A few months ago, we covered the announcement for the 3rd annual Saatchi & Saatchi Music Video Challenge. Well, the time has jumped by – maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t – but we’re back to report the 12 finalists and one People’s Choice winner. The contest asked interested directors to create an original music video for OK Go’s new single, “I’m Not Through.” You can check out the finalist entries here. On June 20, the winner will be announced as part of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase.

As you’d expect with an OK Go contest, there is an abundance of quirk and artistic shenanigans. The parties involved say the finalists come from all corners of the globe, but really, they just come from western countries, mostly the US and UK. One finalist is from the Bahamas. It’s now that we’re reminded that globes don’t have corners. Not to show favoritism to my personal preferences when it comes to abundances of quirk and artistic shenanigans, I’ve randomly selected two finalist videos (one below the jump) for your viewing pleasure on this dreary Friday afternoon. Enjoy.

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TEDx Sydney 2013 was probably full of great ideas, speakers, and presentations, but it’s a two-and-a-half-minute video about babies and food that wound up stealing the show. “The First Taste,” created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney and Heckler, shows young children reacting to their first experiences with unusual foods like anchovies, gherkin, and Vegemite. Set to orchestral music and shot in slow-motion, the video somehow takes a subject that could’ve easily dipped into boring humor and turns it into a strange and compelling combination of food, art, and social science. Props to the first kid for not freaking out more when shoving an anchovy in his mouth.

Creative director Matt Gilmour, who also directed the clip, credited the visceral, pure culinary responses of his two-year-old daughter for inspiration. I couldn’t agree more about the honest ways kids respond to sensory overload. It not only cinched the greatness of the video but also reminded me of when I was six and spat out a terrible jellybean (possibly fart flavored) at the supermarket. A random woman chided me and told on me to my mom. I couldn’t help it, the bean tasted that bad. I imagine the incident was crude from the woman’s perspective, but with some slow-motion and beautiful music, it could’ve been poetic. Credits after the jump.

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Shelhamer has had two stints at Saatchi & Saatchi X, first joining 10 years ago to serve as SVP, client development and in his next turn, he assumed the role three years ago as SVP/MD of its Chicago branch.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

They’ve already charmed us with symmetrical treadmill dancing and Google collaborations, so it’s no surprise that rock band OK Go is getting creative and innovative for their newest music video. Well actually, it’s you who will get creative, since the band partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi, Talenthouse, and BUG for a contest aimed at new directors searching for exposure.

The latest Saatchi & Saatchi Music Video Challenge, which has involved collaborations with the likes of Moby in the past, lasts until early-May, so auteurs have a few months to get adequately funky and artistic with OK Go’s new single “I’m Not Through.” The rockers won’t be making their own video this time, since they’re still in the studio finishing their next album. Outsourcing for cheap labor, Nike would be proud. We joke; OK Go gets the benefit of the doubt for their quirky videos that have been going viral for years, unlike now, where anything remotely creative/funny/newsworthy/embarrassing gets chewed up and spit out within a few days.

It’s a safe bet that whatever video they choose as a winner will be plenty imaginative. It just won’t recall Rube Goldberg, because they did that already.

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Three guys walk into a bar with The Hangover‘s Ken Jeong. That’s all you need, because Jeong will take care of the rest with his ridiculous facial expressions. No punchlines necessary. Give him a pig and a cabana, and he’ll deliver the goods. Even though Miller Lite makes terrible beer, their new campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi, which also features Roots/Late Night with Jimmy Fallon drummer Questlove and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, provides a blueprint for integrating celebrities into advertisements. It’s easy and boring to let John Krasinski do voice-over work for a Coke commercial, but with a little thought and some strong writing, you can get Ken Jeong into a cowboy costume.

Liddell may be irrelevant to the public at this point in his career, but Jeong and Questlove are recognizable and likable. Most guys would love to have either celebrity in their crew, even if it meant using the word “crew” and having to drink Miller Lite. And in some twisted way, that will probably sell more Miller Lite. But now that celebs want to hang out with regular guys, can we get James Harden to trade his friend D for Ken Jeong, setting up possibly the greatest commercial of all time? Now, that would be Miller Time.

“Questlove” and credits after the jump.

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During Quick’s first stint at Saatchi X, which lasted just over six years, she served as VP, account planning. We’re awaiting word from the X camp on whether there are immediate plans to replace.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

According to Campaign, HSBC has finally made its decision on who will handle its approximately $650 million global ad account and it’s sizable enough so that it will be not one, but three of the five agencies that were shortlisted last year (McCann dropped out in November and BBDO was the other). The financial institution has chosen incumbent JWT, Grey London and Saatchi  Saatchi, with the first two taking on lead agency duties while the third will service HSBC’s  premier and wealth business globally.

Regarding the five-month process to get to this point, HSBC group GM/global head of marketing Chris Clark,  tells Campaign, among other things, “This has been an exhaustive and thorough review, with input from our four global businesses and five regions, and we’re extremely grateful for the contributions and professionalism of all the agencies involved.”

Check out the full story here.

Update: We’ve received a memo from sources that went out globally to staff today from JWT Europe/London CEO, Toby Hoare, who has been with the agency since 2005. Peep it after the jump.

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Well, if his name being scrapped from the management section of Saatchi & Saatchi X’s website isn’t enough of an indication, we have received official confirmation from the shopper marketing agency that, yes,  its CEO, North America, Charlie Anderson, is out. The Saatchi X camp tells us that Anderson made a decision to leave last Friday (though spies, no surprise, allege that he was “forced out”).

Anderson spent just over 13 years at Saatchi & Saatchi X, moving up the ranks from account lead to managing director to global client engagement officer to his most recent role as North American CEO (one which he’s actually assumed once before), which lasted two-and-a-half years. His former employer tells us that “Charlie has done great work for us over the last 13+ years and was an important part of establishing Saatchi X as the preeminent Shopper Marketing Agency and for that we are sincerely grateful – he leaves a lasting legacy.”

From what we’re hearing, Anderson is possibly heading to Project: Worldwide, though we’ve yet to hear anything of the sort from folks familiar with said shop. As for Anderson’s successor, no word yet on if Saatchi X has immediate plans to replace him.

Update: Well, that was fast. Not sure if ol’ Charlie was embellishing or just forgot to update certain things, but Saatchi X has informed that his last title was NOT CEO, North America, but rather EVP/client development officer. The more you know…

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I have no idea what’s up with the recent trend of marketing brightly colored subcompacts exclusively to DJs, but the streak continues with this new spot from Brazil-based F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi.

Above, we DJ duo N.A.S.A. (AKA L.A. based Squeak E. Clean and Brazilian DJ Zegon) given the “Drivemixer,” a Honda Fit Twist (exclusive to Brazil) outfitted with a bunch of obnoxious sound effects that the DJs eventually mold into a cohesive obnoxious beat. This continues for a little over three minutes, at which point all other Brazilian DJs black out due to a filthy womp overload and awake to find themselves face down in the parking lot of their local Honda dealership. That’s what the whole “Twist” part means.

I don’t know how “street” the Honda Fit is in Sao Paulo, but in Chicago, I have heard tales of five different Honda Fits all getting their wheels stolen in the middle of the day. Perhaps if the Twist makes it to the U.S., the spot will look a little more like that. Credits after the jump.

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As the chilly pangs of winter draw nigh, it’s a great time to remember that, hey, if you were living in South America right now, it would now be summer. It’s because hemispheres and weather patterns and poles and the Earth’s rotation and other things I don’t quite understand, but the southern hemisphere experiences opposite weather patterns that we have up north. This is why there is an air conditioner ad in your AgencySpy this morning.

This spot for BGH comes from Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi Argentina. The concept evolves around a creepy voyeuristic shut-in being the personification of an air conditioner. As things end up taking a pretty bad turn around the 45-second mark, it’s hard not to reflect on two things: 1. This spot would never run in the U.S. and 2. Your own demented broadcast concepts will never be made unless you leave the country.

So, as you give thanks this holiday weekend, remember that your life would be so much better in you were in Argentina. Then laugh, because we all know that’s not true. I mean, football, AMIRITE? Credits after the jump.

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Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Mark Reichard has joined Saatchi & Saatchi New York to serve as executive creative director on the agency’s tri-state Toyota Dealers Association account (corporate national Toyota biz, as you probably know, is handled out of Saatchi LA). Reichard, who’s spent the last decade-plus as an SVP/creative director at McCann Detroit, replaces Neal Foard, a 14-year Saatchi vet who left the agency over the summer for the Bay Area to take on the director of creative marketing position at TiVo.

As for Reichard, prior to his lengthy stay at McCann, the creative exec spent a few years as a copywriter at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Prior to Saatchi, Patel spent a year as technical lead at BBDO New York, working across accounts including AT&T, FedEx and HBO. During his career, the new Saatchi hire also spent time on the dev/tech side at the likes of Conde Nast and ESPN.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As any Internet humorist will tell you, felines are one of the few animals you can always laugh at when they hurt themselves. If a dog hurts itself, it’s generally a pretty sad affair (see Homeward Bound when “Shadow” tweaks his ankle attempting to crawl out of a 12-foot pit). If a cat hurts itself, it’s probably a good bet that it deserved it in some way (see Homeward Bound when “Sassy” gets flung about 40 yards off a teeter-totter into a sandbox). If you are over 30, you probably do not understand my Homeward Bound references in the least.

For the campaign ringing in the launch of Toyota’s new 2013 model of the Corolla, the folks at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand decided to put the world’s love affair with delighting in cats’ pain to the test. We see a sad feline stuffed into a cat carrier to be hauled off to the vet, only to experience the ride of its life in the back of a 2013 Corolla. Really, what cat wouldn’t be absolutely enthralled by the Corolla’s spacious and luxurious interior? Well, as you might guess, the cat associates harm with a chance to ride in the back of the car, and its fucked-up mental state leads to it harming itself in tragic ways that your whole family will guffaw at.

As with most individuals who find themselves associating pain with pleasure to an extreme extent, the kitty’s strange fetish leads to its demise. It just felt so good inside, you know? These things happen, and the cat’s transformation into zombie cat will most certainly make your children beg for a Toyota Corolla. Credits after the jump.

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During the now-tired manly man spokesperson ad trend that’s been beaten to death over the last few years, I’ve always had a soft spot for Keystone’s trucker hat-wearing mascot, Keith Stone. I guess it’s because Keith was actually a somewhat recognizable archetype, whereas his fellow manly spokesmen look nothing like the consumer they’re attempting to appeal to. The difference is that you can actually picture a dude who looks likes Keith walking into your local convenience store, grabbing a case of Keystone, and handing a series of crumpled bills and loose change from his pocket to the cashier before jumping in his rusted pickup.

There’s a degree of honesty to Keith that, when backed up by some insight, can work very well. Such is the case with the above spot, one in a trio from Saatchi and Saatchi NY and Tool director JJ Adler. What “true” guy wouldn’t agree with Keith and admit that yes, emoticons are an incredibly maddening way for other dudes to express themselves? Whenever I get a text message or IM from a friend that contains an emoticon, it’s nearly impossible not to let out a sigh of resignation. Add to that some great copy, and Keith Stone not only becomes a symbol of manliness–he becomes a symbol of integrity, dammit!

I wish I could say the same for the other two spots, both of which exchange this keen insight for the trite “guys will be guys” subjects that have existed as long as the idea of manliness has. Real men drink beer instead of eat salad? Keith, you can do better than that. If I wanted to know that men like bacon, I would ask the Dr. Pepper 10 guy. One more spot about fist-bumping along with credits follows after the jump.

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