It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood and you’re undoubtedly going to try and get out early. Our goal is to prevent that via a compelling series of YouTubes that will take up an inordinate amount of time. To streamline, don’t read the copy. Just press it for glory.

5.We don’t usually post videos with so few views, but this cat with the cone of shame on who also gets a can of cat food stuck to his face (due to aforementioned can) should be noted as a bit of glory that a brand can immediately turn into a gif and post to their Facebook, Tumblr, or whatever. Or not because, durrr, legal issues. But still, in a perfect world, this poor bastard would achieve fame for it.

4. And now, the 5th iteration of BMW-like films, this time by Jaguar. Watch as Damian Lewis careens a new F-Type through the desert. I won’t name all the other brands that have done this kind of thing already because that would be rude. Still, I wonder if it’s still interesting. With two days under its belt, the clip has just 26,897 views despite being produced by Ridley Scott(Associates and having music from Lana Del Rey. Maybe there’s something to take away from that – doing what once was wonderful won’t win? Dunno, but seems as such.

Read more

So it would seem that the weird Lana Del Rey music video produced by Jaguar was merely a tease foreshadowing bigger things to comes. In fact, Del Ray’s four-minute warble-fest “Burning Desire” is actually the soundtrack to a new short-film that heavily integrates the Jaguar F-Type, Desire.

Starring Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (Homeland) and Shannyn Sossamon (who’s been kind of quiet since starring in such films as 40 Days and 40 Nights and Wristcutters: A Love Story), Desire is the result of a collaboration with Jaguar, Ridley Scott Associates and agency Brooklyn Brothers (the guys behind the Alec Baldwin/John Krasinski New Era spots). The short film has no official release date beyond “spring,” and a press release describes it as “a story of betrayal, retribution, passion and greed.”

In a statement, Lewis says of his involvement, “Working with the director Adam Smith from Ridley Scott Associates, it promises to be an adventure. Jaguar cars have played some iconic roles in film for many years and I’m looking forward to being the first to drive the F-TYPE in film.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a car company give its marketing a turn for the cinematic. In fact, it’s been over a decade since BMW Films’s Clive Owen-starring series The Hire gained critical acclaim for its groundbreaking approach to car advertising. In 2013, will the same sort of execution move F-Types? I suppose we’ll find out soon.

Since dropping what was then EuroRSCG and taking its advertising in-house with agency Spark44 two years ago, Jaguar has been on a quest to introduce its brand of luxury cars to a younger audience. After all, selling cars to old dying guys who first fell in love with Jags after seeing one in a 60s spy movie probably wasn’t the best strategy for sustained profitability.

With the “Alive” campaign, Spark44 brought Jaguar back to TV for the first time in years, giving the brand a new shiny feel that mixed technology prowess with a hint of luxurious bad-assery. Due to this re-branding, it’s kind of a shock that that Jaguar is now employing dead-eyed indie songstress Lana Del Rey for the above spot/music video, “Burning Desire.” Best known for becoming a Saturday Night Live laughing stock and getting naked on the cover of GQ, Del Rey has come to symbolize the definition of beauty-minus-substance for pop culture writers worldwide. That said, the rumor mill also declared Del Rey as the front-runner for contributing the theme song to the latest James Bond installment, Skyfall, before Adele got the honor. Perhaps Jaguar is attempting to correct what some critics considered a bit of a mistake.

Despite the accusations of not being “indie enough” and having her entire persona be a result of music industry manufacturing, Del Rey has always been a remarkable singer, and she proves it in “Burning Desire.” However, the over 3-minute music video suffers from aggressive cheesiness. The cheese-factor as been an integral to Del Rey’s  mainstream success, which has spawned a “love her or hate her” reception. Still, it might not be something a brand like Jaguar, which is still on the hunt to prove its relevance to a new generation, wants to align with. Then again, does Jaguar really want to impress its target demo with substantive features, or is this proof that the brand is still using a “sex sells” approach to its marketing?

Back in June of this year, the (now-deceased) print edition of SPIN ran a cover story that could have also doubled as an Urban Outfitters catalog. The story focused on two subjects, Bethany Cosentino of indie band Best Coast and her boyfriend, Nathan Williams of WAVVES, and many readers criticized SPIN for buying into what appeared to be more of a PR push by Cosentino’s management that anything resembling journalistic integrity. But, then, when you’re being set up to become the “next big thing” in cute female-driven rock, it isn’t really about the music anymore, is it?

With this year’s release of The Only Place, Best Coast’s second full-length album, Cosentino came back into the indie-rock spotlight with a new hair color, a much slimmer figure, and her band’s shoegaze-y guitar fuzz totally absent from their new songs. While her ascent to stardom may not be as fast as her management was hoping for (unlike, say, Lana Del Rey), Cosentino is merging her brand with another going through a total image makeover, Microsoft, in a new CP+B-created campaign for the launch of Windows 8.

As the general U.S. populace is moving towards all-Apple everything at this point, Microsoft and CP+B decided to go to Apple’s former favorite target consumer, the young hipster. And, from a technology perspective, Windows 8 is, actually, pretty cool. (Feel free to confirm this with any programmer friends you might have.) But, by merging their brand with Best Coast’s, is Microsoft actually doing enough to really convince these Silverlake-dwelling cool cats that Windows is once again the go-to OS? Or, should it pull an Apple, and attempt to actually break bands instead of merely add its money to a music PR campaign in progress? One more Best Coast-less spot follows after the jump.

Read more

-GSD&M picked up creative duties for Perio Inc.’s Barbasol and Pure Silk brands.

-Kids continue to rule over adults in a new Kraft campaign from CP+B, which is now promoting the brand’s Homestyle Mac ‘n Cheese Bowls (above).

-RPA has promoted VP/ACD J Barbush to VP, creative social media director. link

-Musician Lana Del Rey has teamed up with Jaguar to promoted the automaker’s upcoming F-Type model. link

-Meanwhile, Pfaff Auto is giving away a 2013 Audi A4 to the winner of a tweet race launched today by Lowe Roche. Unforunately, the race is only open to Ontario residents over 25. link

-The Art Directors Club has announced a partnership with ad creative resource,  Lürzer’s Archive. link

-Sound designer/mixer Scottie Richardson joined Dallas-based studio, Lucky Post.

-CNN and Facebook have teamed up to launch a new tool called “Election Insights.” link