Finally, with help from WPP-owned 171 Partners, HTC is getting creative. For their new “Here’s to Change” global campaign to promote  the HTC One smartphone, the brand has enlisted Robert Downey Jr. as both the star and purveyor of creative input. Engadget suggests that this is new CMO Ben Ho making good on his promise to make HTC’s voice louder.

So far, we’ve got RDJ as mysterious, self-important “Subversive Thinking,” a man with Terry Richardson glasses and a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. He flies in a helicopter and enjoys high-fives. He wears a puce-colored tie. We meet him in HTC’s first teasers: “Big Things Ahead,” “Prelude to Change,” and “The Arrival.” The entire “Change” campaign should run 24 to 36 months, with the first 2-minute spot debuting Thursday. And with any luck, our main man will be quirkily cooing to that cat.

This column has been pinballing around my head for the past few months. I’m curious about hashtags. I’m under the impression that although everyone knows what a hashtag looks like, not many people pay attention to Twitter statistics beyond Follower counts. And now that every commercial – online or televised – comes with a hashtag, many of which seem perfunctory, I want to make an inexact science a bit more exact by evaluating basic Internet data and applying it to our coverage for the previous week.

Twitter clearly has value. Celebrities of varying degrees get paid silly amounts of money for sponsored tweets (sidebar: did you know that Melissa Joan Hart makes $9,100 for some of her tweets? That’s more obnoxious than silly). With money and brand equity to be had in the Twitter economy, every company can now slap a hashtag onto a visual ad and pretend to know what it’s doing. Remember when Newsweek ran with #MuslimRage? Or McDonald’s unintentionally eviscerating itself with #McDStories? Twitter can be tricky for the lazy and oblivious.

Read more

On the football field, Peyton Manning runs the Denver Broncos with a robotic efficiency fitting of a man with a giant, shiny forehead. His younger brother Eli roams the sidelines for the New York Giants with the mopey glare of a six-year-old who wants to pick his nose but can’t because cameras are watching. Usually, the funniest thing about the Manning brothers is that they’re so unfunny. They’re stiff and white. But every once in a while – don’t forget the acclaimed “Football Cops” – they unleash some comedy genius for a football-related commercial.

The newest addition to the Manning oeuvre is a fake R&B music video created by Grey for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. #footballonyourphone. Remember that hashtag. It’s going viral, because a company that deals with an incredibly popular sport got two huge stars to subvert their normal personalities and completely buy-in to a goofy campaign that could’ve been an abandoned Lonely Island digital short. In the first 12 hours or so after it hit Youtube, the clip reared in 100k views.

Everything about the spot is smart, right down to the tiny Archie Manning cameo and the best/worst hair design you’ll see this year until American Hustle, starring Bradley Cooper’s curled terribleness, hits theaters. Peyton may be known as the more gregarious of the two brothers, but Eli is a vastly underrated comedian in his commercials. He ends up stealing this show with some odd riffs on milk, blouses, and Alexander Graham Bell. Pay attention, brands: This is how you go viral.

I’m the Rooster guy apparently and I’m back to cover some more irreverent Rooster shenanigans. The above video, “How to Take a Punch,” epitomizes what a side project should be: easily digestible, fun to watch, and humorous. A slow-mo gif of James Franco taking a punch to the face has been making the blogging rounds before his Comedy Central roast airs on Labor Day. Vice co-founder/Rooster boss Gavin McInnes decided to join in on the slow-mo fun and take a harder punch to the face. The result is a side-by-side 13-second video comparison of the punches that is probably too stupid for its own good. Something makes me think Rooster likes that. These guys seem to have fun in the office.

After the jump, you can watch a longer video of people getting punched in the face slowed down to 1000 frames per second. It’s violently elegant and directed by Cody Kern, a man who has no relation to Rooster. As you watch, feel free to let the catharsis of watching others get walloped improve your day. Jiggling jowls have the affect on people.

Read more

If you live in either Chicago or Boston, you may have watched (or wanted to watch) the Stanley Cup Finals, in which case you realized that you don’t have access to NBC Sports. After some McGyver-ing and hooking you iPad to your TV, you got thousands about thousands of commercials advertising that NBC Sports would be broadcasting every game of England’s prestigious Barclays Premier League. After digesting this fact, you immediately stopped caring because 1.) You’re an American who likes ‘merican sports and 2.) Again, you don’t have access to NBC Sports.

But who better to make you, an American without access to NBC, care about this development than Jason Sudeikis, a former Saturday Night Live cast member who has appeared basically fucking everywhere in the last month? First, dude quits SNL. Then, he starts going on a press tour for his terrible-looking new movie, Meet The Millers, where he stars opposite Jennifer Aniston, who plays a middle-aged stripper. Then, he joined ESPN to count down the top 50 “This Is SportsCenter” ads last week. Then, he made cameo appearance in Drinking Buddies, a new film playing on Apple TV before it hits theaters at the end of the month and stars Sudeikis’ real-life fiance, Olivia Wilde. Then, Kiran shows me this and asks me to write about it, compelling me to start complaining about how Jason Sudeikis is fucking everywhere these days. Then, wouldn’t you know it, he releases a viral video YESTERDAY where he leads a parody version of Mumford & Sons, with Ed Helms, Jason Bateman and Will Forte starring as his bearded indie-folk backing band.

Seriously, it’s absolutely impossible to get rid of this guy. Watch him play a dumb American coach who doesn’t get soccer above in a new campaign from the Brooklyn Brothers (who you may remember from those kick-ass John Krasinski/Alec Baldwin New Era spots), and then don’t talk to me about Jason Sudeikis until you’ve developed some sort of Sudeikis repellant.

Read more

About a year ago, Intel and Toshiba partnered together with the help of Pereira & O’Dell to create “The Beauty Inside,” a so-called “social movie” that paired not-quite-movie stars Topher Grace and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as two young actors who can’t believe that this is where their careers have taken them thus far. The big budget online film was apparently effective enough at whatever it was trying to do to spawn a spiritual sequel, “The Power Inside,” starring Harvey Keitel as a guy you kind of feel sorry for until you you consider that he’s still finding work at his age.

As a press release tells us, the heavily product integrated plot will consist of “An alien invasion by a race of extraterrestrial moustaches and unibrows who take over the upper lips and eyes of people around the world. The main character is Neil, who together with his friends and the help of technology discovers his inner strength to defeat the moustache and unibrow invaders called Uricks. Intel-inspired Ultrabook™ devices by Toshiba play an important role in Neil’s journey of self-discovery.” We assume “inner strength” and “Intel-inspired Ultrabook™ devices by Toshiba” are pretty interchangeable in this scenario.

Similar to its predecessor, computer processor fans every can be part of the film by interacting with the protagonist via Facebook. Users can also upload a photo of themselves, edit that photo with a moustache and unibrow, and reach self-actualization after the process is completed. Credits after the jump.

Read more

Budweiser’s new campaign “Made for Music” launches in 85 countries today, featuring Jay-Z and Rihanna carefully dispersed amidst other artists including an ice sculptor and street art painter. Jay-Z’s ad is backed by his song PSA, while Rihanna’s features her newest single, “Right Now.” Both spots are directed by Mark Romanek (Never Let Me Go, Bee Season) and each closes with inspirational words from Bud: “It begins and ends with what you make.”

Made for Music was inspired by the Budweiser Made in America Festival which debuted in Philly last year and Jay-Z headlined. This year, Beyonce and Nine Inch Nails will take the marquee billing over Labor Day Weekend.

Jay and RiRi’s ads are mildly inspiring with their filmic, black-and-white “creative spirit.” After the Samsung deal, Jay-Z’s authenticity feels slightly compromised, but both he and Rihanna are still solid examples of hard-working performers. The scenes are nothing new–star reads in the car, star makes decisions with sweeping hand motions, star stands triumphant as the lights go down–so I wouldn’t mind a bit of original dialogue, but all in all these spots do the job. Time to turn up Magna Carta Holy Grail and channel HOV’s productivity.

Credits after the jump as well as clips from our interview last year with Translation CEO Steve Stoute on his agency’s relationship with “the king of beers.”

Read more

Convenience store Cumberland Farms (informally known as Cumby’s, Wikipedia informs me) has released their latest #icedhoffee advertisement, in which David Hasselhoff sings about his thirst and how it is quenched with 99 cent Cumberland Farms iced coffee. His voice sounds like Bruce Springsteen’s, evoking July days of yesteryear (Would you sing along if this were on the radio? I think so.), while the green screened beach-centric scenery couldn’t be more kitsch-perfect.

On CNN New Day, anchors said the ad sparked “just a touch of outrage” online. I hardly think the cited tweets count as outrage, but apparently they were enough to incite the Hoff, who called in to the show. “Did you ever think [the ad] would take off like this?” The inquiring anchors wanted to know. Hoff says no, and rightfully so since 150,000 views is nothing on Youtube.  But then Hoffster goes on to say that life is what you make it and amidst all this reality TV he’s happy to provide some respite for our wearied souls.

Everything “Thirsty for Love” stands for is bad: Cumberland Farms coffee is maybe slightly more refreshing than stagnant subway water, and it’s ridiculous the Hoff is making so much money parodying himself. But the ad is self-aware enough that it is fun, and judging by the related hashtag’s stream on Twitter, people are participating in the campaign for that: we all love to make fun.

The ESPYS are supposed to throw a nudge and a wink in the direction of typical award shows that take themselves too seriously. Athletes get all dolled up in dresses and suits, the host runs through some comedic skits, and the sporting world congratulates itself on the red carpet, all of which has appeal to the average viewer, because the sports world is usually unglamorous for the other 364 days of the year.

For the 2013 ESPYS, ESPN seems to have taken that care-free attitude to a whole new level, a level that borders on creative laziness. Amazing athletes and sporting events “happened.” For example, Robert Griffin III tells us that Gabby Douglas “happened,” and Lebron James “happened, with authority.” ESPN worked with creative agency 77 Ventures to produce a dozen or so spots in advance of the July 17 show that covers just about every positive sports story from the previous year. They all happened. Which makes you want to hit your head and let out a rhetorical, “duh?” ESPN wasted the chance to use its biggest stars like RGIII, Derek Jeter, Danica Patrick, and Ray Lewis to sell great games and plays. We know they happened. These inspiring sports stories can pretty much sell themselves, but this “Happened” campaign pushes the limit of less is more. For once, less is less. Less happened.

You can watch three more promos after the jump.

Read more

Betty White, Joe Pesci, Robin Williams, and… Kenny G. Aside from picking the most odds-and-sods group of entertainers out there, Snickers and BBDO New York have a knack for choosing celebrities with just enough relevance for the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign. The title for best Snickers jokester is a toss-up between White’s roughhousing football player and Pesci’s whiny wingman. The latest spot, “Cards,” won’t top its predecessors, mainly because Kenny G doesn’t speak throughout the whole clip, but you can always lose yourself in his patented melancholy saxophoning.

It’s strange to think that the first ad with White came out over three years ago, but these spots seem to have enough social support to keep on kicking, even as the celebrities get less celebratory. Maybe for the next one, BBDO could get all four celebs in one room at the same time – a group of hungry people who all need to eat Snickers. That way, we could get Pesci to look at Kenny G and unleash a “Who is this fuckin’ guy?” tirade. Everybody wins, even Kenny G, since he’d be in two commercials in the past decade instead of one. Credits after the jump.

Read more