Perfect Commercials

March 5, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Perfect Commercials | Leave a Comment 

Adidas is celebrating its 60th year in business with a serious (and when I say serious, I mean serious) worldwide ad campaign based on the theme “Celebrate Originality.”   This campaign must be among the most expensive —if it isn’t the most expensive— ever produced.

Specifically, the ads were introducing Adidas Originals, an anniversary-inspired new line of sneakers.  Originals, according to their PR, have “the retro feel and uses the famous Trefoil logo, which was originally used on all Adidas products until the company introduced a new logo in 1991.”

To Celebrate Originality, Adidas chose the Montreal-based ad agency Sid Lee, whose clients include Red Bull, Cirque de Soleil, and MGM Mirage.

Some of the ads Lee delivered were skillfully produced slices of life:

Some were tightly focused commercials:

The culmination of the campaign was a “House Party” that assembled all the various casts of characters.

The dramatis personae includes host Russell Simmons, David Beckham, Ilie Nastase, Kevin Garnett, Young Jeezy, Method Man, Redman, Missy Elliott, Katy Perry, the Ting Tings, Estelle, skateboarder Mark Gonzales,  and magician Dynamo among others.

Sid Lee commissioned the French DJ Pilooski (Cedric Marzewski) to re-edit the 1967 Frankie Valli song “Beggin” for use as a soundtrack.  (You can listen to the complete remix —which was released by the superhip label sixsevennine—  here.)

“House Party” is directed by Nima Nourizadeh.

Getting 30 Seconds Worth Of Art For Your $3 Million

February 2, 2009 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Perfect Commercials | Leave a Comment 

If you missed the most important moment in last night’s Super Bowl —and I’m not referring to anything involving James Harrison or Santonio Holmes or to Fr. Taylor’s highlight— here’s a chance to catch up with all the show’s commercials.  You can choose your own favorite/perfect example of the art from the Superbowl commerical smorgasbord offered by hulu.

The price tag for a 30-second spot was about $3 million — and that was just for the time.  But production costs are correspondingly high and these few hours are  the premier showcase for the art of the commercial.

For sheer creativity and scale, my favorite Super Bowl commercial was Coke Floats.  In spite of  the shameless product placement (it’s some consolation that at least a third of the dough will be going to Seth MacFarlane — as if he needs it), its hard not to love a situation in which Charlie Brown beats both Stewie Griffin and Super Dog.

The lowest moment was unquestionably Pepsi’s “Anthem” commercial that involved the king himself in an instance of lese majeste.  With all due respect to will.i.am’s formidable talents, he isn’t fit to touch the hem of any garment Bob Dylan wore between 1962 and at least the mid 1980s.  The notion that he is the generational successor is dumb; the notion that he is the generational incarnation is dumber. Mr. Dylan, alas, seems bent on selling his heritage for a mess of pottage. And this wasn’t his first time at this particular fair.  

Perfect Commercials

November 5, 2008 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Perfect Commercials | Leave a Comment 

As the AP reported yesterday:

As one historic duel — the presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain — ends, another is heating up. The stakes are high: nothing less than the soul of rock ‘n roll. The competition is fierce.

And you will decide — with your wallet.

In one corner is “Guitar Hero,” the franchise that revolutionized the rhythm-game genre in 2005. In the other corner is upstart “Rock Band,” which rewrote the rules last year by adding drums and vocals to the mix. Several third-party candidates are waiting backstage, hoping that one of the two major contenders hits a false note.

Unlike the presidential election, however, this isn’t a zero-sum game. I suspect many virtual rockers, especially those with deep pockets, will buy as many editions of both “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” as their publishers dare to release.

Guitar Hero, in its four incarnations —of which World Tour is the latest— is expected to register $1.4 billion in sales this year.

I am not even remotely near either product’s demographic —nor have I been for several decades— so I can only judge these two competing commercials —for Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2— based on geezerly standards like economy and wit.

On suchlike criteria, less triumphs over more. Guitar Hero’s 30 second spot in which Kobe Bryant channels Tom Cruise (with backup from A-Rod, Tony Hawk, and Michael Phelps) eclipses Rock Band 2’s 60 second extravaganza featuring the band VAEDA.

That said, the Guitar Hero ad may be too clever by half; I wonder how many in its demographic really remember Risky Business? And maybe I’m just responding more to Bob Seger than to AC/DC.

And while it’s neither as witty nor economical —and far from being a perfect commercial—it’s probably a fair bet that more kids (and geezers) would be moved to plunk down the $189 for World Tour by Heidi Klum’s version of that Risky Business business. (It’s interesting to see what passes for “mildly suggestive content” on the T for Teen rating on the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s scale these days.)

Perfect Commercials

October 13, 2008 by Frank Gannon | Filed Under Lifestyle, Media, Perfect Commercials | Leave a Comment 

Directed by David Fincher