We’ve been told by those in the know that this new effort from McGarryBowen NY for Verizon called “Powerful Answers” actually marks the wireless carrier’s first ever corporate branding campaign. Set to the sounds of legendary composer Philip Glass, Verizon veers from the usual Wireless and/or FiOS promotion to, according to parties involved, “showcase tech solutions that no one knew they did.” As you can see in the spot directed by Park Pictures’ Lance Acord above as well as the anthem clip below, some Verizon folks are lab rats whose tech prowess translates into solutions for medical emergencies just as easily as they could the classroom. We didn’t know there was side to them, but hey, you learn something new every day. Exhaustive list of credits after the jump.

Read more

Now that we’ve got the whole Mother/Chevy/Goodby confusion out of the way (we hope), here’s the previously mentioned “Centennial” work from GS&P that broke during game one of the World Series last night. The spot, which is called “Then & Now” and was created in conjunction with Park Pictures and director/DP Lance Acord, celebrates the automotive brand that was founded on November 3, 1911 by Swiss immigrant Louis Chevrolet and U.S. entrepreneur Billy Durant. While it’s all nice and tender and all, commenters on YouTube are already calling foul, claiming this ad is ripping off the blog, Dear Photograph. Well, at least the “Let’s Do This” Chevy Sonic work that Goodby is also behind is fairly novel. What say you, readers? Credits after the jump.

Read more

Were you expecting someone else? At least this time, though, Wieden + Kennedy shared its top prize tonight at the AICP Show as the agency’s seemingly immortal “Write the Future” spot for Nike (helmed by Babel/Amores Perros director Alejandro González Iñárritu) tied with Deutsch LA and director Lance Acord‘s “The Force” VW Super Bowl spot for Advertising Excellence/Single Commercial honors. As for the other AICP Best in Show category, Advertising Excellence/Campaign, said honor went to Leo Burnett Chicago and Phil Morrison‘s  series of “Mayhem” ads for Allstate.

In terms of agencies, W+K, as with many other award shows, led the pack with 13 wins, not only  for “Write the Future,” but of course, Old Spice “Questions” and Responses,” the two of which also won earlier today at the Next Awards in the Integrated and Viral/Web Film categories, respectively. As for the also-rans, along with Deutsch LA, Y&R, BBDO and TBWA\Chiat\Day all picked up five AICP honors for work throughout their networks.

On the production company front, MJZ topped the list with eight honors tonight at the MoMA for not just Old Spice (again) but other work including the Willem Dafoe-starring “Parallels” ad for Jim Beam from StrawberryFrog and Dante Ariola ( for Direction, Visual Style, and Cinematography) and the Chiat LA-created/Rupert Sanders-directed “There’s a Soldier in All of Us” clip for Activision (production).

Ok, back to imbibing….

Now that the Yo Gabba Gabba characters and The Heavy song have been thankfully tucked away in their drawers,   David&Goliath is attempting to open up new doorways for Kia in the spot above called “Sweet Dreams.”

The spot takes us on a journey through a little boy’s imagination as his race car bed turns into a real car, his closet doors open to a magical world and we’re off. Not bad. Nice piece. Midsize sedan, though? Wrong car. Give it up to D&G for trying, though.

Kia decided it was time to elevate the midsize category and show its true potential. The automaker’s goal? Encourage kids to pin up a poster of the 2011 Kia Optima rather than a $250,000 shiny red Ferrari or fancy luxury sedan which is a very tall order if you ask us. This spot fits better for a sports car or luxury sedan, not the Optima. View agency credits after the jump.

Read more

Commercial director Guy Manwaring has signed up with the roster of Park Pictures for U.S. representation. The London native joins from L.A.-based prodco Prettybird and has worked on spots for Warburtons, Specsavers and Snickers but perhaps is best known for helming the Cannes Silver Lion-winning “Alien” ad for Wrigley.

The filmmaker actually began his career as an agency creative, serving at London shops including The Leith Agency and St. Luke’s before transitioning to a directing career in 2003 at the age of 25. Subsequently, he’s worked with agencies such as BBH, DDB, M&C Saatchi, Ogilvy and AMV BBDO.

In other Park Pictures news, the bi-coastal prodco, founded by Lance Acord and EP Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee in 1998, announced that it will be opening its first-ever London office on Jan. 1, 2011. The new digs will be run by executive producer Stephen Brierley, former head of production at Stink London.