Alas, there are no “T-shirt uniforms” to hammer home the message of individuality in this latest Dr. Pepper campaign from Deutsch LA, which is now eschewing grandiose productions and blockbuster cross-promotions to instead focus on real people, real stories. The above spot, dubbed “One in a Billion” (title track courtesy of the Vinyl Hearts), should give you the basic gist of how the agency’s ongoing “Always One of a Kind” campaign for the soda brand is evolving.

The heartwarming, human interest angle is one that’s been tread on aplenty, but it’s a somewhat interesting detour considering that at the end of the day, all agency and client are doing are selling soda. Will it take this year? Who knows, but in the meantime, check out out two specific stories, one focusing on a model-turned-boxer and the other a mother of five/roller derby queen along with credits after the jump.

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A few weeks ago, Adidas and 180LA turned heads with a decidedly strange music video for “Fast Don’t Lie,” the anthem for its new basketball campaign. Featuring NBA stars Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard along with comedian Ken Jeong moonlighting as nutty rich tycoon “Slim Chin,” we had a feeling we weren’t seeing the last of the trio (or Jeong’s pet cheetah).

As it turns out, Adidas and has an entire YouTube channel dedicated to the misadventures of Slim Chin and his lightning-fast, musically inclined athletic friends. Along with the videos, there’s an interactive portion (co-created with 180 Amsterdam) where fans can step into Derrick Rose’s Adidas kicks to drive to the hoop on Slim Chin’s own lavish court, performing aerial dunking maneuvers from an interactive, first-person perspective.

180LA copywriter Eric Helin says the campaign uses Jeong’s popularity to “grab basketball crazed kids attention.” While stars like Rose and Howard can probably do that on their own, watching Ken Jeong ride a jet-ski around his massive pool is pretty hard for anyone to ignore.

Full credits for the spots after the jump.

More: “Adidas Uses NBA Talent for Bizarre ‘Fast Don’t Lie’ Slow Jam”

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