Last August, during final presentations for Anheuser-Busch InBev's $575 million domestic planning and buying assignment, Sasha Savic took his vow to raise the creative bar at MediaCom to a whole new level. Fittingly, he did so in a pub.

A couple of days before the pitch, Savic and members of his team checked out the site where they would be presenting. "It was one of those corporate board rooms on Third Avenue" in New York, he recalls—a space that was staid, functional and devoid of personality. It represented the antithesis of the dynamic Savic has tried to instill in MediaCom since his arrival as U.S. CEO nearly three years ago.

"We said to ourselves, 'We really cannot tell our story in this environment the way that story needs to come through.' We made a risky decision not to present in that room."

Unbeknownst to A-B InBev, the agency rented the second floor of The Harp Raw Bar & Grill, an upscale Irish pub located across the street from the site of the pitch. The Harp's open-floor plan and decorative appointments give the place a bright, welcoming vibe. That's where MediaCom, one of three remaining contenders in the high-stakes competition that had stretched across three months, chose to make its stand.

On the day of the presentations, Savic surprised the 20 executives representing the client by arriving alone. Since the brief focused on Bud Light, he invoked the brand's slogan. "I told them, 'You claim you're "Up for Whatever," so you need to follow me, and I'll take you to a place where it's more appropriate to do this presentation.'" The war for customers, he explained, wasn't taking place in board rooms but in bars—like the one across the street. "They could have told us, 'No, everybody is doing it here—you're doing it here,'" he says. "And then we'd be in trouble. We didn't have a plan B."

As it turned out, MediaCom didn't need one. After Savic and a handful of staffers completed a two-hour presentation upstairs at The Harp, everyone adjourned to the ground floor, where 50 MediaCom employees who worked on the pitch assembled for an informal meet and greet.

"It was a bold, confident move that worked because it reflected our own corporate culture," says Lucas Herscovici, vp, consumer connections at A-B InBev. "More importantly, it was well executed and perfectly aligned with our company and our brand strategy. That was the moment when we really began to suspect that we'd found a special agency team." 

MediaCom's North American CEO Phil Cowdell (l.) and U.S. CEO Sasha Savic. | Photo: Kevin Scanlon

The brewer awarded its business to MediaCom in October, one of a number of milestones in a year that saw the WPP shop grow U.S. revenue 25 percent to an estimated $162 million. Nearly half of that growth was organic, with expanded mandates from clients including AARP, Audi, Canon, Citizens, Revlon, Shell, Siemens, Strayer University and Volkswagen. Beyond A-B InBev, other wins included Bayer's Merck, Clarius Entertainment, DSW, eBay and Indeed.com. A key score came near the close of 2014, when Mars tapped MediaCom to handle planning on its estimated $1.7 billion global business. (ConAgra Foods, Discover and Legacy departed, but the impact of those losses was negligible.) 

That impressive performance—along with a series of innovative campaigns for clients large and small—typify the agency's dramatic volte-face since Savic took the reins in early 2012. "MediaCom was broken then," says consultant Avi Dan, who oversaw a late-2013 review in which the shop won ADT. "He turned it around, and has done it so quickly."

Savic is more modest: "I will never say that I fixed it. In this industry, things are fairly cyclical, and companies go on hot streaks and then go to dark moments of their history."

MediaCom stumbled through a shadowland for a couple of years before Savic's arrival. By all accounts, he joined a dispirited organization that was reeling from the departures of GlaxoSmithKline and Warner Bros. "It looked to me like a real challenge—and a big challenge," says the exec, who at the outset focused on rebuilding the culture based on "how to make a company that will play to win, versus a company that is trying not to lose."

Luckily, Savic was comfortable with change. When he was 22, the Bosnia native helped start the first uncensored radio program in the former Yugoslavia. During a weekend out of the country in 1992, war broke out. He never returned. Rather, he reinvented himself as a planning professional at Universal McCann in Europe and the U.S., and later as a senior manager at Starcom MediaVest Group, where he helped lead the global Procter & Gamble business. In another shift, before joining Havas Media North America as COO in 2010, he studied at the New York Film Academy, making several acclaimed documentaries—among them, A Passion Called Salmon, about a personal passion: fishing.

Every time one strives for reinvention—or even just something different—"it opens up new landscapes for you and the team around you," Savic says. That philosophy dovetails with the changes that have taken place over the past decade in the media-agency business. Today, more information is available than ever to help clients understand and influence consumer behavior. Naturally, MediaCom rigorously mines data, but creating media plans and executing buys are entry points. "Our job goes well beyond numbers," Savic says. Applying insights in ways that entertain and even benefit audiences is paramount, he stresses—and creativity drives both the work and the channels for delivering the message. 

For Pennzoil, MediaCom developed the Breaking Barriers documentary on the National Geographic Channel.

From the start, putting the right team in place was essential, and Savic has assembled a core group of leaders boasting a range of skills that encompass marketing, media and entertainment. Each individual, he says, played a key role in MediaCom's triumphs last year. Khartoon Ohan helped guide the new-business surge. Tapped in mid-2013 from Clear Channel, she embodies the high-energy, risk-taking spirit Savic has tried to cultivate. Ohan recalls that during her first meeting with Savic, he said, "I want to go big, or fail famously." Her response: "Yes! Sign me on board!"

Innovation chief Mark Fortner, who joined the team around the same time, has an impressive pedigree in television, having worked at Viacom and Fox. "I never had any intention of ever joining a media agency—boring!" he says. "That changed the moment I met Sasha." As MediaCom's head of innovation and branded content, he leads a 15-person creative unit, an especially important group given the agency's creative focus. Other key players include strategy chief Archana Kumar (formerly of BBDO), CMO Stephanie Fierman (a former client-side marketer), digital and analytics head Steve Carbone (whose experience includes running Grey's G2 agency) and chief client officer Adam Komack (a MediaCom fixture since 2009).

Perhaps the most intriguing new addition is Savic's boss, Phil Cowdell, who joined in mid-2014 as North American CEO from GroupM, the umbrella organization that houses WPP's media holdings. A Brit who has lived in 11 cities on three continents in his career, Cowdell brings broad experience after holding senior posts at Mindshare, MediaVest and Team Detroit. Those who know him say he is a genius at managing back-office operations to match client needs. He is also described as a passionate agency advocate with a personable, straight-ahead style that plays well both inside the shop and with clients. 

Also for Pennzoil, MediaCom created the Mario Kart event at SXSW. 

Cowdell defines his role as "making sure that MediaCom is properly, deeply connected into WPP assets." When the shop pitched A-B InBev, for example, Cowdell served as Savic's "support and counsel," giving his U.S. CEO timely access to research and personnel from GroupM units like Kantar Shopcom, Millward Brown, KBM and Wunderman. Those shops provided a deep analysis of the "who, what, when, where and why" of the buying cycle. The resulting insights were essential in helping MediaCom set its strategy. "MediaCom's people and approach, backed by GroupM's expertise, was the right fit for us," says A-B InBev's Herscovici.

After playing a supporting role in that win, Cowdell personally led the agency's bid for Mars. (He was familiar with Wrigley and other category brands from his days at Mindshare.) Cowdell even employed some Savic-style panache during presentations, with the agency recruiting its staffers to prepare snacks for the pitch using Mars ingredients. When client reps showed up at MediaCom's London offices, they were greeted with a spread that included cakes, pies and assorted other treats made with Mars and Bounty bars and M&M's. "We asked the client to judge them for us," relates Cowdell—and the Mars execs readily complied.

"It helped show us what role our products play in some of their associates' lives," notes Bruce McColl, global CMO at Mars. "Since these were all personal recipes featuring their favorite Mars products, it was a very heartfelt gesture." 

MediaCom's creative highlights also include VW's digital games, which tied in to Discovery's Shark Week.

At the end of the day, MediaCom has positioned itself as a creative entity, capable of delivering data-driven strategies and contributing to campaigns that drive results.

"Media is in a renaissance," says Cowdell. "I don't believe you can separate content and distribution strategy. Content these days is absolutely vital."

Its work last year for petroleum giant Shell is a case in point. To launch the client's Pennzoil-branded synthetic motor oil made from natural gas, MediaCom hired country singer Tim McGraw to narrate Breaking Barriers, an hour-long documentary about hot rod drivers chasing land speed records. The film was telecast in May on the National Geographic Channel. "It's a good example of turning media from a dry spots-and-dots assignment into strategic, creative, consumer-facing work that gets people excited, breaks through and ultimately drives sales," says Chris Hayek, global brand director at Shell. The film generated 30 million YouTube views.

At SXSW, MediaCom strapped attendees into motorized go-karts that raced around a quarter-mile track simulating the Mario Kart video game. Footage, naturally, was broadcast live via social media. That gambit resulted in 1 billion earned media impressions, with 90 percent of the articles about the program appearing in publications that had never written about Pennzoil before, according to Hayek. The Daily Dot ranked the experience as one of the 10 best SXSW events of all time, and the effort earned Adweek's Media Plan of the Year Award for Best Use of Alternative Media in the $1 million-$10 million range.

The bottom line, as Hayek sees it: "Our sales grew roughly 30 percent in a category that grew about half that rate. So not only did we grow our business but we grew the overall category as well, which was one of our key objectives."

And for Savic, the bottom line is to build the clients' business and to establish MediaCom as an "iconic" industry brand à la Wieden + Kennedy—which would be a first for a media shop.

"I refuse to admit that a creative agency is more creative than a media agency," he says. "We shouldn't be limiting ourselves to any form or any playground that is defined traditionally. Taking that approach opens up new conversations with our clients about content, new conversations about data ... even new conversations about brand meaning."

Putting it another way, Savic adds: "If you don't have creativity and if you don't have curiosity about how to do things differently, you may as well go work in a bank."

Its agency is one of the more sophisticated out there. And ads about female empowerment are on the rise. So why does Carl's Jr. remain stubbornly Neanderthal, continuing its now decade-long obsession with half-naked women sex-eating its product?

Well, let's look at the numbers.

The fast-food chain shares some impressive data today about its regional Super Bowl commercial starring the relatively unknown (until now) 21-year-old Floridian model Charlotte McKinney. It turns out the chain's most naked-est ad ever (at least, that's the faux premise through most of the spot) is also its most successful in quickly generating views and shares.

The ad, by 72andSunny—titled "Au Naturel" and pushing the All-Natural Burger—has been watched 9.4 million times on YouTube, and the campaign has generated a staggering 2.5 billion media impressions in less than two weeks, the company tells Adweek exclusively. Both metrics far outpace anything Carl's Jr. has done in the past—including famous ads with Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Kate Upton and Nina Agdal.



Despite airing in only the western half of the U.S. during the game, the ad also ranks as the third most shared Super Bowl spot across all social media networks, according to Shift Communications. Also, McKinney took over the Carl's Jr. Twitter handle during the Super Bowl and helped to generate more than 4,500 Carl's Jr.-related tweets totaling more than 41 million impressions.

In other words, the target audience of young males isn't tiring of the approach. And judging by the goofy Austin Powers-esque creative of the McKinney ad, it's quite the opposite: The more (comically) risqué, the better.

"Carl's Jr. has long been famous for not only developing innovative burgers and other menu items that are new to fast food, but for advertising them in a way that our target audience of 'Young Hungry Guys' can't seem to get enough of," Brad Haley, chief marketing officer for Carl's Jr., said in a statement.

"However, the success of our Super Bowl ad starring the lovely Charlotte McKinney is unprecedented. … Congratulations and thanks to Charlotte for using her sense of humor, acting talent and stunning good looks to create a bit of fast-food advertising history with us. We wish her well on what I'm sure will be a very successful career."

Of all the hubbub, McKinney herself said in a statement: "It's been so surreal starring in the recent Carl's Jr. Super Bowl ad. They're such an iconic brand featuring so many different women over the years, and I feel fortunate to be a part of this campaign."

Most important, Carl's Jr. says the product itself is moving swiftly. Since its launch in Dec. 17, sales of the All-Natural Burger have exceeded forecasts every week, per the company, and were strongest to date during the week of the Super Bowl.

"It's clear that there is not only interest in more natural menu options, but also in the kind of breakthrough advertising Carl's Jr. and sister chain Hardee's create to promote our new menu items," Haley said.

No one else would call it breakthrough advertising, but don't expect Carl's Jr. to change tactics anytime soon.

Snickers and BBDO New York have followed up their brilliant "Brady Bunch" Super Bowl ad with an inspired print piece—taking over the back cover of Sports Illustrated's new Swimsuit Issue with this fantastic "You're not your when you hungry" ad.

Hannah Davis, of course, is on the front cover of the magazine. But on the back is a much less traditionally attractive female—Medusa, in fact, whom models apparently act like when they haven't had a Snickers in a while.

Cynics will suggest models are always hungry, and wouldn't be caught dead rectifying that fact by wolfing down a Snickers bar in public. But leaving aside the issues of verisimilitude, this is a pretty great ad and media placement. The recasting of Sports Illustrated as "Super Irritated" is a particularly nice touch.

See the front cover, and credits for the Snickers ad, below.

Front cover:

CREDITS
Client: Snickers
Ad: Medusa

Agency: BBDO New York
Chief Creative Office, Worldwide: David Lubars
Chief Creative Officer, New York: Greg Hahn
Executive Creative Director: Gianfranco Arena
Executive Creative Director: Peter Kain
Senior Creative Director: Danilo Boer
Senior Creative Director: Grant Smith
Executive Art Producer: Betsy Jablow
Account Director: Josh Steinman
Account Manager: Dylan Green
Planner: Alaina Crystal

Photographer: Vincent Dixon

CGI: Parker & Biley
Production Company: Jake Mills Productions

Even in an industry increasingly defined by change, advertising agencies this year are making high-level moves at a blistering pace. 

In the first six weeks of 2015, some 14 shops have made 19 new leadership hires, including 11 involving the role of creative chief. Some hires filled vacancies but many illustrate a desire for change. Young & Rubicam, for example, replaced its chief creative officers in New York, Chicago and San Francisco after each served several years. Similarly, TBWA installed a new head of New York, and MediaVest tapped a new president of investment.

Other agencies are simply heavying up, adding new leaders over existing ones, as McCann Erickson did last week with the hiring of Eric Silver as North American CCO and Bartle Bogle Hegarty did with the promotion of John Patroulis to New York creative chairman. As BBH North American CEO Pat Lafferty explained, "We wanted to send the message that bulking up in the creative area is absolutely how we wanted to continue to evolve as a leadership team."

What's driving these top-level hires is a frustration with the status quo and a desire for leaders with fresh ideas, according to agency bosses and an industry headhunter. In short, marketers want fast, flexible ads, and agencies need new types of executives to deliver the goods. Also, with marketers generally searching and spending more post- recession, agencies see an opportunity to invest in new talent and grab share.

"Solving a client problem is what we're in the business of, and clearly, with this many CCO changes, you can see [that] many are struggling to get their core product—the work—right," said TBWA global CEO Troy Ruhanen. "Get the thinking right and ahead of the client, and the outcome will be a strong, valued relationship."

Several of these changes follow the appointment of new CEOs last year. In sum, the suits have settled in, assessed what they need and are making their initial moves. TBWA's Ruhanen is a prime example of that. He installed insider Rob Schwartz as New York CEO in early January, six months after assuming the top job.

Cramer-Krasselt, which named new executive creative directors in Chicago (Ken Erke) and New York (Craig Markus), seized an opportunity to find nimble, entrepreneurial leaders after longtime creative chiefs exited for personal reasons. As vice chairman Marshall Ross noted, some 40 percent of the shop's revenue comes from digital and social media work, and that requires a new approach.

"Part of our motivation is to push that growth even further—not for the sake of it but because that's where consumers are and that's how we need to be telling our stories," said Ross, who's also CCO across C-K's four offices. "We need to be leveraging new muscle strength within the agency—analytics being one [example]. And a creative person who's into that becomes really helpful."

Headhunter Jay Haines of Grace Blue expects the executive shuffling to continue. After all, advertising is a hypercompetitive industry, and clearly there's room for improvement. "This has been most prevalent in the creative space thus far, and will now begin to play out across every discipline," Haines said. "The fascinating thing will now be to watch how this unfolds in the coming months and see who made the right changes."

Photo of Eric Silver by Emiliano Granado

To date, Rob Lowe has been the only celebrity to suffer physical indignities in Grey's DirecTV campaign making fun of cable customers. But now he can add three famous supermodels to the mix—Hannah Davis, Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal, all of whom are made over to look quite a bit less supermodelish to portray cable users in print ads in the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Check out the series of seven ads below.

Like the Rob Lowe TV spots, this print work comes uncomfortably close to being mean-spirited—i.e., aren't ugly misfits just horrible? But they largely sidestep that charge because of the cartoonish execution. Plus, people tend to give props to any celeb who gamely agrees to look "ugly." (If you actually have shy bladder, though, or if you actually are a lunch lady—Agdal's ugly character—you might actually get pissed.)

We wrote about Snickers's great back cover of the new Swimsuit Issue, too. And interestingly, they're quite similar campaigns. (DirecTV's message is, basically, "You're not you when you have cable.") Perhaps it's no surprise that the two most famous campaigns that urge you to fight against uglier versions of yourself have found creative ways into this particular magazine all about perfection.

Advertising is officially into goths.

Danish flower-delivery service Interflora is the latest to jump on the bandwagon with the ad below from Brandhouse. (This is the same agency-client pairing, and the same director, Martin Werner, who made the sad clown ad back in December.)

The new spot lands in the same ballpark as the German hardware store spot I wrote about a while back, and many others making these same specific observations. It's never crust punks or metalheads trying to coexist with the normals, you'll notice. The goth-out-of-water trope is common enough that I'm wondering how many closet Pink Turns Blue fans there are in the ad game these days.

Watch the spot before the spoilers:



Like the December spot, the theme here is still love and the hardship of expressing it. It's just a bit more optimistic. (Anything is more optimistic than sad clowns.)

The reveal is quite the "Gift of the Magi" moment, as the goth guy (who kind of looks like Dolph from the Simpsons) has the hots for the preppy girl and changes his looks to suit her tastes—only to find out she went goth for him. Oops!

Written out like this, it sounds like something Adam Sandler has in development.

CREDITS
Client: Interflora
Agency: Brandhouse
Director: Martin Werner
DOP: Lasse Frank
Production: Bacon
Music: "Slow Mover" by Louise Alenius & Ben Kaniewski

Right Shark and Left Shark had great time at the Super Bowl in Arizona. (Well, one of them had a better time than the other.) But now it's back to the grind. And that means returning to the ESPN offices in snowy Bristol, Conn., and getting back to their day jobs—next to every other athlete, mascot and halftime-show dance partner in the world.

And here, we even get to see who's underneath those suddenly famous fish costumes.

Wieden + Kennedy New York's "This Is SportsCenter" campaign is always pretty fresh and memorable, but it's great to see them jumping on this topic—which fits the campaign's goofy humor so well.

Specs
Who (From left) Jessica Reznick, managing director; Glenn Marck, partner, design; Brian Schultz, partner, production; Rick Rathe, partner, operations; Gary Johnson, director of strategy
What Experiential and promotional marketing agency
Where New York

Even as advertising is becoming more personalized, the idea of marketing on a grand scale is still in demand. No one knows that better than Magnetic Collaborative, a marketing shop with a rare expertise connecting digital to the real world with larger-than-life stunts. It's P.T. Barnum meets Tron. Just last year, Magnetic was behind Google's Android takeover of Times Square with the largest billboard ever. Magnetic is becoming the go-to shop for making big happen at places like the Super Bowl, SXSW and Cannes. "Every project is immensely challenging with massive brand experiences," said Brian Schultz, chief production officer. Last year, the team grew 60 percent and revenue was up 77 percent. What sets Magnetic apart is that it has built a team that doesn't have to outsource the conception and construction of large-scale projects; it has the talent in-house—architects, engineers, designers and account execs.

Here's an oldie, but new to us: The Anatomy of an Agency infographic from Grip Limited, offering pretty spot-on portraits of agency people (art director, copywriter, account person, developer, finance person) based on their peculiar tastes and habits.

This infographic was done by Julia Morra and Trevor Gourley. Via Design Taxi.

If regular Oreos don't already put you in the mood for love, maybe try the cookie's new Red Velvet flavor. The limited-edition Valentine's Day product stars in a new animated campaign from 360i, and is presented as an awkward aphrodisiac for strangers.

The effects of Red Velvet Oreos might include a woman who looks kind of like a middle-aged Daria sliding her grip up a bus pole to touch the hand of the rocker hunk next to her. (In fact, the whole aesthetic seems inspired by '90s MTV cartoons.) And let's just say the dude is not moving his mitt away, either.

Irresistible cookie romance could also strike at the checkout counter, or 35,000 feet above sea level (because someone couldn't resist a nod to the Mile High Club). In other words, Red Velvet Oreos are like the Axe of cookies. (Its advertising is just—appropriately—quirkier and more subtle than most of the body spray's.)



There are six spots in total, with a new one rolling out each day this week. The brand says they're meant for people who aren't psyched about Valentine's Day. That makes some sense, because while Red Velvet Oreos might be a dubious gift, it's perfectly appropriate to shame-eat a pack while sitting alone at home watching rom-com marathons while everyone else is paired off and having a good time out on the town.

And whether or not Red Velvet Oreos will actually get you laid, one thing is for sure: More people should carry fanny packs with cookies in them.

CREDITS
Client: Oreo
Senior Associate Brand Managers: Kerri McCarthy, Elise Burditt
Senior Brand Manager: Lauryn McDonough
North America Director: Janda Lukin

Agency: 360i
Chief Creative Officer: Pierre Lipton
Group Account Directors: Sandra Ciconte, Aaron Mosher, David Yankelewitz
Art Director: Kelsie Kaufman
Copywriter: Jessy Cole
Associate Producer: Ethan Brooks
Senior Producer: Amanda Kwan
Account Director: Josh Lenze
Senior Strategist: Maggie Walsh
Account Manager: Megan Falcone
Community Manager: Sarah Wanger
Community Supervisor: Namrata Patel

Production Company: Shadowmachine, Los Angeles
Executive Producers: Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico
Director, Producer: Jed Hathaway
Lead Animator: Sapphire Sandalo
Animators: Iana Kushchenko, Sean Nadeau
Character Designer: Matt Garofalo
Background Designer: Emilio Santoyo
Storyboard Artist: James Gibson
Animatic Editor: Peter Keahey
Sound Design: Pendulum Music (Ryan Franks, Scott Nickoley)
Commercial Rep: Honky Dory (Gisela Limberg, Ali Tiedrich)

Adam&eveDDB goes the unsubtle stock-footage route in this Valentine's Day ad for travel site LastMinute.com, cramming scads of naughty visual metaphors into one fast-moving montage dubbed "Sexy Delights of Europe."

Our, um, package tour starts with the bare balls, breasts and buttocks of classic works of art—I wonder what that statuesque dude at the Rodin Museum would think?—and touches on the sometimes unexpected sensuality of, among other things, food, golf, trains, canals, accordions and zoom lenses.



The object of the client's desire is to encourage folks to book #LustMinute weekend getaways. "Valentine's Day is a great occasion to remind everyone of how much fun spontaneity is," says LastMinute brand and communications director Amanda Cumine. "Doing this in a bit of a cheeky way sits at the heart of everything we do."

Sounds great. I'll have the oysters. (I've always been a shellfish lover!)

CREDITS
Client: LastMinute.com
Campaign:: Sexy Delights of Europe
Agency: adam&eveddb.com
Chief Creative Officer: Ben Priest
Executive Creative Directors: Ben Tollett, Richard Brim
Creative Directors: Frank Ginger & Shay Reading
Copywriter: Frances Leach
Art director: Christopher Bowsher
Planner: Dom Boyd
Media Agency: Manning Gottlieb OMD
Production Company: cain&abel
Director: Robert Smith

Everyone else makes fun of how painful it is to assemble Ikea furniture, so why can't Ikea? And the company does in these fun billboards, from German agency thjnk, that are themselves poorly assembled—to advertise the brand's assembly service. Such a simple idea.

Thjnk has been doing eye-catching Ikea work for a while, including one of our favorite out-of-home ads of 2014—the RGB billboard that ingeniously turned nine square meters of ad space into 27 square meters.

Via Ads of the World.

The tearjerking Asian insurance commercial has become something of a cliché after so many years of emotional Thai Life spots. But MetLife Hong Kong breathes new life into the form with this spot—a father-daughter story that digs deeper, and packs even more of an emotional wallop, than similar ads of late.

As usual, it would be obnoxious to spoil the plot, but here are the basics: A girl writes a letter about her father, portraying him as a kind of superhero. But he is also, she insists, a liar. Watch the rest below, including a truly heart-wrenching series of a scenes toward the end.



"You can't change your destiny, but you can create your own," says the brand. "MetLife values the dream of every parent to give their children a good education to pursue a better life. We understand every sacrifice you make for your children's future."

The ad was reportedly shot in Thailand; six versions were made for different Asian markets. It promotes MetLife's EduCare savings plan for children's higher education.

Last week, Trojan took the piss out of the BDSM-light hype around Fifty Shades of Grey. And now Audi is joining the party with a new parody ad.

Saturday Night Live's Vanessa Bayer stars as a try-hard version of the book-cum-movie's protagonist, Anastasia Steele. The spot, created with Venables Bell & Partners, mimics the famous scene in the elevator, where Christian Grey kisses Anastasia for the first time. But Bayer brings along a collection of sex toys and makes clumsy come-ons to anyone and everyone who happens along (kind of like she's been eating too many Red Velvet Oreos).



The interplay between Bayer and her victims is pretty hilarious—tightly written and perfectly delivered. And while the brand tie-in might feel tacked on, it isn't really.

Audi lucked into the storyline of the novel. Grey is an enthusiast, and gives Steele one as a gift. The automaker bought into the movie as well, with a product placement deal for five different cars. It's juicing the connection—a separate German ad hawking the Audi R8 Spyder treats Grey like a sex symbol on par with George Clooney.

Given the official connection, Audi might get more credit than Trojan for poking fun at the movie—though both seem to be trying to make audiences feel better about being inept at bondage. Or maybe it's making like the lead actors and hedging against what they apparently think will be a dud film.

Regardless, Audi certainly deserves points for bravery. Try to keep a straight face when Bayer starts twirling a set of Ben Wa balls around her finger. She can barely keep from laughing, too.

CREDITS
Client: Audi
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Executive Creative Director: Paul Venables and Will McGinness
Creative Director: Erich Pfeifer
Art Director: Byron Del Rosario
Copywriter: Meredith Karr
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Executive Producer: Mandi Holdorf
Agency Producer: Ryan Wilson
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Clay Weiner
Director Of Photography: Doug Chamberlain
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Editing Company: Cut + Run
Editor: Isaac Chen
Asst Editor: Eli Beck Gifford
Editorial Producer: Joanna Hall
Music Company: Search Party
Composer: Chris James
Mix: Mark Pitchford at M Squared
V/FX: Apache
Account Director: Nicole Spinelli
Account Manager: McKenna Pickett
Project Manager: Talya Fisher

For those of us who've spent too many hours digging through YouTube trying to find good-looking versions of classic ads, this is quite a treat: As part of its 50th birthday celebrations, Gatorade has digitally remastered its classic "Be Like Mike" commercial with Michael Jordan after almost a quarter century.

And it really looks good. The old Bayer Bess Vanderwarker spot is completely cleaned up, so you can enjoy seeing Mike play cute pickup games with kids and laugh ridiculously with his actor-teammates like it's 1992 all over again. (Except for that hashtag at the end!)



Gatorade is doing a whole bunch of "Be Like Mike" stuff around the NBA All-Star weekend, including a "live event experience" in New York featuring Dominique Wilkins and Horace Grant, who will "help visitors do their best impressions of Jordan by 'Shooting like Mike,' 'Dunking like Mike' and 'Striking iconic poses like Mike.' "

The sports drink will also be selling special bottles of Citrus Cooler (Mike's favorite) with a retro label starting at the end of March.

In fact, the only thing missing from return of "Be Like Mike," it seems, is present-day Mike.

The remastered ad is cool, though—almost as good as the 1979 Pabst Blue Ribbon spot with Patrick Swayze that was likewise cleaned up a few years ago. Can we do this with all the great spots from the '70s, '80s and '90s, please?

Ikea often does humorously naughty ads around Valentine's Day. Two years ago it did a fun promotion offering free cribs for babies born nine months after Valentine's Day. And last year it stacked a pair of chairs suggestively in an ad with hot wood-on-wood action.

Now, Ikea Singapore continues the tradition with the BBH ad above, posted to social media—showing off the chain's new line of "beds." Pretty cute, though I'm not convinced that bench is up to the task.

CREDITS
Client: Ikea
Agency: BBH Singapore
Business Director: Tim Cullinane
Account Manager: Manavi Sharma
Project Director: Lesley Chelvan
Producer: Kim Lim
Creative Directors: Tinus Strydom, Maurice Wee
Senior Art Director: Gary Lim
Senior Copywriter: Nikhil Panjwani
Social Strategist: Josie Khng
Community Manager: Nurul Maideen
Production Company: BlackSheep Live

Some key things separate pro athletes from weekend warriors. Of course, there's the natural talent and physical skills. But there's also the mental approach. The pros excel at being able to learn from mistakes, and move on to the next play or game.

In the clutch, regular people often dwell on the implications of failure. Pros focus on executing moves they've practiced thousands of times. They're in the moment. They're focused on success, not failure.

Starting today, Adidas begins a fascinating attempt to impart some of that athletic wisdom with a new brand campaign called "Sport 15."

Simon Atkins, the brand's vp of brand activation, gave Adweek an exclusive preview of the first 60-second spot called "Take It." The spot (posted below), created by 180LA, will break Saturday during TV coverage of NBA All-Star Weekend in New York.

It shows action shots of Adidas endorsers, including soccer superstar Lionel Messi, Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls and DeMarco Murray of the Dallas Cowboys. We see them displaying the same intensity in practice as they do in a game.

A voiceover begins: "The last goal? Doesn't matter. The last victory? Already forgotten. Yesterday is gone. Lost in the record books. But today is up for grabs. Unpredictable. Unwritten. Undecided. Now is ours. Do something, and be remembered. Or do nothing, and be forgotten. No one owns today. Take it."

The creative message? Every split second in sports presents a new chance for you to redefine yourself and your team.



"As a brand that has a legacy with sports more than anybody historically, and across all sports, it's something that we see. It's something we wanted to start communicating to our audience," Atkins said. The best athletes have the "ability to use all of their experiences—good, bad or indifferent—to empower them for the future," he added. That insight was something Adidas wanted to inject into its "brand narrative."

Adidas is on red alert in the U.S., having seen rival Under Armour pass it in 2014 to take the No. 2 spot behind Nike in the multibillion dollar U.S. athletic market. Now, Adidas wants to take it to its rivals and be more aggressive in its marketing.

The "Sport 15" effort will be Adidas' biggest brand campaign since "All In or Nothing" in 2011, Atkins said. All told, it will be the brand's "biggest ever" ad spend in the U.S., he added, while declining to spell out numbers.

"What you're seeing is Adidas rewriting our playbook about how we want to express our brand, week in, week out," he said.

CREDITS
Client: Adidas
Agency: 180LA

Beauty is in the eye of the … um … sorry, I lost my train of thought. While I try to remember how that saying goes, enjoy "The Ugly Couple Song," a Valentine's Day music video by RPA for XO Mints.

Unlike Cartier's pretty posers, who pine for love, XO presents some hairy, less-than-hunky, socially awkward dudes who look like refugees from cover bands and sitcoms. (The guy with the curls resembles "College Ted" from How I Met Your Mother. He's even got the "spectacles"!) They lip-sync along with the titular ditty, a folky number performed by Run River North, about finding that certain special someone no matter how unattractive you are.



"She's got a heart that's bigger than her hair/She might never be a model, but who cares?/She's one cloud and some wings from being an angel/And who knows, we might make—something beautiful." (Aww ... isn't that nice? #SomethingBeautiful is also the campaign's hashtag.)

Frankly, the guys aren't all that homely, and I expected a wacky payoff, like maybe they'd all marry each other. Instead, the clip stays minty sweet and low-key, gently poking fun at social stereotypes as it invites us to hum along.

Of course, fresh breath as a requirement for romance is also a stereotype. Still, it never hurts, and the brand's heart is clearly in the right place.

Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam goes big in its new work for Booking.com, with a 60-second spot that tells the epic story of a "booking hero" whose knack for finding the perfect accommodations helps him not only enjoy a great vacation—it helps him fulfill his destiny.

We follow the guy's whole life, from a chance encounter with his future wife in a hostel through a romantic proposal at a chateau—and then through the downs, and mostly ups, of family life and professional success.

Four 30-second spots, with 15-second cut downs, will also roll out soon, along with five contextual online films that match user Google keyword searches.

We spoke with Genevieve Hoey, creative director at W+K Amsterdam, about the campaign.

AdFreak: What made you choose the idea of heroism for this campaign?
Genevieve Hoey: It's a relatable, human insight—which is our currency for Booking.com. We know people have a small amount of vacation days each year, so it's vital to get vacation accommodation more than "just right." Understandably, people want to absolutely nail their vacation, and that's what this campaign is all about—how Booking.com helps people to get it booking right, leaving them feeling like accommodation heroes. Booking.com's aim is to make every precious trip, booking right. And as you'll see in this year's work, the right accommodation can even be life changing.

Why follow one guy through a series of life changes?
Dennis is an everyman, likable and relatable. Following one guy allows us to dramatize the epic results of a lifetime of well-booked accommodations. We want people to see the potential for themselves to be accommodation heroes and embark on their own journey though Booking.com's vast range of incredible properties.

How outlandish did you want to get with the plot?
We're always writing and honing until the very last minute, working closely with our Booking.com clients. The work this year is definitely dramatized but not exaggerated—it's all in the realm of possibilities. The idea behind each script is rooted in either a Booking customer review or an interesting Booking.com data point. Ultimately we're hoping to delight our fans with the most relatable and entertaining Booking.com work possible.

What was the biggest challenge on this production?
We always shoot in Booking.com locations. The biggest challenge is choosing which ones from their 600,000 properties across the world. This year we wanted to show Booking's wide variety—they have 25 different property types. So, to excite people with the life-changing possibilities at their fingertips, we shot in medieval castles, rustic log cabins, on rooftop infinity pools, in historic penthouse suites and so forth. We worked with A-list director Dante Ariola to create sweeping cinematic odes to vacation greatness, to show people the rewards of getting accommodation booking right, with Booking.com.

Kanye West held an outdoor concert in front of the Flatiron Building in New York on Thursday night, but not everyone was completely welcoming. In fact, Partners + Napier's NYC office (at 11 East 26th St.) spelled out a message for the rapper on its windows—obviously a reference to Kanye's latest Grammys antics.

Agency execs Matt Dowshen and Jason Marks told Gothamist:"We are an agency actively researching the effects of out-of-home advertising. We found out Kanye was playing outside our building, and we wanted to make a point about being in the right place at the right time with the right message, and how that can be amplified through digital channels. And … don't fuck with Beck."

In other words, those who troll will get trolled back.
 

PNYC welcomes @KanyeWest to Flatiron for his performance tonight. http://t.co/t2bLVIUN6s#nba#allstarweekendpic.twitter.com/JNZVX5idFK— PNYC (@pnycagency) February 12, 2015