Alka Setzer: Lifeboat
Re | Myspace Video
There's been a lot of buzz and fainting lately over "127 Minutes", Danny Boyle's new survival movie. It brings back fond memories of this brilliant survival spot for Alka Seltzer, without doubt the greatest Alka Seltzer commercial ever made.
Kudos to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.
Good stuff for Carlton Draught. It should fall into the "I can't believe no one did this sooner" category. Who needs to see bullets in super slow motion when you can see spittle shooting out of a fat bloke's mouth.
Kudos to Clemenger BBDO/Melbourne and director Paul Middleditch.
I've been terribly disappointed with the lame batch of World Cup related commercials that are starting to dribble out. So far I've seen a lot of cheetahs, lions, elephants, tribesmen and other African related cliches. I've also seen a Budweiser commercial where people exchange their shirts???? Very feeble stuff.
Then Nike shows up. Wow! This three minute epic is pure rock n roll. And it's based on a simple premise to boot. Ha, boot!
I should add that the creative director on this spot is a good friend. So naturally I spent hours searching for all possible faults. Alas I couldn't find any, it's almost flawless.
And the choice of the brilliant Alejandro González Iñárritu to direct seems a particularly inspired one, given that the theme of "consequences of moments" is a central part to his recent movies.
The one small hiccup, and only a soccer fanatic would notice or care, is that Ronaldinho wasn't included in the Brazil squad and so is almost certain to miss the World Cup. No rosy future for him then.
Major kudos to my friend Eric Quennoy, Wieden & Kennedy/Amsterdam, Nike. And Alejandro González Iñárritu, who's new movie "Biutiful" is premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this week. It probably won't be the only time this year that his work is honored at Cannes.
Okay this is very recent, but definitely worth reviewing. And while I do think it's another great example of branded-entertainment, it's probably more commentary than entertainment. Let's call it branded-commentary (hey ma, I think I've just invented another term).
Kudos to AOL, Grey/London, director Errol Morris and the brilliant John Hurt for lending his voice. One minute inspiring. The next haunting.
I suppose you want to know where I stand on the internet. I say it's a good thing precisely because it's a bad thing. Case in point. Where else would one be able to find something so cute yet so disturbing at the same time.
Perhaps sweeter words having never been spoken, "Hey man, I need a drink. Give me a fucking beer." And so begins this commercial for Bavaria beer starring "Mickey Rourke.
Granted it's a celebrity commercial, but let's be honest, Mickey Rourke is no ordinary celebrity. Although you probably need to know that he had a reputation for pounding the sauce to fully get it.
Kudos to Selmore and director Jonathan Herman.
(Sharing credit to Adfreak.com)
Who wouldn't want a daughter like her. Kudos to Young Director Award. No credits for director though, which is a little ironic. The Google isn't being helpful on this one.
(Sharing credit to Adfreak)
I haven't had a Cadbury's chocolate bar in ages. Might have to do something about that. In the meantime, kudos to Fallon/London and director Henrik Hallgren.
(Sharing credit to Adfreak)
Kudos to WCRS/London and directors Dom & Nic.
Interestingly, this is the third of forth piece of creative built around the scenario of a bank heist that I really like. I should put a compilation of best "bank job" ideas together. Maybe it could become a themed series. Best "cheating death" ideas. Best "lesbian teasing" ideas. Best "lesbians teasing death" ideas, etc.
From one of the best beer campaigns ever. Kudos to Lowe Howard Spink and Jonathan Glazer. With maybe, just maybe a little inspiration from "Jean de Florette".
Advertising Age did it. Adweek did it. Now it's my turn. A humble tip of the hat to my five best advertising ideas/campaigns of the decade. My only gripe is that I had nothing to do with any of them. In fact, I don't even know anyone who knows anyone who had anything to do with them.
The decade started conventionally enough. I, for instance, was playing traditional ad guy at a traditional New York agency. A few days in saw me yucking it up at The Mondrian in Los Angeles, while shooting a typical thirty-second spot for a mainstream multi-national corporation. Who would have wagered that ten years later the best place to see a traditional advertising agency in action wasn't on set, but rather on a retro television drama series on AMC.
Not surprisingly then what inspired, wowed and provoked me to scream out, "fucking cock-suckers, I wish I did that" bared little resemblance to the advertising we once knew. The judging was unanimous. Me, myself and I all agreed that the two most mind-blowing pieces of work were "The Hire" from BMW and "HBO Imagine". Poetically, the former began the decade, the latter ended it.
Rants are like a good dump. They are necessary to ease the system, but you can't do much with them after wards. So in an effort to be constructive, let me follow up my last post by sharing one of my favorite commercials that happens to feature celebrities. In fact I would go so far as to say the celebrities help make it the entertaining story it is. So thank you, Harry Dean Stanton, Juliette Lewis and Traci Lords, yes that Traci Lords.
Notice that they aren't being themselves, they are playing roles. The idea isn't about them, rather they are the vessels through which a great idea is conveyed, just like in film.
This is what I call branded entertainment. It is probably the one form of advertising where the use of celebrities, specifically top tier acting talent can be crucial. Remember BMW Films from a few years ago. One wonders how compelling they would have been without Clive Owen.
There I've said my peace.
I don't usually like to engage in rumor mongering, unless it's to spread ugly lies about the people I don't care about or am envious of, but according to today's Adweek, Cliff Freeman & Partners will soon be no more. "People were seen packing up boxes", says a source. What could be more definitive than that.
If it is true, then what a sad end to a brilliant existence. Back in the mid-nineties when I was finding my way in advertising in New York, CFP was Mount Olympus. The place where all the men had the biggest dicks and all the women had the perkiest breasts. (People don't realize this, but size of genitalia and perkiness of mammary glands are exponentially proportional to the number of Clios won).
With notable campaigns for Little Caesar's, Outpost.com, Budget and of course Wendy's they set an incredibly high bar for comedic advertising. It had the rest of us scratching our heads and wondering how they did it. Or rather, how they sold it!
In honor, here is my favorite commercial from Cliff and boys and girls. RIP. And if this doesn't turn out to be true, no worries, it's going to happen one day. Let's just call this a premature eulogy.
Without question my favorite Playstation ad. And one of the best "anthem" commercials ever. Thank you, Frank Budgen. Oh yes, and the advertising agency too.
From the campaign that inspired me to get into advertising. Thank you, BBH. Or should that be fuck you, BBH. And always a treat to hear the great Johnny Cash.
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