We apologize for not highlighting earlier when it occurred in mid-March. We meant to. really, we did. Somehow it got lost in the pile of "publish me!" requests filling up our inbox. Usually, we just let these missed pieces dies a happy death but this work from ADK and 60 Layers of Cake for Puma's Travel Golf collection is too mesmerizingly beautiful to just toss in the trash can.
On March 17 in Antwerp, 2,000 golf ball shaped helium balloons attached to Puma golf items were sent aloft to float down Meir, a busy shopping street as well as near taxi stands, train and bus stations. People were free to take the items. Labels were attached to the balloons that described the collection and directed people who grabbed them to the Puma website. The effort aimed to convey the "packable, portable and playable" qualities of the line.
Several images of the work can be viewed here, here and here. You can also drink in the beauty of this "Travel Light" campaign in a video here.
Strawberry Frog developed the concept for this Onitsuka Tiger website which shows a sneaker with thousands of small images that, when rolled over, display pop up windows with tidbits about Japan. The site is aptly named Made of Japan. It's certainly one of the more interesting ways to convey where a particular product is made. It's far more interesting the a simple country flag which, unlike this site, tells one nothing about the country of origin. With this, you get a truer sense of Japan and truer insight into the makers of these shoes. Very nice work.
Now this is really inventive and simple and brilliant. What a great way to creatively integrate a brand with the city's landscape. We like. Very much. It's the work of Saatchi & Saatchi.
We can think of few things less sexy or exciting than knitting. But Balendu at Adpunch points us to this campaign by Katia, which illustrates the slogan "Kill [Time/Stress], Knit" with a knitting needle stabbed into a phone (for stress) and a clock (for time). A creatively knit puddle of blood running from the gash dribbles down to the floor. The red thread against stark white makes the whole thing deliciously dark.
Pulling off racy knitting humour is a feat worthy of laud. And maybe a knitting needle purchase or two. But we can't just credit Katia; CIA Comunicacion out of Barcelona brainstormed the idea. We wonder what kind of intra-office accident went down in the creative department before they came up with it.
Seeking to position itself as a no-bullsh*t kind of agency, Truf does two things most agencies wouldn't: lets consumers know they exist, and shakes up the belief system we've worked so hard to make normal.
The results are provocative indeed. Their self-promoting Youtube campaign kicks off with Junkie and Flamer, both of which manipulate sights, sounds and timing to juxtapose taboos and norms. Is there really a rhyme or reason to which social habits get accepted and which don't? That's what the basis seems to be behind the masthead question, "Where Does the Truth Lie?"
We like Truf's manifesto and think agencies can only benefit from making themselves more personable to the culture, which grows increasingly more curious about what we're doing and who we are. Why not fuel the flames?
We also like the campaign for other reasons. When you think about it, it hasn't been too long since the first time we heard people were injecting botulism into their faces. WTF, mate? How did that become a slumber party activity?
Bucky Turco sends us this very, very cool U.K. commercial for the Nissan Qashqai SUV in which the vehicle is used as a skateboard to demonstrate its agility. A giant-footed person hops on the car and takes it for a spin as if it were an actual skateboard. The results are impressive. We like
While there are probably quite a few ads that make us go, "How do they do that?" the question isn't answered often enough to be worth pursuing very far.
Adland, however, posed the question about an ad for Orange entitled Belonging. Oddly enough, it was answered. Sam Akesson of Fallon London confesses, "[Belonging] took A LOT of takes, and we spent about 2 months of rehearsing to get all the choreography and movement right. Basically it involves a lot of people running and jumping into holes..."
We were like WTF until Fallon elaborated with its own version of Making the Video. Way more interesting than anything P. Diddy does behind the scenes of his hitmakers, it probably could still have used a catfight or two. But how often do you get to see people jumping into holes? Not nearly enough.
Ask at Ad-Rag confides, "Belonging doesn't use any CGI. Instead they rely on running away, jumping into holes and the camera's blind spot. I think it's neat." We do too.
In fact, we think behind-the-scenes efforts like this are a great way of building intimacy between brands, audiences and even - yes - agencies. If it worked for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, it can work for us too. Creative endeavours make fertile ground for screaming, crying and potential taboo trysts, yeah?
A cross between a collaborative rubber band ball and a chain letter, this piece of "potential art" has been bouncing through the webosphere, inviting collective creative design for an ever-growing montage.
Drawball zooms into a spot about 1/4096th its size, which is where users can leave their mark. The result isn't just a mishmash of arbitrary graffiti; it includes americana logos like Coca-Cola, new pop culture icons like Digg and representations of various subcultures.
Like Wikipedia.org, the Drawball project proves surprising to some: people left virtually unregulated will work together to build something meaningful, even if the meaning can only be seen in the aggregate.
To witness the evolution of Drawball from beginning to end, check out Drawball Playback, where a year's work of collaborative art unfolds. It's a little like watching the progression of mankind in hyperspeed, as various image colonizations and social eclipses take place over the life of the project.
We wonder if human colonizations are this provocative from a distance. Maybe that's why God never intervenes.
We suspect Levi's puts its design cash toward licensing fees for the awesome songs they use in ads that keep us trying, year after year, to find a cool pair of Levi's jeans, even if history tells us this will never happen. Lame denim fits aside, the ads are sensory pop art.
We love -- love -- the Dangerous Liaisons ad for their 2007 line. At first we thought it was the usual booty-call striptease bit, because we've seen that gimmick a thousand times, but as the spot wore on we realized something more interesting happening.
In the Bartle Bogle Hegarty masterpiece, a couple undresses to reveal layers of decades suggested in clothing, demeanour, style and even background noise. It moves fluidly from the rough-and-tumble 19th century workjean years to 2007's waifish verge-of-tears emo period. All to the haunting and playful tune of "Strange Love" by Little Annie Bandez.
Time for another futile trip to the flagship store.
Make the Logo Bigger points us to Dump Cupid, an Herbal Essences promotion that departs from middle-aged moaning women in favour of a younger set, just in time for Valentine's Day.
The website features a depressing pole-dancing Cupid and, perhaps still more depressing, a series of supposedly user-generated hook-up stories that, despite carefully administered typos, ring false. We have trouble believing a woman who nearly drowned was saved by a lifeguard she later married. That's way too Nicholas Sparks. Users can also send Dump Cupid e-cards to each other with a running "We don't need him!" girl power theme. Uh ... yeah. Can we bring back the moaning women?
Update: as of 2/16, over 1.1 million people have seen the campaign thus far. And we're not surprised - across the Youtube and MySpace channels we've seen Cupid's red face peering gamely out all over the place. Is this a testament to the efficacy of viral marketing, female distaste for Cupid or a sick sense of epicaricacy? We don't know, maybe all 3 make the grade. Whether they convert into brand loyalty over the long-term is a fable for another day.
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