The World's First Interactive Print Ad (For The Moto X) Breaks In This Month's WIRED magazine.

To drive home the 'customization' concept behind Motorola's Moto X Mobile phone, Digitas, with some help from T+Ink Technology, has created the very first interactive print ad. Select copies (only 150,000 distributed in Chicago and New York) of the January edition of WIRED magazine will feature a print ad that allows you to begin designing your own Moto X phone by simply pressing on colored buttons to change the color of the back of the smartphone's case.




This animated gif (courtesy of FastCoCreate) gives you a peek at the technology:


Then the viewer is directed to a site where they can complete the customization process and order the smartphone, if they so desire.

See how it works in the video below:




Motorola

Made From Cool. Christopher Walken Turns Tailor In This New TV and Print Campaign for Fashion Brand Jack & Jones.

British GQ reports that "Premium by Jack & Jones - the denim brand's preppy, tailoring-based offshoot - has unveiled none other than Christopher Walken as the face of its new autumn/winter campaign. Dubbed "Made From Cool" the brand produced a series of five short films directed by Martin Werner with the Oscar-winning actor playing a super-powered tailor, cutting patterns and shearing sheep with his bare hands, while providing the voice-over in that unmistakable drawl."



Unfortunately, the youtube films are not legally allowed to play in the US, but I was able to find all five uploaded from various countries on youtube, which may be removed by the time you read this (but I hope not). Here they are:







The fabulous music on the last film shown above is a collaboration between music stylist Jesper Gadeberg and Soundtree featuring Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds off their latest album, Push the Sky Away. The track is called We Real Cool. “Who took your measurements from your toes to the top of your head?” Cave croons as the 70-year-old actor, playing the role of a super-tailor, cuts fabric, shapes suits, and attaches buttons with his bare fingers in a dark New York City loft space.

In another one of the ads, this one showing off the brand’s premium sweaters, Walken knits at lightning speed while staring off the camera with inimitable resolve, before cutting the final thread with a scissor-like snap of his fingers.

Reportedly, Christopher Walken made an exception to his no-campaigns rule, because he liked the role and how it was especially made for him. “Christopher Walken is our favourite style icon and a great source of inspiration. The campaign is custom-made for him. He represents style rather than fashion, and his acting performances are first class craft – just as our brand”, Winnie Andersen, the head designer of PREMIUM, says in a press release.



Besides the five films, whose primary target is the online media, the “Made From Cool” ad campaign also includes print ads (shown below) beautifully shot by Danish photographer Søren Solkær Starbird who is known for his photos of musicians and artists.






Film credits:
Director: Martin Werner
Production company: Bacon
Agency: &Co, Copenhagen

Three Nice New TV Ads - For Cuervo, Cars and Carbs - Worth Noting.

It's been refreshing to come across this slew of nice tv spots in the past week. Given that 95% of commercials on the air are easily dismissed as forgettable, I thought I'd share this trio of well-produced, entertaining and engaging commercials for such common product categories as liquor, cars and food.

Advertising largely parody products that lack a distinguishing characteristic - booze, pizza and the vague history of a car manufacturer - it's not easy to do memorable advertising, yet these three have succeeded. All have a social media component as well.

Jose Cuervo Tequila


Keifer Sutherland has never been sexier as he encourages us to have a Cuervo and a story, but no regrets (albeit I know a lot of tequila stories that include regrets), in this new 60 second spot for Jose Cuervo Tequila by McCann Erickson New York:




The campaign includes TV, online and print advertising, and a social media effort inviting consumers to share their stories at #cuervostory.

Honda Branding Spot


Honda creates a worthy successor to their famous Cog Spot with "Hands" by Wieden + Kennedy, London. The 60 spot celebrates the curiosity of Honda engineers, which has led to some of the most successful Honda innovations over the past 65 years:




Discover the engineers notes, facts, insights and tales behind Honda's history in this embellished version shown here.

Dominos Pizza


And lastly Domino's newest spot and campaign by CP+B, Powered by Pizza, is a refreshing look at the common consumption of the convenient carb-laden pie by those burning the midnight-oil while celebrating innnovation:



Connecting with project and business owners who utilize Indiegogo, they will offer gift cards directly to individuals within the fundraising site who pledge support toward select projects reflecting great and innovative ideas.



In addition, the "Pizzavestors" program, where about 30 startup companies all throughout the U.S. were treated to a $500 Domino's Pizza gift card, will be an added part of the campaign – all in the spirit of fueling great ideas and encouraging organizations to keep up the good work. Share what you do when you're #poweredbypizza on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled mediocre advertising.

DDB Shanghai Promotes Walking Over Driving With Crowd-Sourced Art. Green Pedestrian Crossing for China's Environmental Protection Foundation.

Green Pedestrian Crossing - More Walking, Less Driving.
A project for China's Environmental Protection Foundation by DDB Shanghai



The Brief
40% of carbon monoxide emissions come from cars. According to China's Ministry of Commerce; the country is now the world's largest car market with over 500 million vehicles on the road. This is without a doubt having a huge impact on the environment. China Environmental Protection Foundation wanted an attention grabbing tactic to urge everyone to do their bit for the environment. They asked people to walk more, and drive less. DDB Shanghai created an outdoor advertisement on the street to push this message.




The Solution
The agency decided to leverage a busy pedestrian crossing; a place where both pedestrians and drivers meet. They lay a giant canvas of 12.6 meters long by 7 meters wide on the ground, covering the pedestrian crossing with a large leafless tree. Placed on either side of the road beneath the traffic lights, were sponge cushions soaked in green environmentally friendly washable and quick dry paint. As pedestrians walked towards the crossing, they would step onto the green sponge and as they walked, the soles of their feet would make foot imprints onto the tree on the ground. Each green footprint added to the canvas like leaves growing on a bare tree, which made people feel that by walking they could create a greener environment.



The Result
The Green Pedestrian Crossing was carried out in 7 main streets of Shanghai and later expanded to 132 roads in 15 cities across China. A total number of pedestrians that participated exceeded 3,920,000 people. Key media both online and offline rapidly wrote about the campaign. According to research, the overall awareness of environmental protection had increased 86%. After the campaign, the print was exhibited at the Shanghai Zheng Da Art Museum.

The final print was exhibited at the Shanghai Zheng Da Art Museum:


All images and info courtesy of DDB Shanghai and a special shout-out to Jaci Lerner for bringing this to my attention.

New Print Campaign For Bering Canned Seafood From BBDO Moscow.

These three print ads from BBDO's Moscow office remind me of 'old-school' advertising. One actually has to spend some time looking at the ad to appreciate it. That's right... takes more than 2 seconds to actually 'get them.'

Mercedes Benz Print Campaign Will Make You Look Twice.

above composite by if it's hip its here

This print campaign by Jung von Matt for Mercedes Benz' Blind Spot Assist feature plays on the fact that you don't have to turn your head and look over your shoulder while driving by featuring a compelling illusory visual. Shot by photographer Klaus Merz, the three ads read "Look to the side without looking to the side."





While it's true, this is simply the same ad executed three times, the unusual image is so compelling, I don't mind seeing variations on it. But it'd be nice if they'd found three different ways to say it in the headline.

Credits:
Brand: Mercedes-Benz
Agency: Jung von Matt, Hamburg, Germany
Executive Creative Director: Jan Rexhausen, Doerte Spengler-Ahrens
Creative Director: Felix Fenz
Copywriter: Andreas Hilbig, David Wegener
Art Director: Michael Hess, Alexander Norvilas
Photography: Klaus Merz
Print Production: Philipp Wenhold
Art Buyer: Madeleine von Hohenthal, Bianca Winter
Account Manager: Sven Doerrenbaecher, Ann-Kathrin Geertz
Editing: Marius Schwiegk, Amina Warscheid

Other credits:
Artist: Jesús González Rodríguez
Account Executive: Sven Doerrenbaecher, Raphael Brinkert
Awards: Clio Awards 2012, Bronze Print, Product/Service

Smart, Subtle and Simple Ad Campaign For Hot Wheels Vintage Collection.

A nice campaign for Hot Wheels Vintage Collection shot by Sean Eng for Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai. The simple photographic image in the following three print ads tells a narrative that we can all relate to. No product shot and no copy necessary. When's the last time you saw that?

Drawers:

Refrigerator:

Sofa:



Credits:
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai, India
National Creative Directors: Abhijit Avasthi, Rajiv Rao
Group Creative Director: Sukesh Kumar Nayak
Art Directors: Pratheeb Ravi, Vinit Sanghvi, Swaroop Sankar
Copywriter: Sukesh Kumar Nayak
Producer: Emily Ho, Eric Gan / Studio 31
Photographer: Sean Eng / Studio 31
Retoucher / Production: Studio 31

A Self Promotional Print Campaign for Digital Retouching By Dare for The Orange Apple.

Dare of Vancouver has created this visually compelling print campaign for - as one might guess - digitial retouching by Canada's The Orange Apple. Creatives take note... The Orange Apple was approached by Andrew Ablas and Rob Sweetman of Dare to create the three ads below (as opposed to the client soliciting the campaign) which show two dimensional drawings springing to life as three dimension worlds.

Mountains:


Sci-Fi:


Buildings:


Credits:
Advertising Agency: Dare, Vancouver, Canada
Creative Directors: Bryan Collins, Rob Sweetman
Art Directors: Andrew Alblas, Rachel Harrison
Copywriter: Darien Campbell
Photographer: Paul Lang
Retoucher: The Orange Apple
Published: April 2012


Courtesy of Ads of The World.

DDB Auckland Makes An Impression Selling Shorts For Superette

To promote the shorts sale at fashion retail store Superette, the New Zealand ad agency, DDB Auckland, turned unwitting thighs into billboards by creating benches with reverse embossed lettering that when sat upon created an impression reading "Short shorts on sale Superette"



The plates were placed upon inner city and fashion district bus stop benches, mall seats and park benches. The branded seats were an ingenious way to take advantage of free media space with the impressions lasting about an hour.




Credits:
Ad agency: DDB Auckland
Executive Creative Director: Toby Talbot
Creative Director: Regan Grafton
Creative: Damian Galvin and Rory Mckechnie
Account Director: Jenny Travers
Project Manager: Andy Robilliard
Models: Jen and Jen

Prime Cable Network Promotes Popular TV Series With Mini Dioramas

To promote the PRIME series available on Belgium's PRIME Telenet network, Prime TV, director/designer/animator Steven Huybrechts filmed and composited miniature sets with tiny figurines to represent their line up of television series.

A smart and entertaining solution, this meant they didn't have to get clearance for clips from the actual shows, or book the actual actors, saving lots of red tape, moola and time.

The :60 television ad - shown after the screen grabs - features the following shows [shown in alphabetical order]:

Boardwalk Empire:

Breaking Bad:

Californication:

Deadwood:

Dirty Sexy Money:

Hung:

Lost:

Mad Men:

Matroesjka's:

Modern Family:

Pillars Of The Earth:

Six Feet Under:

Sons of Anarchy:

Spartacus:

The Pacific:

Weeds:

4400:




Credits:
director: Steven Huybrechts
producer: Sofie Gebruers
cam: Geert Verstraete
edit: Tom Willems [represented by Caviar Content, Brussels]
soundfx: Yve@Sonicville
compositing/fx: Steven Huybrechts
client: Ludo Luykx PRIME

A special thanks to Fubiz for bringing this to my attention