Heathrow Airport has gotten Stephen Fry, a well-known British person, to take the piss out of British manners.

The video below functions as both a guide to etiquette and a guide to British humor, as Fry, rather dryly, clues us in on the art of queuing (waiting in a line), talking almost exclusively about the weather, being awkwardly polite by suggesting others go first, cheering when glass breaks, and tutting (making a little disapproving sound).



Fry could probably fill 60 more videos on this topic, but it's a nice start. So whether you're arriving at Heathrow to experience the majesty of the country side, the majesty of Her Majesty, or Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­dro­bwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch, you'll have a head start on understanding the peculiarities of this insular island culture. 

Netflix execs had a lot to say at the streaming giant's CES keynote today, but amid all the flashy trailers and big global news, one compelling tidbit was largely overlooked.

CEO Reed Hastings was clearly the star of the show, where he announced Netflix's sudden surge into more than 130 new countries today. But also on stage was chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who talked not only about Netflix's popular programming but also about the company's role as a consumer advocate of sorts.

Here's how Sarandos beautifully summarized the profits-first, viewers-second mentality that has frequently driven decision making in Hollywood and across the entertainment and broadcast industries:

"Over the last 70 years, consumers have been at the mercy of others when it comes to television. The shows and movies they want to watch are subject to business models that they do not understand and they do not care about. All they know is frustration.

"That's the insight Netflix is built on, whether it's an unfair late fee for a DVD, a discriminatory patchwork of global content availability or technologies that confound common sense and human happiness, our job as business people and as innovators is to make it easy for people to find the entertainment that they love."

While Netflix users often suffer (whether they know it or not) from content restrictions in their countries, the service has largely tried to sidestep the issue of Byzantine third-party licensing restrictions by creating its own original programming with unlimited geographic usage.

For example, the network's quick expansion into Cuba—where almost no U.S. content is licensed for viewing—last February was made possible thanks to Netflix's large stock of original shows and movies, which it could make available to Cuban viewers on Day 1.

Another positive aspect of Netflix's 24-hour-access model, according to Sarandos, is that it doesn't have to spend a small fortune promoting major shows in hopes that viewers will tune in at the right time:

"That means we can spend less on marketing and still generate higher viewership, even from smaller, quirkier, less traditionally commercial material that would traditionally have a tough time finding a meaningful audience. That means we can take more risk.

"To make a baseball analogy, linear TV only scores with home runs. We score with home runs, too, but we also score with singles and doubles and triples." 

Hastings described today as the birth of Netflix as "a global TV network," a term that's somewhat ironic when you think that to become global, the company has had to do away with almost everything that has defined TV since its inception.

Sweat. It's the reason men have never quite reached their full potential ... until now, Old Spice's latest campaign proclaims. 

Its new line of body wash and antiperspirant comes with a new spokesman, who can't be called the brightest, but at least he seems aware of that. Created by Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., two new ads offer a fresh, self-deprecating twist on the absurd bravado that has defined Old Spice's advertising since Isaiah Mustafa first rode in on his white horse almost six years ago.

This guy, though, has much better modes of transport. 

In one commercial, he crests the oceans on the back of a whale, volleying tennis balls served through its blowhole, while paparazzi snap photos. Meanwhile, a voiceover of his inner thoughts waxes philosophical on how far is too far in terms of pushing himself. 



In the second ad, he finds himself past that limit, having built a rocket car without any working knowledge of engineering. "The most valuable lesson I have ever learned is that if you fill your brains with knowledge, then there won't be any room for dreams," says the hero in what is arguably the campaign's best line. (In a self-mocking twist, it also feels a bit like a piss-take of W+K London's classic "Impossible Dream" spot for Honda.) 



The delightfully tongue-in-cheek macho idiocy is cleverly written, on-brand and appropriate to the product line, called the Hardest Working Collection. Even its tagline, "Legendary Protection for Legendary Men," can't help but evoke Barney Stinson, Neil Patrick Harris's slick—but goofy—playboy persona from How I Met Your Mother (who happens to love all things legendary.)

The work also joins a canon of other ironically suave men in advertising, which includes the extraordinary male lead in W+K Amsterdam's "Legends" campaign for Heineken, and Dos Equis's "Most Interesting Man in the World," created by Havas (formerly Euro RSCG) and the godfather of modern man-vertising.

Old Spice's Legendary Man is foolhardy, but brash and charming enough to earn his place in the lineup. Though now that Mustafa and fellow Old Spice spokesman Terry Crews have buried the hatchet on their rivalry, we can't help but wonder how the new kid on the block would fare against either of them.

CREDITS
Client: Old Spice

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Jason Bagley | Craig Allen
Copywriter: Nick Morrissey
Art Director: Matt Sorrell
Additional Creative (on Whale only): Jarrod Higgins
Senior Producer: Lindsay Reed
Producer: Monica Ranes
Account Team: Liam Doherty | Michael Dalton
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff | Joe Staples
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks/Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Producer: Pip Smart
DP: Mandy Walker
Production Designer: Leon Morland

Editorial Company: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Asst. Editor: Brendan Hogan
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld

VFX Company: The Mill | LA
Executive Producer: Enca Kaul
Senior Producer: Dan Roberts
Production Coordinator: Kris Drenzek
Creative Director | Shoot Supervisor | 2D Lead Artist: Tim Davies
3D Lead Artists: Tom Graham
3D Lead Artists: Phill Mayer, Hartwell Durfor, Kenzie Chen, Yorie Kumalasari, Brett Angelillis, Mike DiNocco, Katie Yancey, Blake Guest, Jenna Kind, Monique Espinoza, Steven Olson, Milton Ramirez
2D Artists: John Price, Robert Murdock, Don Kim, Dag Ivarsoy, Jeff Langlois, Ashely Forbito, Adam Lambert, Daniel Thuresson, Tim Robbins
Art Department: Brett Lopinsky, Laurence Konishi, Kelsey Napier
Head of 3D: John Leonti

Sound Design
Company | Sound Designer: Mackenzie Cutler | Sam Shaffer
Company | Sound Designer : Barking Owl | Michael Anastasi

Final Mix
Studio: Lime Studios
Engineer: Samuel Casas
Assistant Engineer: Mark Nieto
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Color Transfer
Company: The Mill | LA
Artist: Adam Scott
Color EP: Thatcher Peterson
Color Producer: Antonio Hardy
Color Coordinator: Diane Valera

Here's your classified ad of the day. 

A freewheeling 1960s fling between a nurse and a pharmaceutical salesman led to the birth of a baby girl in 1970 who never met her father. The father likely has no idea the girl even exists. And now, the girl's half-sister has placed an ad in the Calgary Sun looking to find the long-lost dad from 47 years ago. 

Oh, and his name is Gary. 

No, this isn't the plot of a mid-grade romantic comedy. Well, it probably is. But it's also a real thing that Toni Rempel of Kelowna, British Columbia, is doing on behalf of her half-sister, Bonnie Eklund. Above is a photo of Bonnie and her mother, Vernette Eklund, from the '70s that was posted with the classified ad. 

The full ad reads: 

IS YOUR NAME GARY? WHERE YOU IN REGINA, SK ON BUSINESS IN 1969?

I am looking for a man named Gary. His last name ends with "ski". He met my mom, Vernette Ann Eklund at the Westward Inn which was a nightclub in Regina, Saskatchewan in the summer of 1969. He lived in Calgary, Alberta at the time and would fly to Regina, Saskatchewan on business. He may have worked as a Pharmacy Representative. He had blonde hair, was Caucasian and had a slender build and was at least 6 feet tall. He would have been in his 20s in 1969. My mom, Vernette Ann Eklund worked as a nurse at the Regina General Hospital in 1969. She had blonde hair, hazel eyes, a slender build and is Caucasian. Vernette dated Gary for several months and as a result my half-sister was born on April 24, 1970 in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. It is likely that Gary did not know that he was going to be a father. If you have any information about Gary or suspect that you know who he is or how we can locate him, please contact Toni Rempel at t.rempel@yahoo.ca or 250-808-3609. (250) 808-3609

"It was the summer of '69 and there was all of that free love," Toni told the Canadian Press. She recalled the tale of her parents' brief courtship. "My mom ended up becoming pregnant with my sister, and she never told Gary about her."

Gary, a traveling salesman, disappeared, and Vernette—as a working single mother who couldn't provide for a child—gave Bonnie to her parents to raise her. Toni was born a few years later—she is the baby at the center of this photo—and for a long time was told that Bonnie was her aunt, not her half-sister. 

Bonnie, now 45, is a doctor in San Diego. Toni recently took up the search for Gary, with Bonnie's blessing, hoping to nail down a meeting between them. Anyone with information can email Rempel here.

I've seen a lot of weird, gross, funny and borderline insane classified ads in my life, but this is one of the rare ones that's genuinely touching. Stories like this redeem the entire concept of classifieds, and we hope these sisters find Gary, wherever he is.

Probably after seeing his Rocky IV nemesis Sylvester Stallone in all those Warburtons ads, Dolph Lundgren (or, if you prefer, Ivan Drago) has signed up for a commercial project of his own—the promo below for the TV show Brain Games on the National Geographic Channel.

It's a pretty good role for him, because while the Swedish actor is known mostly for his imposing physique, he's actually one of the smarter celebrities around.

"Nobody knows that I studied chemical engineering," he says in the ad, "or that I've got an IQ of 160. Or that I'm in Mensa." (All of which is true, by the way.)



Not than Lundgren is all nerd, either. 

"Dolph Lundgren put me in the hospital for four and a half days," Stallone said on The Tonight Show this week, referring to their Rocky IV bouts. "It was unbelievable. He hit me so hard in the chest that the next thing I knew I was on a low-altitude flight to intensive care at St. John's Hospital surrounded by four nuns."

The new season of NatGeo's Emmy-nominated Brain Games series, hosted by Jason Silva, premieres Feb. 14. 

Brands can be very responsive to people on Twitter, particularly if you are a person named Kim KardashMolon.

A few hours ago, this user messaged Totinos, Applebee's, Jake From State Farm, Barbasol, Taco Bell and Virgin America. "Happy Thursday to my brand family!" she wrote. "I'm never alone thanks to you." In short order, all of them responded—except for Virgin America—and started bantering with each other.

As you can see, the back-and-forth got pretty funny. Does this happen every Thursday? 

Do you find professional value in LinkedIn beyond the occasional glance at someone else's work history? Or is mostly a wasteland of connections made, then forgotten.

A year ago, San Francisco-based creative director/copywriter John Kovacevich decided to check in with his LinkedIn contacts—in a serious way. As a New Year's resolution for 2015, he vowed to email all 1,109 of his contacts personally over the course of the year.

Kovacevich is a big fan and user of Facebook, and figured there would be value in trying to get the same stream of conversation flowing with his professional contacts, not just his personal ones. (Kovacevich also describes himself as a LinkedIn "purist," having connected only with people he actually worked with over the years.)

John Kovacevich

 He was also inspired in an interesting way by George H.W. Bush (read the post to find out how). And, yes, there was an element of self-promotion involved.

"While I hadn't completely decided to leave my old job, I suspected that I'd be making a change in 2015 and was toying with the idea of going out on my own," he writes. "I thought that the project might be a good way to reconnect. Not in a sales-y sort of way but in a lets-see-what-other-people-are up-to-and-maybe-there-will-be-a-chance-to-work-with-old-friends-again sort of way."

He set a schedule and (spoiler alert) did manage to email everyone between Jan. 1 and Dec. 15. And he says he learned four lessons from the experience. Here's the first lesson:

1. People, not "Connections"

When I started, I was sort of hung up on the math of the whole thing. Could I get through all 1,109? Have I done my five for today? What percentage of the year has passed and does that match the percentage of the list I've completed?

But when you get down to writing a letter to someone, it's not about any of that stuff. It's not about "the project" but about connecting with another human being. Reflecting on our connection. Checking in to see where they are in their life. Sharing a little bit of an update about myself and asking questions.

And the responses that I did get were really touching. Many, many people wrote long, thoughtful replies, full of personal stories about their career and family and their current passion. It was interesting and inspiring and some of the stories were sad and some were hopeful and you realize we are all just people making our way through life and doing the best that we can.

Check out his full post for the other lessons:

• I wrote to all 1,109 of my LinkedIn contacts last year. Here's what I learned.

Top illustration: cartoon_of_milk on fiverr

People will do anything to protect a legacy. And Belgium is taking that to the next level.

The country is extremely proud of its creative reputation. In four years, it has won 78 Cannes Lions, which is bananas for a country with a population of just 11.2 million. But young people are losing interest in advertising careers, which means there's a crisis coming. 

"The number of students in creative fields has actually declined," says Greet Wachters, manager of Creative Belgium. "Those who opt for creative studies don't always end up looking for work in agencies." 

In 10 or 20 years, there might not be a sufficient number of creatives to pick up the slack, adds managing partner Isabel Van den Broeck.

To resolve the problem, Creative Belgium partnered with the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of Brussels and ad agency Air to come up with something smart, creepy, and only vaguely eugenicist: "Ad Babies," an appeal to today's creatives to donate sperm—and eggs!—to ensure Belgium's creative future. 

A few top creatives were asked to share their soldiers first, including Happiness Brussels chief creative officer Geoffrey Hantson, who's won 33 Lions; Air creative director Dieter De Ridder, with 10 Lions; and Naïm Baddich, Iwein Vandevyver, Dieter Vanhoof and Kwint De Meyer, who've won six Lions each. They appear in print ads (shown way below) that read, "Are you in the creative industry? Become a donor." 

In the video, watch as each navigates the situation with humor (like when Baddich finishes monkey-spanking and and tries high-fiving everyone) and awkwardness (Vandevyver's priceless silence) while maintaining a valiant sense of fealty, not unlike the Knights of the Round Table. 

But if the whole thing seems like a joke, it's not. 

As Hantson puts it, while passing a vial of his sperm across the table, "One small drop for me, one giant drop for Belgian creativity."



It's weird watching an industry peer's sperm pass from hand to hand. But for those who doubt the feasibility of this master plan, science somewhat backs it up.

"A recent study on creative behavior among children indicates that creativity is indeed partially hereditary," says professor and doctor Maryse Bonduelle of the Centre for Medical Genetics. (Research also indicates that experiences and tendencies also pass down the gene pool—so if Daddy was a creative, maybe Junior will feel an affinity to the field.) 

In the end, you can't guarantee a future generation of Lions winners, but you can boost the odds. "The more creative parents there are, the more chance of creative kids," says Van den Broeck, ever the pragmatist. Adds Wachters: "That's one of our ambitions—to guarantee a continuous inflow of creative talent." 

Creative sperm is indeed now available at Jette hospital for lucky Belgian ladies looking to raise a tortured—but well compensated—commercial artist. Both women and men are invited to become donors, or just members, of Creative Belgium. Every little bit helps.

And if you've won a Lion recently, keep an eye out at parties for shifty figures who might want to swab you for DNA. 

Here's a touching illustration of how social media can combat the effects of bullying. 

More than a year ago, a little girl reached out to advocacy group The Bully Project after catching flak at school for wearing glasses. With the organization's help, she posted a photo of herself on Facebook holding a sign about her experience—and received millions of shares and messages of support. 

A new minute-long Ad Council PSA captures her story. The spot is everything it should be—simple, sweet and meaningful. Internet bullying has been getting a lot of attention, as it should—but it's also good to show how online tools can help ameliorate the problem. 



The video is aimed specifically at parents: The girl's mother is featured helping her daughter navigate the issue and absorb the resulting support. But anyone in similar straits might also be reassured to see they're not alone, that it's OK to ask for help, and that their own story might even have a happy ending.

Plus—as if the kid herself weren't enough to convince viewers that bullying is evil—there's a shot of her hugging a cute dog in a lavender sweater, whose worldly posture and steady, reproachful gaze makes it pretty clear that would-be detractors should go take a good long look at themselves in the mirror. 

The Chevrolet Malibu is the Folgers Crystals of automobiles—people think it's amazing partly because they don't know what it is—in this latest "Real People, Not Actors" spot from Commonwealth/McCann. 

With cameras rolling, Chevy stripped the branding off the vehicle and invited regular people to explore it. The first three people who pipe up in the spot wonder aloud if it's a Lexus, an Acura or a BMW. Later, they peg the price of the car at between $50,000 and $80,000.

Don't they feel foolish when they learn it's a Malibu, and it starts at $22,500?



The "Real People, Not Actors" campaign has been really well done, from the focus-group ads we covered last year to the three entertaining Silverado spots that launched last week. The genius is that the ads seem to authentically capture honest reactions, uniformly positive, about Chevy—though of course there's plenty that's been edited out.

Chevy credits the campaign with helping the nameplate to increase retail sales every month since March 2015. "We now have a great opportunity with the all-new Malibu, Cruze and the rest of the Chevrolet lineup to continue to evolve our storytelling and move from shifting to reinforcing perceptions about the products and the brand," says Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president of Chevrolet Marketing.

"Unbranded" is the first ad for the 2016 Malibu. It debuts Friday night in theaters—a 45-second version will run immediately after the lights have dimmed and before the previews begin—which Chevy claims is a "first-to-market use of advertising."

Check out the three recent Silverado spots here: 

CREDITS
Client: Chevrolet
Spot: "Unbranded"
Agency: Commonwealth//McCann
Creative Chairman: Linus Karlsson
Chief Creative Officer, North America: Gary Pascoe, Andreas Dahlqvist
Executive Creative Director-Copywriter: Duffy Patten
Executive Creative Director- Art Director: Bob Guisgand
Associate Creative Director- Art Director : Gary Wise
Associate Creative Director-Copywriter: Scott Lenfestey
Executive Producer: Kelly Balagna
Senior Producer: Chris Ott
Account Director: Jacqueline Redmond
Director/MAKE: Zach Merck
Executive Producer/MAKE Founder: Dana Locatell
Supervising Producer/MAKE Partner: Tim Mack
Executive Producer/Final Cut: Eric McCasline
Editor/Final Cut: Adam Rudd
Editor/Final Cut: Richard Learoyd
Editor/Final Cut: Chris Amos

A Thai company has apologized for producing an ad for a skin-whitening product that featured a woman in blackface and suggested people with dark skin are losers.

The company, Seoul Secret, pulled the ad off YouTube on Friday, Reuters reports. The ad showed two women side by side, one of whom suddenly becomes dark-skinned, much to her evident distress. "You just need to be white to win," said the tagline.

This isn't the first time the issue has come up in Thailand, where a pale complexion is  associated with a higher social status. But Seoul Secret denied any intention of being racist.

"Our company did not have any intention to convey discriminatory or racist messages," Seoul Secret wrote on Facebook. "What we intended to convey was that self-improvement in terms of personality, appearance, skills, and professionally is crucial." 

In losing David Bowie, we lost an avatar. But you knew that already.

Here's a retrospective of Bowie's many appearances in advertising, which are as diverse as the man himself. His close relationship to the industry is also satisfyingly personal: Before blowing our minds just like he thought he would, Bowie spent a year at Nevin D. Hirst Advertising as a commercial artist in training. So simmer in that warm tidbit, which ties us ever closer to the Diamond Dog, as we take a reverse-chronological meander through his ad appearances. 

Just to get it out of the way, we'll start with Bowie's 2013 appearance in Louis Vuitton's "L'invitation au Voyage" campaign, where he plays "I'd Rather Be High" on a harpsichord for model Arizona Muse, who can't seem to decide if she's staying or going. While lacking in substance or any coherent story, it's beautiful to look at and will ease you nicely into the progressively more-pixellated entries in this little collection.

 
Glad that's over with. Now we can move onto other stuff, like this piece for XM Satellite Radio—hey, remember that?—which also features Ellen DeGeneres and Snoop Dogg. Even when Bowie is sharing the screen, he steals the spotlight (among other things). Work by TBWA\Chiat\Day.

 
Next up is our favorite, for French water brand Vittel by Ogilvy & Mather Paris. Manifesting the tagline "A new life every day," Bowie wanders around his house and encounters different variations of himself, including Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust, the Scary Monsters Clown and the delightfully creepy Diamond Dog. (It's basically the ad equivalent of this GIF by Helen Green.)

The piece was timed to coincide with the release of Bowie's "Reality" album in 2003, and was reused to promote the album in English-speaking markets. Because that's just how good it is.

 
Flash back to 2002. Hey, it's XM Satellite Radio again! In another piece by TBWA\Chiat\Day, Bowie falls through the roof of an unsuspecting lady's motel room like a crooked angel from Paradise Lost.

 
Remember when Pepsi was pop's top wingman? In 1987, BBDO conceived of this deliciously Weird Science-y piece featuring Bowie, Tina Turner, electrical explosions and boxy suits to the tune of "Modern Love."  The ad was pulled in light of his sexual assault charges that year. The charges were eventually dropped. 

 
In 1980, Bowie, resplendent in white and at the height of his androgynous powers, played "Crystal Japan" for a mysterious listener, whose back is turned to the camera, in an ad for Crystal Jun Rock Sake. 

 
We've made it to the end of the line, kids. In 1967, shortly after his stint as an adman and before grafting himself onto the public membrane, Bowie appeared in this delightfully weird psychedelic popsicle ad, directed by another guy you'd later hear a lot about: Ridley Scott.

Relish in this piece of history, even if you can't see jack shit, because, if nothing else, it's like peering through a periscope that transcends space/time.

 
People are always saying you should build a singular personal brand, an at-a-glance elevator pitch that others can grasp by skimming your Facebook. In contrast, Bowie stood out as a celebration of our many faces: Masculine and feminine, glamorous and quirky, intellectual and playful. He was proof that embracing pluralities doesn't dilute you; it accentuates you.

Even though this isn't an ad, we'll wrap up with "Lazarus," the music video Bowie released last week for his new album "Blackstar." If his battle with cancer, and consequent death, was a surprise to you, this piece tells he knew what was coming. And even in this last farewell—this unsettling, tragic and humorous manifestation of a loosening mortal coil—you can still see the Stardust in him.

The combined disposable income of LGBTQ Americans is $884 billion annually. And BVW Jewelers of Reno, Nev., wants a taste.

Its most recent ad shows two women kissing on the Crystal Peak Toll Bridge after one of them proposes. Breaking somewhat from more recent LGBTQ-targeted advertising (covering everything from marriage to travel), the ad is set to rock music. And one of the actresses, Gina Tarantino, has trendy art school hair.

Expect to see it during local airings of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and at the Sparks IMAX and Century Summit Theater—though in the latter's case, only for movies rated PG-13 or higher, because the beginning includes a flash of Tarantino's underwear.  



The ad itself looks great, with clean visuals and spectacular wardrobe/makeup choices, but the music clashes with everything else in a way that's tough to reconcile. The tempo and volume work only at the start; once the proposal happens, it's jarring. We understand the choice, but that doesn't mean it works.

Otherwise, it's pretty classic in the sense that it wouldn't stick out at all if Tarantino were a man. That's kind of the point here, but it didn't escape University of Nevada, Reno professor Sheila Peuchaud, who observes that it still plays to stereotypes of gay relationships, and features two attractive white women.

Still, she also acknowledges that this is by design: "If you're going out on a limb, you're going out on one limb at a time."

In China, this PepsiCo video about an actor who portrays a "Monkey King" is an absolute beast, racking up, by some accounts, more than 20 million views in two weeks across various versions and platforms.

Created by independent shop Civilization Shanghai as part of Pepsi's "Bring Happiness Home" campaign, the six-minute mini-epic is all about legends—the kind that stretch back for centuries and, more significantly, those produced and shared over several generations by modern media. The video ties in with the Chinese Year of the Monkey, which officially begins Feb. 8.

The actor in question, Zhang Jinlai, was born into a theatrical family. His father, grandfather and great granddad won fame for portraying magical monkeys on tour and in stage and film performances of a traditional tale known as "The Monkey King" or "Journey to the West," which dates back to the 16th century.

One of Zhang's older brothers had prepared to follow in their footsteps, but succumbed to leukemia, so Zhang took on the role. He appeared in a 1986 TV version of the story that apparently aired for decades in China, fusing into the nation's popular culture as indelibly as Star Trek or Star Wars in the West.



Civilization's Andrew Lok, who directed the film, explains the concept in a blog post:

"2016 is the Year of the Monkey. So there will no doubt be a bevy of marketing campaigns showcasing the Monkey King or 'Journey to the West.' How can PepsiCo's 'Bring Happiness Home' celebrate the Monkey King, this mythological simian symbol of irreverence and fun (personality traits rarely found in the heroes of traditional Chinese literature), in a very PepsiCo manner? Believe it or not, it was easy. Because the core values of Pepsi-Cola, youth and irreverence, are the very qualities the Monkey King naturally embodies."

Lok cultivates a leisurely pace, but the narrative never drags or outstays its welcome. Propelled by straightforward storytelling and a pleasingly meta sensibility, it fuses a classic fable of freedom and magic with pop-culture icons—the '80s TV show and its most famous cast member—that themselves have become, for contemporary viewers, the stuff of legend.

Consider: Millions of Chinese across a broad age spectrum fondly recall Zhang's performance. They can remember exactly where they were when the program was broadcast, just like Western consumers of a certain vintage will never forget the theater where they saw first saw Star Wars, or who they watched the movie with. The Monkey King series with Zhang became an important part of people's personal history, a powerful symbol of their youth and cultural identity.

The brand film taps into such potent nostalgia with a story that also touches on timeless themes like family loyalty and duty to one's profession—ideas that really resonate in China.

To its credit, Pepsi shakes the tree gently, with the product absent until the end. This allows the brand to share in the cultural experience, generating abundant interest and good will.

CREDITS
Client: PepsiCo
Agency: Civilization Shanghai
Creative Directors: Alex Xie, Stephen Zou, Miya Wang
Copywriter: Miya Wang
Art Directors: Stephen Zou, Andrew Lok
Agency Producer: Guo-Jun Yu
Client Management: Grace Dong, Abby Yu
Production Company: NUTS Film
Film Director: Andrew Lok
Assistant Film Director: Ling-Song Yu
Cinematographer: Ke-Nan Qi
Post Production: NUTS Film
Editors: Didi Xu, Yin-Jian Lu, Shao-Hua Huang
Producer: Didi Xu
Colorist: Ying-Jie Zhang
Music & Sound Design: Allen Zhang
Client: Danielle Jin, Shine Wei, Lia Pan, Yumiko Wang

If you like absurd cartoon supervillains, here's a campaign for you.

Mobile game maker Supercell and New York agency Barton F. Graf 9000 are hyping strategy game Boom Beach with a series of ads featuring Dr. T, a smack-talking mad scientist who could be a character straight out of a Pixar movie. And in a nice twist, all the offline ads point to a development that's happening this Friday in the game itself. 

In Boom Beach, players battle against each other and computer-controlled opponents to collect resources. Gaming website IGN describes it as a modern version of smash fantasy title Clash of Clans, which is also published by Helsinki-based Supercell and advertised by New York-based Barton F. Graf. 

Dr. T is already a fixture in the game, but throughout the campaign he's been teasing an upcoming super weapon he plans to use on players. Come Friday, they will be forced to reckon with the new threat—suspected to be a giant crab, thanks to the detective work of one impatient fan.

Check out the intro ad here:

 
In another commercial, we get a look at Dr. T's existing arsenal, which includes a turtle wielding a crowbar.

 
In another, it becomes even clearer that Dr. T isn't the brightest of villains when he throws sand at the camera lens, an ineffectual twist on the old grit-in-the-eyes sneak attack.

 
A bevvy of other ads—including Dr. T's song—appear on the Boom Beach YouTube account.

The campaign launched on Christmas Day and included air time on ESPN during the NBA's Wizards-Cavaliers game. In one print execution, Dr. T does admit a weakness … for blackberry licorice. But the most absurd, and therefore arguably best, piece—featured at the top of this post—is of Dr. T lying on his side in a classic Playboy pose, with just the word "Hi." 



Whatever the outcome of the attack, hopefully Christoph Waltz will narrate the battle in a post-mortem ad, as he did for its sister game Clash of Clans. After all, not many people can actually make retellings of gameplay entertaining.

CREDITS
Client: Supercell
Brand: Boom Beach

Agency: Barton F. Graf
Chief Creative Officer: Gerry Graf
CEO: Barney Robinson
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Executive Creative Director: Ian Reichenthal
Creative Directors: Matty Smith and Joey Ianno
Copywriter / Art Director: Owen Weeks, Chris Sheldon, Chase Kimball
Head of Integrated Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Cameron Farrell
Account Director: Kate Faux
Account Supervisor: Kimmy Cunningham
Strategy Director: Sean Staley
Brand Strategist: Kirk Luo
Print Producer: Wayne Treptow
Project Manager & Print Producer: Daniela Contreras
Lead Designer: Matt Egan
Junior Designer: April McMullan
Head of Business Affairs: Jennifer Pennant

Animation Production: HouseSpecial
CD / Director: Kirk Kelley
President / EP: Lourri Hammack
Producer: Karly Richter
Art Director: Alan Cook
Editor: Cam Williams
Flame Artist: Rex Carter
Technical Director: Patrick Van Pelt
Animation Lead: Greg Kyle
VFX Lead: Karl Richter
Lighting Lead: Matt Reslier
Compositing Lead: John Corbett

Audio: Heard City
Audio Engineer: Evan Mangiamele

Sound Design: Trinitite
Sound Designer: Brian Emrich

Music: Butter Music + Sound
Composer: Andrew Sherman
Producer: Ryan Faucett
EP: Ian Jeffreys

Print Production: Box Graphics
Box Co-Founder and Head of Production: Suk Choi

If you thought ad awards were all about the money—well, it seems you were right.

In a cheeky stunt, Canadian agency Rethink is crowdfunding a campaign whose credit list is for sale. For just $1, you can add your name to the campaign's credits as a member of the "Creative Team." For $10, you get a writer or art director credit. For $25, creative director. For $50, executive creative director. For $100, chief creative officer. And if you pony up $1,000, you'll be listed in the credits as "The Chosen One."

Rethink will then enter the campaign, called "One Dollar One Show," in this year's One Show. If it wins anything (and that's a big if—considering the work is tail-eatingly solipsistic, pretty cynical, and openly contemptuous of standard awards show etiquette), everyone who paid up will legitimately be able to call themselves One Show Pencil winners. 



The campaign launched on Indiegogo with a goal of raising $500 (the cost of a single One Show entry). It blew past that goal in just a couple of days and now has its sights set on bigger targets. If the campaign raises more money, it will be entered in more categories at The One Show. If it raises $10,000, it will be entered at D&AD as well. And if it raises $15,000, it will be entered in the Cannes Lions festival. 

Check out the FAQ below, which is pretty amusing. 



We've reached out to The One Show for comment and will update if we hear back. 

Dean Winters is into year seven of his gig as Allstate's "Mayhem" character, but this time—for the first time—he's playing a real-life person whose dangerous ineptitude could have ended really, really badly.

During the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day, the insurance company (via ad agency Leo Burnett) issued a call for real-life DIY disasters. It then posted a bunch of them online and invited people to vote for their favorite—promising to turn the winner's story into a new 30-second commercial.

That spot aired Monday night during the College Football National Championship Game.

Check it out here:



Yes, Caleb Gauff is the winner of the Mayhem DIY campaign, having earned 33.5 percent of the online votes. In the winning ad, the Mayhem character humorously re-enacts Caleb and his father's spectacular DIY fail.

Gauff won a $25,000 Lowe's gift card, which will come in handy for any more repairs he might need to make on his home.

CREDITS
Client: Allstate
Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago
Ad or Campaign: Mayhem DIY
Executive Creative Director: Charley Wickman
Creative Directors: Mikal Pittman, Britt Nolan
Associate Creative Directors: Pete Lefebvre, Mike Costello
Art Director: Derek Heinze
Group Executive Producer: Veronica Puc
Producer: Leah Karabenick
Account Directors: Dave Macey, Jon Linton
Director Sweepstakes, Games and Contests: Amanda McKinney

Production Company: Anonymous Pictures
Director: Tim Godsall
Editorial: Arcade Edit

Promotion Company: PrizeLogic

An apparently lighthearted ad celebrating Australia Day is drawing fire in that country for being culturally insensitive. 

In the commercial for farming group Meat and Livestock Australia, the country executes "Operation Boomerang" to rescue citizens living abroad just before Jan. 26, when Australia Day takes place. Its objective: To ensure that no one goes without the holiday's traditional lamb meal ... and save them from whatever they were doing elsewhere. 

One Australian in the U.K. is "rescued" from drinking warm beer. Another in Japan is spared from confusing foreign business customs. A third in Los Angeles avoids having to spend any more time staring into a dental patient's mouth. 



At first blush, the ad—created by Sydney agency The Monkeys and starring Australian celebrities like newsreader Lee Lin Chin and sports commentator Sam Kekovich—seems innocent, even fun. But upon deeper examination it becomes more problematic.

A bit like Columbus Day for Americans, Australia Day commemorates the arrival on the continent of the first British colonists ... and their ensuing violent displacement of indigenous people, critics argue. Then there's the ad's use of the word "boomerang," which, while part of the Western lexicon today, was originally an aboriginal term. 

The pairing of those unsavory cultural morsels makes it easier to see why a spot depicting armed raids of Australians trying to integrate elsewhere—under the banner of an appropriated word whose original users are casualties of colonization—might rub some viewers the wrong way, even if its intentions are clearly to amuse.

The effort is ham-fisted at best and, at worst, a creepy celebration of the imperialist attitude that permeates the holiday's history.

But that isn't the only sticking point (though it may be the biggest one). When one Australian refuses repatriation for lamb on account of his veganism (he's now living in Brooklyn, haha), emcee Chin displays the sort of disdain that will delight meat-lovers everywhere ... and has unsurprisingly also enraged animal activists.

For its part, the MLA is no stranger to such controversy. In a previous campaign that also starred Kekovich, it mocked vegetarians. In this case, it's likely the marketer was deliberately stoking the flames—presumably to grill more lamb.

CREDITS

MLA Group Marketing Manager: Andrew Howie
MLA Brand Manager - Lamb : Matthew Dwyer
PR Agency: One Green Bean
Media Agency: UM

Advertising Agency: The Monkeys
Executive Creative Director: Scott Nowell
Senior Art Director: Paul Sharp
Senior Copywriter: Mike Burdick
Head of Production: Thea Carone
Managing Director: Matt Michael
Planning Director: Michael Hogg
Content Director: Katie Wong-Hee
Content Manager: Siena Shuttler

Production Company: Rabbit
Director: Lachlan Dickie
EP's: Lucas Jenner & Alex Hay
Producer: Lucas Jenner
DOP: Germain McMicking
Production Designer: Jackson Dickie
Offline: Dan Lee @ The Butchery

Post Production: White Chocolate
VFX Supervisor: David Mosqueda
Colourist: Scott Maclean

Designer/Compositor: Michael Blanche
Sound: Song Zu
Sound Designer:  Simon Kane
Producer: Jess Bonney

Music
Damian de Boos-Smith
Sound Planet Australia

If you hear voices beckoning you to take a luxury cruise—or you feel an indescribable urge to whisper "Polo" into your coffee cup—Celebrity Cruises might be calling to you.

Venables Bell & Partners' first ad for the brand peddles the ship trips with an unusual globe-spanning game of Marco Polo: Crew members yell the "Marco" call, while confused potential customers—miles away, living their busy city lives—deliver the response, "Polo," without fully seeming to understand why.



It's not a terrible way to suggest adventure awaits, even if the actual product is a floating hotel. But the ad could just as easily be selling anti-psychosis medication—although if you start hallucinating, we don't suggest committing to a lengthy stay confined at sea with a couple thousand booze-guzzling humans. See a doctor instead. 

Celebrity is billing its services as modern luxury, promising savings of up to $2,150—which makes a viewer wonder how much the trip could possibly cost to begin with. (A quick search shows a seven-night cruise to Bermuda, leaving from Cape Liberty, N.J., starts at about $709. By comparison, a similar nine-night cruise to Bermuda leaving from Baltimore on Royal Caribbean—which owns Celebrity—starts from about $846.) 

Meanwhile, print ads—shown below—promise fine wine, chocolate and grass (the kind that grows in lawns, that is, in case you care for a game of bocce ball, or a picnic). The visuals make use of the X that echoes the one in Celebrity's logo.

Overall, it's way mellower than the pumped-up, colorful montages Mullen launched this past fall to lure millennials to Royal Caribbean. A more reserved, soothing approach may be appropriate, since Celebrity owns the dubious reputation of an outsized number of on-board stomach illnesses. But it also needn't worry—the threat of barfing your brains out is actually fairly low, statistically speaking, and was, according to estimates last year, not enough to stop the overall industry from growing in 2015.

CREDITS

—TV
Client: Celebrity Cruises
Spot: "Marco Polo"
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Founder, Chairman: Paul Venables
Partner, Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer
Senior Art Director: Rich North
Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Executive Producer: Mandi Holdorf
Agency Producer: Ryan Wilson
Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor
Executive Strategy Director: Lucy Farey-Jones
Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley
Motion Designers: Victor Bivol, Zac Wollons
Production Company: Humble
Directors: Samuel and Gunnar
Director of Photography: Carlos Veron
Executive Producer: Mark Kovaks
Editing Company: Exile
Editor: Elliot Graham
Sound Design: 740 Sound
Sound Designers: Scott Ganary, Jeff Martin
Music: South
Mix: Lime
Visual Effects: The Mill
Visual Effects Producer: Antonio Hardy
Graphic Effects: Lumberyard
Graphic Effects Artists: Victor Bivol, Zac Wollons
Business Lead: Colleen McGee
Account Supervisor: Krista Muir
Account Manager: Ariel Rosen
Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson
Project Managers: Talya Fisher, Leah Murphy
Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin
Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal
Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull
Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan

—Print/ Outdoor
Client: Celebrity Cruises
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will McGinness
Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer
Senior Art Director: Rich North
Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher
Design Director: Cris Logan
Designer: Blake Johnston
Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull
Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Production House: Pacific Digital Image
Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor
Print Producers: Michelle Wells, Shelly Amin
Art Buyers: Shelly Amin, Renee Hodges
Photographer: Maren Caruso
Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley
Business Lead: Colleen McGee
Account Supervisor: Krista Muir
Account Manager: Ariel Rosen
Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson
Senior Project Manager: Talya Fisher
Project Manager: Leah Murphy
Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin
Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal

—Digital
Client: Celebrity Cruises
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will McGinness
Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer
Senior Art Director: Rich North
Senior Copywriter: Ryan Hoercher
Senior Brand Strategist: Mike Riley
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Director of Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor
Design Director: Cris Logan
Designers: Blake Johnston, Nicola Broderick
Studio Manager: Jennifer Trull
Studio: Will Larsen, Natalie Cowan
Digital Development: StangaOne
Producer: Adela Chung
Business Lead: Colleen McGee
Account Supervisor: Krista Muir
Account Manager: Ariel Rosen
Assistant Account Manager: Francesca Robertson
Senior Project Manager: Talya Fisher
Project Manager: Leah Murphy
Director of Business Affairs: Susan Conklin
Proofreader: Michael Rosenthal

Let's imagine a world without engineers. What does that look and feel like?

It's upon this thought experiment that BBDO New York embarks in "Be an Engineer," an effort by Exxon Mobil to motivate young people to ... well, use your engineering prowess to complete this sentence.

Five spots so far imagine how we'd work around various staples of leisure, transport and safety if an engineer hadn't been around to give life to what's missing. Meant to capture the fluttering attentions of a tween in the first few seconds, each follows a dead-simple formula: Familiar scenario. Something's off about it. What's off about it? Punch line. 

The most straightforward example is "Helmet," starring a boy preparing, with some trepidation, to try a new skateboarding ramp. Why so nervous, kid? Then his mother pops her head out of the house and shouts, "Put his melon on if he's going off that ramp!" You can imagine what happens next, almost as if you've seen the ad before.

 
Another example that likely came out of the "first ideas" pile is this scenario between a car buyer and a dealer. Hey, what's the horsepower on that model?

Drat, we've already said too much.

 
The work gets more interesting when it explores how we'd replace the leisure conveniences that so effortlessly fill our time, as with these two staring at not much at all:

 
Or this one of a runner, who substitutes a Fitbit—and Facebook—for a boy with big lungs: 

 
The best spot features carrier pigeons and some deliciously underhanded copy, delivered in perfect deadpan: "You seriously need to upgrade your pigeons."

 
What we've got here is classic, passable fodder: A first-brainstorm kind of idea that takes a low-hanging premise and carries it to an improbable extreme, the excuse being that that's what makes it funny! Dry, matter-of-fact style and restrained punch-line music, brought to you by PULL, holds it all together. 

The real question is whether it actually motivates kids to pursue a future in engineering, and that's where the weakness of its foundations really show. The punch lines are neither deeply imaginative nor all that funny; once you've seen and understood one, you can live without seeing the rest. Or worse, seeing the others, even for the first time, might feel like irritating repetition.

What's disappointing is the work's failure to capture the real pleasures of engineering: the sense of discovery—the spark!—you feel when you've conceived of something that solves an everyday problem, and the consequent pleasure in imagining how it would look, feel and function in a world full of people who somehow manage to be both habit-driven and utterly unpredictable in their end uses.

Because the quality that truly defines a nascent engineer is exactly the opposite of the assumption that "Be an Engineer" makes about kids: It's curiosity, not boredom. 

CREDITS
Client: Exxon Mobil
Project: "Be an Engineer"

Agency: BBDO, New York
Creative Group Heads: Greg Ketchum, Tom Godici
Producer: Brad Powell
Creative Directors: Mark Girand, Paul Laffy
Copywriter: Ryan Lawrence
Art Director: James Kuczynski
BBDO Music Producer: Rani Vaz
Account Persons: Jill Kramer, David Ritter, John Chleborad

Production Company: Radical Media, New York
Director: Steve Miller
Director of Photography: Eric Schultz

Music: PULL, New York
Composer: Mitch Davis
Executive Producer: Scott Brittingham

Editorial: Friendshop!, New York
Editor: Tim Wilson

Online: Co3, New York
Colorist: Tom Poole

Audio Post: Heard City, New York
Engineer: Eric Warzecha