High Five: USA
So we’re in that weird period of the year when post-holiday ads blend together in a weird mish-mash with mega budget Superbowl ads featuring beatboxing animals and Dr. Evil. It’s hard to stand out right now but we were excited to see these projects that do just that in their own unique and inspiring ways.
Apple iPhone 13 Pro - ‘Pavel/ 3x Optical Zoom’
Agency: TBWA/Media Arts Lab
Production company: O Positive
Director: David Shane
There’s something very satisfying when a single-minded product benefit is brought to life in a simple yet compelling way. It takes a lot of restraint not to over-egg an idea like this in the execution - and there was obviously a lot of restraint exercised here. Everything from the script, the casting, the direction and the performance is spot on. Precise, clear, entertaining. Nothing there that doesn’t need to be there. Poor Pavel…
The New York Times - ‘Independent Journalism For An Independent Life’
Agency: Droga5
Production company: LFR Productions
Director: Laurie Howell, Toby Treyer-Evans
It has a softer tone than the previous ‘Truth Is’ campaign but it’s engaging in a different way. Elegantly crafted, interesting, thoughtful - and makes us want to read the NYT more. Especially during pre-Superbowl madness when there were a lot of loud, shouty, in-your-face ads running, this caught our attention through its quiet intelligence.
Airbnb - “Strangers”
Agency: Airbnb
Production Company: Somesuch
Director: Kim Gehrig
Imagine what the beautiful offspring of The Three Bears and Where The Wild Things Are would look like. And what if that was also something that gave us hope for what the world might look like post-pandemic - and that reminds us of all the things everyone loved about Airbnb before the pandemic. It’s a fluffy (literally), playful, childlike treat, warm and fuzzy in all the right ways - and it’s definitely a tonic for these uncertain unprecedented undecided blah times.
1792 Bourbon - ‘UNtypical’
Agency: Buntin
Production company: Hornet
Director: Ariel Costa
When people think of an agency in Nashville, they don’t usually think of an agency that makes global work. So as well as being fun to work on, we’re really proud of the work we’ve been doing with 1792 Bourbon from Sazerac for the US and Asia. We created a new brand platform from scratch - ‘UNtypical’ - which goes against the category norms of woodsy rugged dudes hanging out by the campfire. And thanks to a brave client and a passionate production partner, we already launched the ‘UNtypical Stories’, a series of digital and social videos featuring tales of untypical nights, each one brought to life by a different artist. In this first one, the idea was to create a surreal world drawing on influences as diverse as noir, jazz and Escher.
Slash’s New Album - “4”
This isn’t an ad or communication project but it’s still something that stood out and inspired us. One of the perks of our agency being based in Nashville is that we feel the influence of all the great musicians past and present that are from here or have recorded and played here. Music Row, United Record Pressing, The Basement - they’re all just a couple of miles from the office.
The latest thing to inspire us in this vein is Slash recording his new album ‘4’ here at the historic RCA Studio A where artists like Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Dolly Parton have recorded hits.
You can watch the full album performed live here
