths. We think they represent an exciting new way for companies to engage with the world in the internet age." Watch all 10 ads after the jump. Hornbach's "Infinite House," in particular, is a curious piece of work. (The 14 runners-up are on the TED site.)

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Filed under Contests, Nudd, TED, Wieden + Kennedy
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Behind the scenes of the latest Old Spice ad

Old Spice takes you behind the scenes of "Scent Vacation" (the ad with the mountain-goat harp) in this video, which features cameos by Wieden + Kennedy creatives Eric Kallman and Craig Allen. But it's Isaiah Mustafa, of course, who gets top billing. "The writers, Eric and Craig, they're super guys," he says. "And I love saying their funny words."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Cats with thumbs will fight you for that milk

This ad for Cravendale milk, from Wieden + Kennedy London, imagines a hellish alternate reality in which cats have opposable thumbs and military organization. The moment where they're snapping their new fingers like the opening of West Side Story was hilarious, and I wish they'd done more with that idea instead of rushing into confrontation, but you can only fit so much into 56 seconds. Besides, their leader, Bertrum, has a Twitter, so I can always offer advice that way. Call it sucking up all you want, but it could be my ticket into a government job with the League of Incredible Thumbcats while the rest of you hapless bipeds are slaving away in the catnip mines.

Filed under Cravendale, Europe, Food and drink, Kiefaber, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice guy pairs up with Komodo dragon

Isaiah Mustafa returns in this new clip to plug Old Spice's Komodo body wash. Based on the beast's actual behavior and dietary habits, here's what would happen if a Komodo dragon chose to stalk and devour the preening pitchman. The hungry reptile would, ironically enough, use its keen sense of smell to locate Mustafa by following that clean, manly Old Spice aroma. It would then use its cruel, bacteria-soaked fangs to tear off large hunks of the spokeshunk—buh-bye, washboard abs!—and swallow the pieces whole. The beast might even ram the suave stud's torso against a tree in order to force it down its throat. Post digestion, the dragon would regurgitate bits such as bones and hair ... and one grotesquely befouled bath towel. Alas, none of this happens in the spot below. The ad sure would've rocked if it had. Komodo dragon: killer. Old Spice commercials: not so much anymore.

Filed under Gianatasio, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice guy takes you on a scent vacation

Well, here it is—Old Spice's new Isaiah Mustafa spot, which 16-year-old "superfan" Chris Gatewood enjoyed all by himself for the past 24 hours before posting it to his Web site a short while ago. The superfan idea was sort of fun, if a little anti-climactic. The spot itself? You decide. The mountain-goat harp is amusing. Is that faint praise?

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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16-year-old superfan gets new Old Spice ad

Old Spice has set its "Superfan" plan in motion, officially handing its latest commercial to a single fan—a 16-year-old named Chris Gatewood—to do whatever he wants with before Monday, when it breaks on TV. Gatewood got the call, literally, from Isaiah Mustafa, as you can see in the video below. He was chosen apparently for the Old Spice parody video he did back in October (also posted below). So far, he's not revealing details of the spot, but he says on Twitter: "The new Old Spice ad is absolutely amazing! If you think the previous ones were great, the next one will blow you away!" Well done, Chris. UPDATE: It looks like Chris plans on posting the ad online today. He writes on Twitter: "To the people wanting to see the latest Old Spice commercial, just wait a bit and follow me until I post the link! RT so people will know."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Wieden gets unpredictable for Honda's Jazz

Car commercials can be desultory affairs, stuffed with specs and the inevitable shots of a car wending its way down a serpentine road in the mountains. You have to hand it to Wieden + Kennedy London for convincing Honda to break with tradition in many of its ads, such as "Grrr." For its latest European effort, introducing the Honda Jazz, Wieden and production shop Nexus crafted this lovely minute-long animated commercial (again with a Garrison Keillor voiceover), which shows life's unpredictability. The car doesn't appear until 54 seconds in. The coolest part of this effort could be the mobile component. Wieden has an iPhone application that lets viewers "capture" the animated characters by swiping at the screen while the commercial plays on TV. (The app does this by syncing with the commercial's sound.) Once on the phone, you can play with the characters, if you're into that kind of thing. I'm not sure how many people will have the app handy to swipe when the TV commercial comes on, but I'm sure we'll see more integrations of the standard TV spot and mobile interactivity.

Filed under Automotive, Europe, Honda, Morrissey, Wieden + Kennedy
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I can't believe it's not a boring old butter ad

A guy who looks like everyone's nerdy/psycho co-worker prepares an omelette in this cinematic spot by Wieden + Kennedy London for Lurpak butter. (It's been out for a few weeks.) We're served a tongue-in-cheek visual orgy of epic proportions, with great photography, editing and attention to detail. The gas burner ignites like the torch of the gods. A cracked egg explodes with the glory of a liquid supernova. An iris opens like a lover, caressing the feast. It takes freshman poetry like that to do these 60 seconds justice. Even the yolks are whisked in an arousing, after-hours, pay-per-view fashion. The ad's soundtrack calls to mind a celestial choir. The only serenade in my kitchen is the nasal balladry of Supertramp, blasted by the loser who lives next door. Here we truly have a "Kitchen Odyssey," the kind of commercial Stanley Kubrick would make if he were still alive. Then he'd probably stab himself in the face with a fork, ashamed to be making commercials at all.

Filed under Europe, Gianatasio, Lurpak, Wieden + Kennedy
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Poll: Has the Old Spice guy run his course?

Does the Old Spice guy still smell fresh, or has he passed his sell-by date? My colleagues Rebecca and Ellie are excited for Isaiah Mustafa's return. Still, I can't help but feel that in today's ADD culture, it feels like his time has past. Maybe it's just the new video, but I didn't find him all that funny or even particularly likable. Mustafa comes off as tired and played out. Others agree. GolinHarris's Len Kendall thinks he comes off as redundant. Mullen's Edward Boches thinks Wieden + Kennedy might have a new writer on the account. Commercial director Jason Zada dredges up a notorious Happy Days episode in which Fonzie leaps over a certain much-feared aquatic beast. I'm sure Mustafa still has a wellspring of support out there. (His "I'm Back" video already has 250,000 views.) And Old Spice is counting on that with its "superfan" idea, in which the brand will seed the next spot with a single fan and let him or her disseminate it with their friends before it officially breaks on Feb. 7. It's always hard to retire an ad franchise—look at how past their prime the "Mac vs. PC" spots were in the end—but it might just be time for Old Spice to hang up the towel. What do you think? UPDATE: The Old Spice guy explains the "Super Fan" idea in this video.

Filed under Morrissey, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice guy returns to say he is returning

Isaiah Mustafa, the only Old Spice guy who doesn't need an epic mount in the form of a raven or tiger, has returned in order to announce that he's returning. This short YouTube clip of him in his iconic shower stall promises us a campaign of new advertisements which are not only educational but whose entertainment value is second to none. However, the only preview provided is a deep look into his striking brown eyes as he thinks about the new commercials. Consider me teased.

Filed under Cullers, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Heineken guy knows how to make entrance

Beer drinkers are often the life of the party, though not always in a good way. But the Heineken guy in this spot (titled "The Entrance") from Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam manages to be memorable without being hammered—and generally delights the crowd (in spite of his hipster facial hair) with a grand entrance that incorporates everything from fake eyeballs to impromptu flute playing. Adding further hipster cred is the Danish alternative pop group the Asteroids Galaxy Tour, which, depending on your perspective, is a bonus or a nightmare. As one YouTube commenter remarks, "Shut up the Asteroids Galaxy Tour."

Filed under Alcohol, Europe, Heineken, Nudd, Wieden + Kennedy
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Wieden's Nike site has Flash running scared

You know Flash microsites are on the run when Nike skips the Adobe effects in favor of HTML5. Wieden + Kennedy has a slick new corporate-responsibility site out: Nike's Better World. It uses HTML5 to provide a seamless navigation of constantly refreshing content as the user scrolls down the page. The overall experience is pretty compelling compared to the befuddling nature of many microsites. One Web design blog quibbles that the videos are still in Flash. Can't have everything, I guess.

Filed under Morrissey, Nike, Wieden + Kennedy
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Alex Ovechkin playing spy games for ESPN

Alex Ovechkin is really expanding his range as an actor. A while back, the Washington Capitals star's disembodied head hawked skates. Now, his entire body is starring in spots for ESPN from Wieden + Kennedy. The first ad, a traditional "This is SportsCenter spot, casts Alex as a Russian spy in a Mission: Impossible-type scenario. What kind of secrets could ESPN possibly be hiding? Everyone knows Chris Berman wears a rug. Ovechkin's nationality also plays into a second spot, as he fires pucks at Petrushka dolls hanging in a goalie's net. By the time he's done, the figurines are cracked and splintered, like most of Alex's teeth. And while we're on the subject of his mouth—man, this guy's accent is incredibly thick. The Petrushka clip is captioned, but who knows if Ovie's actually speaking the lines shown on the screen. When it comes to understanding what the hockey icon's trying to say, viewers get the short end of the stick.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, ESPN, Gianatasio, Hockey, Wieden + Kennedy
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Target's Christmas Lady is crazier than ever

I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. Last year, I railed against Maria Bamford's deeply disturbing Target 2-Day Sale ads. But they must have been reasonably effective, because Wieden + Kennedy decided to bring Bamford back. It's like Target has given up on aspirational advertising and just started making fun of its shoppers. Bamford's serial-killer-esque alter ego, Christmas Lady, still wants to "win" Christmas, but this time her mania extends to wordplay. Did you know that there's no "L" in Christmas? (Indeed, there is Noel in Christmas.) It's like they sat down and asked, Is there any way we can make Rebecca hate this campaign more? Yes: bad puns!

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Filed under Cullers, Holidays, Target, Wieden + Kennedy
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LeBron has questions. Fans have answers.

There's no questioning the incredible artistry of LeBron James' new Nike spot from Wieden + Kennedy, but there sure is plenty of answering to do. James spends 90 seconds lobbing rhetorical questions, and fans have spent the last few days offering up some candid (and occasionally hilarious) answers for The King's consideration. Watch the spot below, then, after the jump, check out some of the better answers we've culled from across the Internet.

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Filed under Griner, Nike, Wieden + Kennedy
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Ray Lewis grows extra evil Old Spice heads

Here's the latest Ray Lewis spot for Old Spice from Wieden + Kennedy. It positions the deodorant as an edible electro-magnetic mini-universe whose only side effect is the possible sprouting of several extra lightning-spewing heads. The more over the top these Lewis spots get, the more impressive Isaiah Mustafa's effortlessness looks by comparison. See the previous Ray Lewis spots here and here.

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Nike goes 'Boom!' in new Wieden campaign

Nike has released a new series of ads from Wieden + Kennedy with the simple theme of "Boom!" The spots draw attention to high-impact moments in sports and, presumably, Nike's role in facilitating them. It's funny how they keep inserting random clips of women's volleyball to keep the ads from becoming a total sausage fest. Even funnier are some of the viewer reactions on Hypebeast. One guy "can't wait to see these crispy fresh ass campaigns on my tele screen." Did they get Tom Wolfe to write that? Four more ads after the jump.

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Filed under Kiefaber, Nike, Wieden + Kennedy
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Old Spice's Ray Lewis inspires bears to talk

Ray Lewis, rider of the jet-powered robotic raven, is back in this new Old Spice spot, in which he claims that animals learn to talk just so they can hang out with him. Old Spice and Wieden + Kennedy are in a funny position now. This whole Ray Lewis thing isn't going over so well with viewers. It's not terrible—it's just not Isaiah Mustafa. The top-rated YouTube comment for the spot below reads: "Look at this video, now back to Isaiah's, now back at this video, now back at Isaiah's. Sadly, it isn't Isaiah's, but if producers stopped using Ray Lewis and switched to using Isaiah Mustafa for their commercials, they could make more awesome commercials. Look down, back up, What just happened? This video just got more dislikes while Isaiah's got more likes. Anything is possible when commercials are done right, I'm on a YouTube."

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Ray Lewis rides jet-propelled Old Spice bird

Old Spice's latest ad character is no Isaiah Mustafa, but it is fairly epic. It's a robotic, jet-powered, laser-blasting space raven, and it gives Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis a ride in this Wieden + Kennedy spot. The YouTube blurb helpfully explains the action: "Which planet is the one with the rings around it? Anyways, that is the planet that Ray Lewis annihilated on his quest to destroy body odor." Via Illegal Advertising.

Filed under Nudd, Old Spice, Personal care, Wieden + Kennedy
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Dodge Charger cushions man's 39-story fall

It's one of the most impressive automotive features out there: the ability to save a man's life after he falls 39 stories from a Manhattan high rise. And currently, only the Dodge Charger offers it! According to the New York Post, a distraught young actor leaped to certain death from a Manhattan rooftop on Tuesday—only to survive when he landed on a 2008 red Dodge Charger. He suffered a broken leg, shattered ankle and collapsed lung, but was actually conscious when the paramedics arrived. It's going to be tricky for Wieden + Kennedy to work this product attribute into the advertising, but they surely have to try—if only because, remarkably enough, the current Charger tagline is, "Get in. Get reborn." UPDATE: Dodge rep Jiyan Cadiz tells the New York Post that the Charger's "high-strength steel structure" helped absorb the blow. "We are glad that Mr. Magill survived the 40-story free-fall and that our Dodge Charger was able to cushion his landing," Cadiz says. "We hope that Mr. Magill gets well."

Filed under Automotive, Dodge, Nudd, Wieden + Kennedy
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Dodge chimp story told in Taiwan animation

Dodge and Widen + Kennedy's humorous replacement, under pressure from PETA, of a real chimp with an invisible chimp in one of its ads has earned the automaker the ultimate 2010 Internet honor—an animated retelling of the story by the tireless news watchers at Taiwan's NMA World Edition. See below. This puts the episode on par with some of the year's top stories, including Lindsay Lohan's stint in jail, the JetBlue guy's meltdown and Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's assault on President Obama with a wine bottle (fact checking required on the latter). See more of NMA's masterpieces at the company's YouTube channel. Via Jalopnik. 

Filed under Animals, Automotive, Dodge, Nudd, Parody, Wieden + Kennedy
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Under fire, Dodge makes a chimp disappear

Dodge has caved to PETA's demands and altered—though in a funny, possibly tongue-in-cheek way—a commercial in which a chimp in an Evel Knievel costume detonates a bunch of confetti. Check out the original and revised spots below. The idea of the original was that a monkey is just about the only thing that could make Dodge's "tent event" more amazing. Instead of rethinking the spot after PETA complained, Dodge (and its agency, Wieden + Kennedy) just digitally stripped out the chimp, and the revised version refers to him as an "invisible monkey"—a change that might technically solve the problem but seems less than sincere in addressing the core issue. (It works great in the context of the ad, though, as an invisible monkey is even more amazing than a regular monkey!) The idea that Dodge might be needling PETA a bit also comes across in the revised voiceover (from Dexter's Michael C. Hall). "Oh wait, there's an invisible monkey," he says. "Unbelievable." Read more of the backstory at the Los Angeles Times. Via Jalopnik.

Filed under Animals, Automotive, Controversy, Dodge, Nudd, PETA, Wieden + Kennedy
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