Saatchi & Saatchi London – Direct Line
Some might argue that this campaign has already been run into the ground, but I've really enjoyed it, and that's not just because I have a particular fondness for Quentin Tarantino movies. The latest spot in the on-going campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi London for Direct Line once again follows Harvey Keitel's Winston Wolf character from Pulp Fiction as a mob fixer turned insurance fixer. This time the character breaks the fourth wall, referencing the fact that the latest spot is a YouTube pre-roll spot by asking viewings if they intend to skip the ad or watch it.
This latest Direct Line spot once again follows Harvey Keitel's character from Pulp Fiction
Promoting Direct Line’s Home Plus insurance “Skipping” shows Wolf's associate Billy jumping a rope held by two heavies as they throw what appears to be his laptop at his feet. The theme of choices has been chosen here to reference the choice given to Direct Line customers, who can choose a cash payment transferred directly to their account or a replacement item should their home property get damaged. It's another decent and characterful ad, though I think if they keep the character around much longer they might be pushing it a little.
72andSunny LA – Dropbox
The endlessly inventive 72andSunny have released their first creative for Dropbox, created in partnership with Nexus. The campaign plays on the fact that Dropbox is used primarily by creative individuals who like to be able to access their files from any device. It plays on the creative freedom offered by the service in a gloriously colourful way, by combining the work of over 100 collaborators into an eclectic and abstract film that features works from scientists, designers, sculptors and more. Big design names such as Bompas & Parr and Barber Osgerby and featured alongside relative unknowns such as food photographer Yuki Sugiura and data visualist Marcin Ignac, with each blink-and-you'll-miss-it piece created with 100% artistic freedom (each collaborator was told to literally create whatever they wanted).
72andSunny have released their first creative for Dropbox, created in partnership with Nexus
It's a truly beautiful spot that demands more than a few repeat viewings to make sure you've caught everything! Matt Jarvis, chief strategy officer and partner at 72andSunny, said: “Awesome things happen when people collaborate, which is why it's a founding principle of 72andSunny. To capture the real, electric-like energy that comes from the creative process, we brought together some of our favourite makers and collaborators to help Dropbox tell their story.”
M&C Saatchi – NatWest
M&C Saatchi has created an intense new spot for NatWest, breaking new boundaries for rugby and hoping to entice more people into the sport in a year where it is taking centre stage in Britain (despite the fact we failed out of the World Cup pretty spectacularly). “The Flying Winger” film targets rugby fans and people who are yet to truly engage with the sport, and sees Welsh rugby legend Shane Williams throwing a rugby ball out of a microlight thousands of feet in the air. Extreme Sports enthusiast, Gary Connery, then completes the first legal jump from a microlight in a wing suit to make a spectacular catch in free fall. Teaming up with the Extreme Sports Channel to help push out the film, M&C Saatchi and NatWest wanted to bring rugby into new territories. Moving away from the typical expensive rugby ad, M&C Saatchi is hoping it can get just as much cut-through as the official Rugby World Cup sponsors with these ground-breaking rugby stunts.
M&C Saatchi has created an intense new spot for NatWest, breaking new boundaries for rugby and hoping to entice more people into the sport
Sam Ball, Creative Director at M&C Saatchi, said: “It doesn’t look like advertising, it doesn’t feel like advertising, and for that reason people are more likely to take notice. Often you look at an idea and think: ‘I wish we made that’ – well with this one we did.” M&C Saatchi is also creating another Extreme Sports rugby film, featuring Lewis Moody and entitled ‘The Fastest Interception’, due to come out just before the final of the Rugby World Cup. Overall there will be a total of six executions, which include two main films, two teasers and two making of films. The films will run across social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Droga5 New York - Clearasil
Droga5 has kicked off the next phase of the “Let's Be Clear” campaign for Clearasil with “Teacher Truths,” a program that has actual teachers putting the horrors of acne into perspective by sharing examples of things that actually last forever, not just inconvenient skin blemishes that feel like they're going to last forever when you're a teenager. The film also acts as a lead-in for the #TeacherTruthsContest, which a chance for teenagers to win a $5,000 scholarship from Clearasil if they submit their own teachers’ teacher truths on Twitter or Instagram.
Droga5's next phase of the “Let's Be Clear” campaign for Clearasil stars actual teachers
Kelli Dawn Hancock, one of the teachers featured in the film, said: “I loved being a part of the campaign because someone finally gave that quiet little inner voice inside all of us teachers an actual voice. We think it, and Clearasil let us say it. Plus, think of all the bonding we will create with our students as they laugh at us.” They might well laugh, but the spot has a genuinely affecting message and gets it across in a simple but effective way.
BBDO NY – Bacardi
Bacardi has launched a new advertising and experiential campaign based on the idea that “There’s Nothing in the Way,” which marks the first creative work created by BBDO since it was named Bacardi’s new global creative agency partner earlier this year. The campaign kicks off with a 30 second TV spot and longer length online film that will run on broadcast and cable TV programs as well as social platforms including Pandora, Hulu, YouTube and ESPN. Styled in a similar manner to a a movie trailer (so that you want to see more), the film features a group of friends letting nothing get in the way of hosting their very own house party by making the house literally travel to their friends (watch it, you'll see). Danilo Boer, executive creative director at BBDO NY, said: “We wanted to make something that would drag people into the screen. A film that would make people watching want to be on that trip and on that truck.”
Bacardi has launched a new campaign by BBDO NY featuring a mad house party on wheels
Accompanying the advertising will be a series of experiential events that quite literally bring the work to life via a real-world house party tour on a flatbed truck that will travel down the East Coast, kicking off in Philadelphia on October 31 in celebration of Halloween. The tour will include a combination of surprising creative moments and activations, musical performances and a party atmosphere that will show guests what it truly means to let nothing in the way of an amazing house party. I will say this. In my experience a house party always means somebody throwing up in the bath and a forlorn morning after scooping Pringle crumbs out of the carpet. Something tells me Bacardi are going for a more aspirational target here though.
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and struggling musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
