Two Nice Stunt Videos - Sony Xperia & Red Stripe

I keep thinking that stunt campaigns are somehow going to die off, but the public appetite for them shows no sign of slowing down.  What's more impressive is that agencies keep coming up with new and innovative ways to communicate a clear product message through stunt videos.  The latest hot stunt was developed by CP+B Stockholm to promote the new waterproof Sony Xperia phone.  During screenings of the new James Bond film, Skyfall, several  of the waterproof phones were hidden inside free soda cups given to random viewers.  It's a nice way to demonstrate the main USP of the phone in a way that fits nicely into the overall theme and feel of the Bond film.  Check it out below...I do question how the hell the people managed to get a drink without noticing that there was a phone embedded in their massive Coke.


Another delightful stunt comes from Kessels Kramer for beer brand, Red Stripe.  For one day only, a corner store became a giant musical instrument, playing 'A Message To You, Rudy.'  Products on the shelves and items left scattered around the store part of an ad-hoc orchestra, triggered when a customer chose a Red Stripe from the shelves.  Just a really nice way to reward customers who choose your product with a delightful and unexpected experience.  Check out the video below and it's also worth checking out the behind the scenes video as the 'making of...' is fascinating.

Movember - David's Big Problem

A bunch of us around the office raised a nice chunk of change for Movember (BTW - it's not too late to donate to the Google UK team or me directly).  I was shocked to look at the Movember.com leaderboards and see that Canada is crushing the rest of the world in terms of money raised. I suppose it should be no surprise that the best creative (IMHO) supporting November comes from the Canadian arm of creative agency, TAXI.  Check it out below...so good.
via Leon Bayliss

Old Spice - Dikembe Mutombo's 4 1/2 Weeks To Save The World

It's the latest campaign from Old Spice.  Why even bother explaining it when we both know that you're going to watch it and play around with it regardless of what I say.

Seriously though, it's amazing what successful advertising can do and the halo effect it can for future campaigns.  The folks at W+K continue to do great work for Old Spice, but they could literally do anything at this point and the Internets would be abuzz about it.  So head over to Old Spice Saves The World (shame it's not happening on YouTube this year).

Quick overview:  Former NBA Great Dikembe Mutumbo has 4 1/2 Weeks To Save The World.  Each week will feature a different game or challenge for Old Spice fans to help Mutumbo keep the Mayan prophecy of the world ending on December 21, 2012.  The entire event is also showing a livestream with a countdown of a machine carving a Mayan gliff.

Let the randomness and hilarity begin!

The Beat - Instagram Meets Google Street View

The Beat is an experiment from the social media information lab at Rutgers University.  It blends together geotagged Instagram posts with Google Streetview imagery from that location.  The aim is to give users insight into the life of an area by exploring topics in a new way.  It's preloaded with a #Christmas Instagram hashtag so try putting in your own hashtag either geography such as #London or more interestingly exploring other topics via hashtag such as #Movember

It's a really cool way to give context to Instagram photos by seeing what's around them using Google Streetview.  It'd be interesting to see this also integrated into the This Is Now Instagram project that showed a few weeks ago.

Check it out below or have a play around yourself at The Beat
via PSFK

Water Is Life - #FirstWorldProblems

Water Is Life is an non-profit group that works to provide clean water to people in need around the world.  Many people are unaware of the fact that millions of people around the world lack access to clean water.  Faced with the challenge of how to promote this organization and the issue in general , DDB New York developed the #FirstWorldProblems campaign.  The central campaign video highlights the gap between the haves and the have-nots.  Regular Haitians, many of whom are still affected by the 2010 earthquake, are shown reading from tweets with the hashtag #FirstWorldProblems.  For those of you not familiar with the hashtag, it usually contains tweets with trivial problems such as 'I hate it when my phone charger won’t reach my bed.'


In other videos, Haitian are shown responding directly to specific tweets.  Each video also features a call to action to donate now and visit waterislife.com to find out more about the issue.

DDB New York Executive Creative Director Matt Eastwood said he hoped that the campaign would actually eliminate the #FirstWorldProblems hashtag  '#FirstWorldProblems allows its user to self-mock the petty concerns of those in so-called “first world” countries, yet seem strikingly insensitive when compared to real issues across the world.'

The campaign has received some criticism, but I think it's a fantastic example of a) hijacking a hashtag for good and b) taking the idea of personalized responses videos and using them for good (or perhaps shame?)  For me personally, I found it packed a significant emotional punch and made me reconsider the paltry things in life that I occasionally bitch about when many people in the world are unable to meet even their most basic needs.

Additional Articles: Huffington Post

Innovative Music Launches: Ellie Goulding - Digital Signing & Yolanda Be Cool - Recall

It's been amazing to watch the evolution of Google+ Hangout and Hangout Apps over the past year.  Brands, agencies and individuals are constantly coming up with innovative ways to use what's arguably the killer feature of Google+.  Now autograph signing sessions are entering the digital age thanks to Google+ Hangouts.  The idea, which came from the Creative Lab here in London, allowed Ellie Goulding to hold the world's first digital album signing as part of a promotion for her second album.     Using a Wacom tablet, Photoshop and a custom Google+ Hangout app Ellie Goulding talked face-to-face some of her fans from across the world, signed and dedicated an album cover for each them.  Each personalized and signed album cover was them shared with them as a picture on Google+.  I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes a common staple of album launches.  It's a fantastic way to bring the real-world experience into the digital space.  Check out the teaser video below and you can also watch a video of the whole Hangout here.


On a separate music related note, the band responsible for the hit song 'We No Speak Americano,' Yolanda Be Cool, has undertaken an interesting campaign/stunt for the launch of their second record.  They're issuing a recall of their hit song and calling on DJs, radio stations and people all across the world to destroy all copies of the song.  This goes beyond just words as they've also removed the song from iTunes (at least in Australia) and removed download links from their website & Facebook.  Instead they're offering fans, etc. a free replacement track from their new album.  It's a pretty damn funny idea considering how overplayed the song has been.  It's a nice stunt to leverage past success into what I'm sure they'll hope will be success for their upcoming album.

Check out the fake press conference below, which is quite funny.

Bodyform Responds - The Truth

Many of you have probably already seen this as it's been rapidly making the rounds on the interwebs.  To truly appreciate the response video below from maxipad brand, Bodyform, you need a bit of background.  Two weeks ago a guy named Richard Neill posted a rant on the Bodyform Facebook wall.  As mashable reported, his rant went viral and gathered more than 40,000 likes in 24-hours.  Have a read at the rant below.

Usually that'd be the end of the it...a brief blurb in the never ending story of the Internet.  But wait...there's more!  Bodyform (and their agencies Carat & Rubber Republic) created a brilliant video addressed to Richard Neill.  They created a fictional CEO, Caroline Williams, who calmly and hilariously responds while apologizing for the lies that Bodyform (and other femcare brands) have perpetuated on the male population through years of advertising.  Check it out below.  It's quite possibly the best response video I've ever seen.  Again, it's great to see brands/agencies being agile and quickly responding as a way of tapping into even the briefest moments of zeitgeist.

Electrolux - Now You're Cooking

The way that people cook at home has been undergoing a revolution over the past few years.  For many people, the recipe book has been replaced by their laptop, phone or tablet.  A host of great cooking apps and content have been created to meet this shift in user behavior.  There are a ton of brands that have gotten into the act, creating recipes, apps, etc. but this latest creation from House Of Radon for Electrolux has me going 'why the hell didn't I think of that!?'

The recipe videos are beautifully shot, but it's one small tweak that makes them standout.  Each of the videos has a 'cooking mode.'  When enabled, cooking mode pauses the video at each of the steps rather than just playing all the way through.  It's a small change and doesn't seem like much, but it perfectly fits with how people cook at home allowing the technology to adapt to the user rather than asking the user to adapt to the technology (eg. constantly rewinding or pausing the video manually).

Unfortunately, the video player they are using is bespoke and I can't seem to embed it here, but see the video capture below.  I also see no reason why this couldn't be done using annotations on YouTube in the future.
Check it out here at the Electrolux - Now You're Cooking tumblr or go directly to one of the video recipes.

via Creativity

BONUS: HIV/AIDS Council Finland

Here's another great PSA, though perhaps not as heavy as the Water Is Life campaign.

Developed by McCann Worldwide for the HIV/AIDS Council of Finland, these TV spots extend on the existing idea from a print campaign back in February.  The payoff is genius. Check it out below:

Other Things I Like (But Don't Have Time To Write Up)

Ragu - Long Day Of Childhood
Barton F. Graf 9000 have been creating a serious of hilarious commercials for Ragu around the idea of a 'Long Day of Childhood' which shows some of the difficult situations children go through (check out this one where a kid walks in on his parents.)  Now they've enlisted the kids made infamous by Charlie Bit My Finger video who lament the poor parenting that led to the video.  Check it out below:



Coke Zero - Unlock The 007 In you
People who bought a Coke Zero in a train station (where?) were challenged to unlock their inner 007 to win tickets for the new James Bond movie Skyfall.



SNCF - Lyon To Brussels
How do you promote a new train route?  In this case SNCF created a magic box allowed passer-bys to 'take a quick look at Brussels' via a magic box connected via Webcam to Brussels where a celebratory band (among other things) awaited viewers.


Jordan CP3.VI: Cut Through LA
Just wow.