Grey London attach a jet pack to a squirrel
Yes, you read that right, and no, there were no actual squirrels harmed in the making of this spot. As far as I'm aware at least. The spot by Grey London celebrates the launch of McVitie's new Breakfast Oaty Breaks, and is kick-starting the media investment from McVitie’s to launch what they are referring to as “The next generation of breakfast biscuits.” Following on from the brand's use of adorable puppies and kittens in their last campaign, the flying squirrel aims to reflect the feeling a biscuit fan is liable to experience when they chow down on the biscuit brand's latest snack. McVitie’s Breakfast will launch the new range with a £3 million media spend, including TV (by Grey), a social media plan with MEC, and PR activity from 3 Monkeys Communications. New packaging has also been introduced to differentiate the McVitie’s Breakfast range (Breakfast Oaty Breaks, Breakfast Biscuits and Fruit & Oat Bakes) from the rest of the market.
Leo Burnett acts #LikeAGirl
The #LikeAGirl campaign for Procter & Gamble's Always brand was the undeniable hit of this year's Cannes Lions festival, claiming a PR Grand Prix amongst a slew of Gold, Silver and Bronze awards after reaching over 50 million viewers on YouTube. So Leo Burnett have some pretty big shoes to fill with the campaign's latest spot, which posits phrases such as “Girls can’t be brave” and “Girls aren’t strong” as antiquated notions from a bygone era. The spot, called “Unstoppable,” is built around a social experiment, which reveals that many girls today feel limited by society’s expectations about women. In fact, data from the most recent Always Confidence & Puberty Survey, shows that 72% of girls feel held back by society. Always once again partnered with Leo Burnett Chicago & Toronto, as well as award-winning documentary filmmaker Lauren Greenfield, to create a video that highlights how society’s expectations have a profound impact on girls confidence, especially when entering puberty.
Saatchi & Saatchi deliver a SIRIous safety message
Saatchi & Saatchi Sweden recently launched a campaign for Toyota that aims to eliminate one of the biggest problems on Swedish roads; mobile phone use whilst driving. It's not only a problem in Sweden of course, but across the world, where one in four road accidents are caused by mobile phone use. In fact, it's thought that mobile phone use behind the wheel could actually be more dangerous than drunk driving, and if that isn't food for thought, I don't know what is! “A SIRIous Message” is based around a unique radio ad, which actually has a conversation with user's iPhones and remotely turns on airplane mode. There's also an ad designed for Google's Android operating system, and both will be running primarily during rush hour, which this week arrives a week before the Swedish summer holidays, when there will be lots of cars on the road, and therefore lots of potential distractions!
RKCR/Y&R bring street art to life
Brighton-based illustrator Jamie Cullen has teamed up with RKCR/Y&R to launch a colourful new campaign for Volvic's “Touch of Fruit” range of flavoured water range. The £1.5 million through the line campaign is designed to appeal to young creative types, and features a hipster street artist's work (which largely consists of cartoon fruit) literally coming to life. It's a spot with an aptly summery vibe, and the animation from Nomint is pleasingly rough around the edges. Watching it also makes me feel incredibly thirsty for some reason, which is surely no bad thing. The ad will run on TVC and video on demand throughout the summer, and will be supported by disruptive in-store activations and national sampling.
Deutsch love bacon almost as much as I do
A new spot for the US fast food chain Taco Bell by Deutsch, really takes bacon love to a whole new level. The playful spot (which I would have called “The Baconing”) pokes fun at the tasty snack's ubiquity by creating a series of fake bacon products, and reminding us in the process that we don't love bacon because it looks good (though it arguably does), but because it tastes quite unlike anything else on earth. Especially when it's crispy! In the spot, a man rides an escalator through a surreal world where bacon is used in literally everything, before a voice over informs us that “Bacon You Can’t Eat is Bacon You Don’t Need.” Truer words were never spoken! The spot, which includes a reimagining of Tears For Fears’ “Mad World,” is supplemented by 10 social/online videos, in which Deutsch created entertaining infomercials for fake bacon product videos such as Bacon Headphones, Bacon Trainers, and a Bacon USD Drive.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
