TripAdvisor is looking for another creative agency less than a year after hiring The Fantastical, a start-up agency founded by former Mullen group creative directors Michael Ancevic and Steve Mietelski. While the company confirmed it was having “conversations” with agencies, it did not identify which shops were in contention for the business.
Progressive spokeswoman Flo sat out the Super Bowl—"We're not trying to make the noise even noisier," the company's CMO, Jeff Charney, said late last week—but she's all over the whole Facebook Look Back thing. Below, check out Flo's "Look Back" video, which is apparently a parody, unless Facebook approved the unicorn image at the end instead of the Like sign.
Intel's "Look Inside" film series about inspiring people scales new heights in this 90-second spot about Erik Weihenmayer, who's beaten long odds to climb the world's seven tallest peaks. There's a potent reveal—which we won't spoil—around the minute mark, where we learn about Weihenmayer's physical condition and what he's had to overcome to reach those summits. It's an emotional jolt that powers his narration. "One of the shortfalls I think many people have is that they allow all these distractions and fears and doubts to get into their head and sabotage them," Weihenmayer says.
Citi is straining to break ahead of the financial services pack with user-friendly digital tools aimed at making banking with Citi as easy as shopping with Amazon. The bank chain is rolling out upgraded customer-centric ATMs in the U.S. this month and on Feb. 3 launched a revamped mobile app that lets you check your balances with a tap.
Using children in politically tinged advertising is often problematic. Some would say it's tantamount to propaganda. Still, the kids who sang "America the Beautiful" in other languages for Coca-Cola's Super Bowl ad are so charmingly innocent in these behind-the-scenes videos—and so optimistic about how the ad will be received—that it makes the whole ruckus seem extra ridiculous. Of course, Coke isn't as innocent. It knew the ad, by Wieden + Kennedy, would be controversial.
Remember pink slime? McDonald's Canada continues its crusade for McFood transparency with a new video aimed at proving Chicken McNuggets are not made from the pastel meat goop seen in a frequently shared image from the Internet. By taking viewers on a tour of the chain's meat supplier, Cargill, the video shows in some detail that, instead of pink slime (processed beef trimmings disinfected with ammonia), chicken nuggets are actually made of chicken breasts mixed with seasoning and skin.
It's hard to say what we were expecting from reality TV star Clay Aiken's first campaign ad in his congressional campaign, but this certainly isn't it. Instead of leveraging his fame or playing to the media circus around his decision to run for a House seat from North Carolina, he has created a political ad that's thoughtful, sincere and just an all-around example of great storytelling.
There’s an argument that the escalated prices of spots in last week's Super Bowl is nothing more than proof of its ever-declining value—the last gasp of traditional advertising. Year in and out, the big networks continue to lose viewers to other platforms and channels. As the tide of audience rolls out into the digital ocean, the Super Bowl stands out by contrast: a lonely tower of viewers, wobbling in the breeze.
AOL no longer seems to be in comeback mode. In fact, the company is on a pretty solid roll. The company's global advertising revenue jumped 23 percent in Q4, finally putting the brand back on par with the robust growth being enjoyed by the online ad business as a whole. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong likes to tout the company's "barbell strategy"—the idea that AOL is investing heavily on two ends of the online ad spectrum: big brand advertising and programmatic. Both are shining right now for the company.
Since everyone I know is getting married and having children (and making sure Facebook stays informed about every step of those processes), this ad for a fake drug called Not Having Kids is rather timely. Put together by Internet funny guy Jason A. Messina, the ad riffs on medication advertising's tone and imagery (lots of hikers in those ads) alongside the pervasive social pressure to settle down and procreate by the time one hits 30. The temptation to be a smug, overbearing asshole about major life decisions cuts both ways, though, which Messina doesn't ignore.
