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Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes Are Killing It on Instagram

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Starbucks has become a bit of a case-study example for marketers when it comes to creating social buzz for its products, and in no season is that more evident than fall when it sells the popular pumpkin spice latte drinks.

To measure the hype (and subsequent hate) of the latte, social media analytics company Spredfast crunched a handful of stats in the week leading up to Tuesday when the drink was launched on menus.

Per the firm's findings, chatter about the drink spiked on Wednesday when at one point users fired off 5,076 tweets per minute. To compare, in the week leading up to the launch, the maximum number of tweets at one time was 2,855. In total, the phrase 'pumpkin spice latte' and the abbreviated hashtag #PSL have racked up 56.8 million tweets.

 

 

To compare it to chatter about the brand's s popular #pinkdrinks this summer, which received more than 11,000 tweets, tweets tagged with #psl, 'pumpkin spice' or #firstPSL have generated more than 25,000 tweets.

On Instagram, there have been more than 731,000 posts tagged with #pumpkin related to the drink and another 468,000 are labeled with #PSL. Moreover, Starbucks' pumpkin spice lattes receive 493 percent more likes per photo than shots tagged with #Starbucks.

Beyond social chatter, Starbucks also recently launched a Facebook Messenger bot for its Real Pumpkin Spice character that lets users ask the drink questions and access GIFs and photos.

 

 

Hello September #favoritetimeofyear #doodlesbyme #pumpkinspicelatte

A photo posted by Shawn Johnson East (@shawnjohnson) on

 

 

A sip of your #FirstPSL is all it takes - Pumpkin Spice Latte is back! #

A photo posted by Starbucks Coffee ☕ (@starbucks) on

 


Parents of Kindergartners Heading Off to School Will Ugly Cry at This Oscar Mayer Ad

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Ow! Our heartstrings!

Real kindergarteners and first graders star with their moms in Oscar Mayer's back-to-school campaign from Olson Engage.

Our story beings with three young mothers prepping their kids for the first day of school. "It can be heart-wrenching," says one mom, while another adds: "It makes me a little sad … That's my baby. The time's going by too fast." There's a tremor in her voice, but she won't really get teary-eyed until after the big reveal.

Before viewing the clip, you'd better grab a Kleenex. Maybe two. (Three would probably be too many—it's not that intense).



Awww! The tykes picked outfits for their moms, and packed them lunches made with branded cold cuts! And the secret ingredient was—you guessed it—love!

"We wanted to turn the typical back-to-school preparations on their head," client brand director Whitney Shaw tells AdFreak. Running in its full 100-second format and 30-second edits on Facebook, Instagram and other digital platforms, the video is designed to emphasize that "moms can look to Oscar Mayer Natural for one less thing to think about during hectic school planning," she says.

In terms of production logistics, she adds: "We sent mom, and in some cases both parents, out of the house for a few hours while we worked with dad or a babysitter to do all the prep. Some moms were a little hesitant at first, not sure what sort of surprise their kids had in store, but once they saw the hilarious outfits and heartfelt lunch notes, they were completely taken aback and appreciative."

Predictably, "the kids got creative with their brown-bag lunches for Mom," Shaw says. "One of our favorite sandwiches featured turkey, popcorn, cheese, carrots and mustard."

Awww! That sounds ... positively vile. Hope the crew had some Kleenex handy so Mom could discretely dispose of that sandwich.

CREDITS
Client: Oscar Mayer
Head of Marketing: Gregory Guidotti
Brand Director: Whitney Shaw
Brand Manager: Jeremy Truxal

Lead Agency: Olson Engage
Executive Creative Director: Josh Lohrius
Creative Director: Molly Cournoyer
Vice President: Emily McMahon
Account Director: Katie Cosgrove

Production Agency Optimus:
Director: Mark & Amanda
Editor: Mike Berg
Producer:Patrick Fischer

Media Agency: Starcom

What Were Chester Cheetah and Burger King's King Hinting at During Those NFL Ads?

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Anyone who watched an NFL game on Sunday saw a short teaser commercial about 100 times where Cheetos spokescat Chester Cheetah and Burger King mascot the King were seen sitting together at a BK restaurant, all exciting about … something.

That something wasn't made clear, although the King did put a handful of Chicken Fries on the table, hinting at the possibility of a forthcoming Cheetos Chicken Fries menu item, to go along with the Burger King Mac n' Cheetos introduced over the summer.

And indeed, the hint was so obvious that it's turned out to be true. Check out the spot below, which will air during tonight's Monday Night Football telecast.



For some reason, Chester and the King are still being mealy-mouthed about the product announcement. But the 15-second spot confirms the new limited-time Cheetos Chicken Fries snack.

This spot is the first-ever TV spot produced by digital shop Code and Theory. 

CREDITS

Client: Burger King
Head of Marketing: Ricardo Azevedo
Head of Media, Advertising and Communications: Adam Gagliardo
Media: Diego Suarez
Integrated Marketing: Dylan Stopper
Advertising: Cristina Hoffmann
Advertising: Ada Yeung

Agency: Code and Theory
Partner: Steve Baer
Partner, Director of Client Services: Dotty Giordano
Group Creative Director: Brad Dixon
Associate Creative Director: Mike Latshaw
Senior Copywriter: Conor Champley
Senior Art Director: Jeremy Stein
Art Director: Daniel Nosonowitz
Visual Designer: Chris Szeto
Jr Visual Designer: Riley Walker
Associate Strategy Director: Kelly Meyers
Community Manager: Hallie Martin
Group Account Director: Jill Bernstein
Executive Producer/Content: Jeremy Fox
Content Producer: Blake Jones 
Senior Producer: Remya Rajagopalan

Production Company: Colonel Blimp
Director: Fred Rowson
Edit House: Cosmo Street
Animation: We Fly Coach
Sound: Heard City

Partner Production Agency: David
Head of Global Production - Veronica Beach
Associate Producer - Marina Rodrigues
Group Account Director - Michelle Cobas
Account Supervisor - Diandra Garcia

Heineken Just Made an HR Campaign That's as Cool as Any Consumer Ads It's Done

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Oh, the places you'll go!

In 2013, Heineken scored a bronze Lion at Cannes with "The Candidate," an internship contest that generated a whopping 1,734 global entries. 

Now, the brand is back to recruiting with "Go Places," led by a musical Dr. Seuss-ish video inviting talent to respond to 12 questions, which must be answered in three to five seconds. Based on the Enneagram model, the results give you a personal profile, which must be sent along with your résumé when applying for your Heineken dream gig on LinkedIn. 

The video features a passel of actual Heineken employees, giving it a playful, personal touch (if that's something you can say about a brand, which we guess is something you can, since our jobs revolve around giving brands a personality in the first place): 



The "Go Places" site, created over one-and-a-half years by Wefilm, Cloudfactory and Superhero Cheesecake (which managed the tech and interactivity), makes the interview process feel thorough, quick and surprisingly fun—if sometimes reductive. (We're told one guy used two mouses to give multiple answers at once ... and scored really well.)

Play with the site here.

"Heineken revolves around the personality of their employees, and they want these personalities to thrive. That's the main message that had to come across in a way that stands out from all other HR campaigns," explains Wefilm director Lennart Verstegen. "This has to be the first time HR has released a really cool campaign, reflecting values in a way only Heineken can: Ever witty and smart." 



The "interview" is also packed with nifty localizations—a tribute to Heineken's attention to detail. This affects everything from the Interviewer's clock, which shows your local time, to the beers and food he flashes before you at rapier speed. 

"You see empanadas when watching in Mexico, and a noodle soup when viewing in Vietnam. The same thing occurs when presented a local beer—you see one that is actually local in your market: Amstel beer in the Netherlands (a Heineken company beer!) and Star Beer in Nigeria (also a Heineken beer)," says Verstegen. 

"This way we can make the process highly relevant to different cultures, without it really sticking out like some crazy trick. It's something I think is highly classy and intelligent." 

Once you've got your results (we're Initiators!), you're driven to Heineken's LinkedIn page, where you can sift through job openings and find one you like best. This process is choppier than the interview; the application websites vary, and are just about as fun as any you've ever been on—that is to say, dry as dirt after a brushfire. 

But the story behind "Go Places" is rich and nuanced, informed by the real adventures of Heineken employees. 

"They wanted it to be a manifesto internally, for new employees and for new breweries, so they would feel what Heineken Company was about," says Cloudfactory creative Jessica Kersten. The work, she adds, was fueled by two major insights: serendipity, and protecting the idea's soul in execution (a weirdly apt word in this context). 



"The first day we started to work on the big idea, we stumbled upon an article in a Dutch magazine lying in our studio about Freddy Heineken," Kersten goes on. "The subject was how Freddy recruited his top talents. He had an interesting final interview that is quite different from what we know in the corporate world today. He used to invite the candidate and his wife—not too many female candidates at that time!—for dinner." 

As the candidate seated himself, Freddy would get a staged call from the HR department, requesting critical documentation. As Freddy's chauffeur drove the candidate away, Freddy would grill his wife to find out who this guy truly was. 

"Freddy knew that even though someone had all the right skills and experience, the personality mattered as much," says Kersten. "He wanted managers that could handle difficult situations in different countries around the world. It would be romanticizing the creative process to say that 'Go Places' was born that day, but we kept that inspiring story at the center of our idea."

"It was like Freddy's ghost gave us the key!" Cloudfactory creative Sandrine Huijgen exclaims.

Huijgen adds: "We spent a lot of time interviewing employees. As during Freddy's time, employees are being sent around the world on difficult missions and need their personality as much as their skills to be successful." 

Some of the stories sound like the stuff of spy fiction.



"A few of the employees we cast in the film have a seriously crazy career behind them," says Huijgen. "Dolf van den Brink was a longtime commercial director in Congo, and faced life-threatening situations during his tenure—he literally saved people by hiding them in the brewery during riots, and hid under his car ... to avoid being shot at. Talking to him at a party is like having a beer with Indiana Jones!" 

As far as Verstegen is concerned, "'Go Places' is game-changing, delivering a punchy message in a dry, corporate environment. We took Heineken's wish to come with something that exceeds all expectations within that very serious 'corporate world,' and it is hopefully regarded as a place where people can be better off than before." 



"If you take the Interview, you feel the Heineken Company is unlike any other," Kersten adds. "When you go through the questions and feel the humor, the energy and vibrancy of the employees, you want to join them! Finally, an interview is in reality a moment when a company and a potential employee evaluate if they are going to be a match. 

"This is exactly what our interview is doing," she concludes. "After you're done, you will either think, I love this company or This is not for me. Heineken will use the results to talk about your personality in a real interview, and assess it to fit the company culture." 



The campaign just went live on LinkedIn and Facebook.

CREDITS

Client: The Heineken Company (Chris van Steenbergen, Gianluca Di Tondo, Soren Hagh, Dario Gargiulo, Alfonso Aunon Garcia, Nikki van Deijzen, Kelsey Sibley, Stephanie Peels)
Heineken Casting Director: Saskia den Hollander
Agency: Cloudfactory
Creatives: Sandrine Huijgen, Jessica Kersten, Olivier Teepe (digital creatief), Lennart Verstegen (Wefilm)
Managing Partner: Sandeep Chawla
Account Director: Lennard Franken
Agency Producers: Stefany Rietkerk, Lars Fabery de Jonge, Jeanette Luttik
Traffic Manager: Saffron Pape
Production: Wefilm
Director: Lennart Verstegen
Producer: Bo Polak
Executive Producers: Tobias Wilbrink, Bas Welling
Offline Editor: Nick Rozenberg
Postproduction: The Compound
Fotograaf: Jan-Willem Kaltenbach
Styling: Alette Kraan
Set Design: Florian Legters
Director of Photography: Rutger Storm
Music: Paraphrase
Sound: Sauvage Sound
Interactive Design: Superhero Cheesecake
Cast: Thanks to all Heineken employees who participated

The Mythical Safe That Cost Jack Daniel's Founder His Life Just Turned Up in NYC

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Every brand story contains an element of myth.

In the case of Jack Daniel's, legend has it that the brand's founder, Jasper Newton "Jack" Daniel, had a mysterious safe that led to his death. 

One day, after forgetting the combination, he kicked it so hard that he gave himself gangrene. An infection passed from his sore toe to his whole foot, then to his leg, which was amputated. This didn't stop the gangrene from traveling, however, and Daniel ultimately died in 1911, at age 61, of progressive gangrene complications. 

Since then, the safe has never left his office, which is part of a living museum in Lynchburg, Tenn. In terms of brand lore, this is Jack Daniel's Heart of the Ocean—a weird talisman that's traveled, untouched, through time. Maybe it's even cursed. 

But for the first time ever, it's hitting the road. From now until Saturday, you can see the safe that cost the brand its founder at a pop-up experience called Jack Daniel's Lynchburg General Store, located at 155 5th Ave. in New York City. 



The store is a celebration of the brand's 150th birthday and will be action-packed with experiences, organized by agency Mirrorball (which kindly also provided all these photos). These include charcoal whisky mellowing demos and tastings, a VR tour of the Lynchburg distillery, and collaborations with local artists, designers and makers. For a price, score "guy-centric" grooming supplies and limited-edition or rare items.

The General Store will also display historic brand moments, including the Gold Medal that Jack Daniel's won at the 1904 World's Fair, a tribute to Frank Sinatra's love of the whiskey, backstage appearances with various 1960s rock legends, and punk memorabilia from the '70s.



The safe, meanwhile, will continue its journey long after the pop-up store is shuttered. Barrel maker Kevin Sanders is charged with its safekeeping (ha!), and will be transporting it to Chicago in October and Miami in November. 

Here's a picture of Sanders—the guy on the right—lugging it around like a champ:



Sadly, nobody will be permitted to kick it. Like the Mona Lisa, security will be on-site to ensure the half-ton unit's secrets remain its own. If you're dying of curiosity, Sanders will open it at some point during the pop-up. (Spoiler: We asked, and it's empty—but maybe they'll fill it with swag, just for you!)

Skittles Responds Tersely to Donald Trump Jr.'s Tweet Likening Refugees to Candy

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Skittles has responded with uncharacteristic yet appropriate seriousness after being dragged into the presidential race by Donald Trump Jr., son of the Republican nominee, who posted a controversial tweet on Monday with an analogy about Skittles and refugees.

Here is Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet:

Within hours, Denise Young, vp of corporate affairs at Skittles parent Wrigley Americas, responded with a tersely word statement.

"Skittles are candy. Refugees are people," she said. "We don't feel it's an appropriate analogy. We will respectfully refrain from further commentary as anything we say could be misinterpreted as marketing."

Meanwhile, it looks like Trump's analogy wasn't original, but may have been lifted from former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh, who also weighed in Monday (see below). 

Top photo on this post by Amy on Flickr.

Ad of the Day: Elena Delle Donne Opens Up About Her Sister in Remarkable Gatorade Film

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Gatorade's "Win from Within" message has already yielded some fantastic marketing about where athletes like Serena Williams and Usain Bolt find their inspiration. Now, the sports drink is back to focus on WNBA star Elena Delle Donne, and her sister Lizzie.

A new two-minute ad from TBWA\Chiat\Day beautifully tells the story of why the Chicago Sky forward, and league MVP for 2015, dropped out of a U-Conn scholarship earlier in her career so she could continue to spend time with her sibling, who has cerebral palsy, and cannot see or hear.

"Everyone thinks I came home to help her, but she was the one helping me, getting me out of the worst rut of my life" says Delle Donne. "She gives me perspective."

It's a powerful sentiment, stunningly captured, as the athlete reflects on the sheer joy her sister gets from something as simple as the feeling from a gust of wind.



In the end, a commercial that flirts at the beginning with grandiose concepts like fate ends on a surprisingly practical note. "You don't focus on what you don't have," concludes Delle Donne. "You celebrate what you do."

From one angle, that might still seem like oversimplified marketing pablum, easy for a celebrity athlete raking in a presumably sizable endorsement check to say, no matter the depth of her personal struggles or of her empathy. From another, it might seem exploitative of her sister.

But in the end, it's very humanizing, spotlighting an underrepresented population and offering useful pop wisdom—not just for would-be sports stars, but for anyone who's felt beaten down, and is still capable of taking a step back. That's good news for Gatorade. Aspiring pro ballers is a much smaller market for sugar water.

Gatorade also created a companion piece featuring a wind-powered art installation by artist Michael Murphy. "Using 1,606 wind spinners and a 20-by-20-foot metal structure, the sculpture creates a unique perceptual experience embodying the perspective brought by Elena's big sister Lizzie's love of the wind," the brand says.

See a video of that work below. 



CREDITS
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day

Ad of the Day: This Tortilla Chip Is So Hellishly Spicy, You Get Only One Per Pack

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Don't fear the Carolina Reaper. But you should absolutely approach its scorching scythe of flavor with extreme caution.

Next month, and for a limited time, the wacky tortilla gourmets at Paqui will start selling Carolina Reaper Madness chips online and at select stores nationwide. And by "chips," we really mean "chip."

Priced at $4.99, said item comes in a small, red, coffin-shaped box with the robed figure of death depicted on the front and, on the reverse, this challenge: "Do you dare to go to hell and back?" You get one—that's right, ONE—standard-size chip per package.

That's because this particular snack is spiced with fearsome Carolina Reaper peppers, widely touted as the hottest variety on Earth, topping the Scoville Heat Chart at 2.2 million SHUs. (Suck it, Trinidad Moruga Scorpion! Don't strain your stem looking up from second place!)



The little devils even inspired a meme, with brave idiots scarfing down the flame-balls and posting their reactions online. A few weeks back, some Ohio middle-school kids ate the accursed things and were treated for extreme burning sensations in their mouths, blotchy skin, hives and vomiting.

Hey, sounds like fun. Right?!

Paqui encourages fans to try the Carolina Reaper chips and share their reactions on social media. Those tagging @PaquiTortillas and using the hashtags #OneChipChallenge and #sweeps get free bags of the brand's more conventionally flavored crisps, and the chance to win a year's supply of chips and a GoPro Hero4 Silver. (So you can film yourself scarfing down chips from here to eternity.)

Here's a promo clip of folks indulging in some Paqui Reaper madness:



No one expired, though clearly, some didn't particularly want to go on living. Here at Adweek, we have a history of sampling unusual experiences for ourselves. You might recall one of our colleagues consuming every item on Taco Bell's Dollar Menu at a single sitting, while another braved the olfactory horrors of a fart-smelling VR device. (This is how you win Pulitzers, people!)

Anyway, after confirming our healthcare premiums were up to date, and with a glass of water nearby, this reporter dutifully devoured one of Paqui's Carolina Reaper morsels. After savoring a faint, fleeting note of sweetness, we quickly concluded that… SWEET SWEATY BETTY SAVE YOUR LIDDLE BIDDY BABY WHOAAAAA POPPA MOW MOW HOT-HOT-HOTSY!!

It was like a religious experience, mainly because our tongue was on fire. And that accursed conflagration was reaching down down down into our digestive depths, twisting us sideways/inside-out/round-and-round with searing waves of pepper-powered pain.

The water—it did nothing! And 20 minutes later, we still felt a hint of heat as the embers slowly died in the ravaged ruins of our mouth.

Still, for all that, it wasn't as bad as eating Pringles.

"Paqui is aiming to reach those audiences who like to push their limits," brand manager Jeff Day tells Adweek. "This chip is certainly on the extreme end, but it brings to life in a real way what we can do, which is deliver authentic flavors and experiences."

Here's Day putting himself to the test:



Was that clip kind of blurry? Maybe our vision hasn't come all the way back just yet. With this chip, you really can—and should—eat just one.

More pics of the cool packaging below. 


Ad of the Day: Oddball 'Bragspeople' Sing Pizza Hut's Praises in First Ads From Droga5

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Pizza Hut has a lot to brag about, but it's way too humble to do so. So, the pizza chain is having some surprising characters do the bragging for them. 

That's the premise of Droga5's amusingly offbeat first work for the brand, which carries the tagline "No one out pizzas the Hut" and will feature all kinds of unusual "bragspeople" talking glowingly about the chain's food—beginning with the Grilled Cheese Stuffed Crust Pizza, introduced earlier this week.

The first two bragspeople are a homesick alien who's found a lot to like about Earth (in particular, Pizza Hut food) and a man who's suffered a near-death experience and can now see the wonders of the world (in particular, Pizza Hut food) through fresh eyes.

See those spots, directed by Adam & Dave of Arts & Sciences, here: 



Scott Bell, group creative director at Droga5, told Adweek in an interview Thursday that the characters are meant to help snap TV watchers out of their typical commercial stupor.

"We wanted to pick memorable characters that, as soon as the spot comes on, you're like, 'Wait, what's this? Why is this person in a Pizza Hut kitchen? What's going on?' So you're more likely to pay attention to what they have to say," he said. 

The Pizza Hut employees in the spots, meanwhile, seem a bit uncomfortable with the high praise coming their way, which allows the brand to pretend it's not patting itself on the back quite as directly.

"They have a lot of things to brag about. They practically invented pizza as we know it," Bell said of the chain, which was founded in Kansas in 1958. "They were the first to allow you to order pizza online, the first to deliver pizza to the White House, the first to deliver pizza to the space station. There's a lot of love for Pizza Hut in the world. But they've never bragged about these things, because they really are a humble company. They don't want to come off as arrogant in any way. So, we wanted to be able to brag on their behalf."

The alien spot has clear echoes of ET, though Bell said that's just incidental.

"Pizza is something everyone loves but really takes for granted," he said. "Our thinking was, 'What if you looked at it through the giant black eyes of someone who wasn't from Earth?' So you get that perspective on how amazing pizza really is, and how good we have it that we have Pizza Hut pizza."

The tagline, "No one out pizzas the Hut," Bell added, is "really about claiming leadership. No one tries harder than Pizza Hut, no one innovates more than Pizza Hut. It really is America's favorite pizza, and it's all about proudly claiming that role as the leader in pizza."

"We were drawn to the power and simplicity of the campaign right away, and we were immediately pleased and excited about what we saw in the first execution," David Timm, CMO of Pizza Hut, told Adweek. 

Radio ads are also being released with a similar theme, and more TV spots are on the way, including one with a conspiracy theorist character. The campaign's characters may also show up outside advertising, Bell said, including a partnership with ESPN's College Gameday. 

Here are a couple of the radio spots: 

Bell said it's a "campaign we see going for a long time, and having a lot of fun with," and added that humor was the natural way to go. 

"Pizza's fun," he said. "People love pizza. I've got kids, and we order pizza every Friday night, and when the delivery man shows up, it's like the house explodes with joy. This just plays into that. It's a fun category, and if we're not having fun with it, then we're not doing our jobs right." 

Eager to Boost Its U.S. Profile, Tim Horton's Names Horizon Media as Agency of Record

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Independent media agency Horizon Media continued its new-business winning streak this week by picking up the U.S. agency of record assignment for Canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Horton's.

The agency will be charged with handling media planning and activation across all channels for the chain, which has attempted to boost its profile in the U.S. in recent years with initiatives like its partnership with Nutella. While Canada remains the primary market for the Ontario brand, Tim Horton's currently has 650 locations south of the border, maintains a considerable presence in the Middle East and plans to move from coffee to tea by opening its first British location in the coming months.

The chain was acquired by Burger King in late 2014. The merger created the world's third-largest restaurant services company.

The Tim Horton's win caps a productive period for Horizon Media, whose expanding client roster currently includes Burger King, Capital One and Weight Watchers along with recent additions La Quinta Inns and Suites, Sperry, Chobani and LG Electronics. Such wins have enabled Horizon to hire more than 400 employees over the past 12 months while adding two floors to its growing New York office.

According to Kantar Media, Tim Horton's spent approximately $11.5 million on measured media in 2015 and $3 million in the first quarter of this year. Horizon's first work for its newest client, which has worked with J. Walter Thompson Canada and Ogilvy & Mather on recent campaigns, will debut this month.

How a Juice Brand Used Unpaid Celebs to Get Fans Clamoring for a Drink Made of Charcoal

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Never mind goji berries, chia seeds and kale. On Sept. 9, Suja Juice, a trendy entry in the ongoing battle for our superfood dollars, released Midnight Tonic, an all-black, limited-edition beverage that it spent weeks seeding, without explanation, to health-conscious celebrities with active social media lives. 

The mysterious drink, of which only 1,000 bottles were available, crashed the site and sold out within three days of launch.

"The only thing we spent money on was making and shipping the product. No one was paid for their endorsement," says CMO Heather MacNeil Cox. 

Witness how Eva Longoria reacts in a Snapchat Story that makes compelling use of the platform's bumblebee filter. She also shows us the black-on-black packaging. Per the star, Midnight Tonic looks like a "shady bottle" of unmarked black juice until you've had a few sips, at which point you can finally see the labeling.

Adweek responsive video player used on /video.

Kristin Cavallari and Jesse McCartney, as well as brands like Pop Sugar, also shared the bevvies. The posts, which appeared on Snapchat and Instagram, can be found below.



The campaign has generated 13 million social impressions so far, with a projected 16 million by week's end. Suja explains that, while each celeb has a large social fan base (Longoria's Instagram alone counts 3 million followers), they were chosen for more than their figures.



"We chose influencers that have been organic fans of the brand since the beginning, people that love and drink Suja on their own," says Cox. "The Midnight Tonic surprise shipment was a way to thank them for their support, and also re-engage in a conversation about something new and cool."



The effort is also part of Suja's 2016 "Surprise + Delight" initative, which rewards fans with unexpected gifts. The brand organized a social listening campaign for people who used hashtags like #caseofthemondays, #isitfridayyet, #momprobs and #lackofsleep, then delivered cold-pressed bottles of Midnight Tonic to their doorsteps, coupled with the hashtag #ItstheJuice. People could also opt to gift some to friends with a voucher. 

"When a brand does something unexpected, something that gives back to its loyal fans, it really breaks through in a way other tactics do not," Cox says.

Here's a shot of the box it came in:



Midnight Tonic is made of something called "activated charcoal," which, according to integrated pharmacist/CEO Michael Altman, RPh of Organic Pharmer, "acts like a magnet for organic toxins"—one reason it was once a poison remedy. 

It perhaps also explains why Santa gives you coal when you're bad: He's trying to extract the poison from your soul. 

Well and Good details what else can be found in Midnight Tonic—lemon, stevia, schizandra berry (a mental clarity and energy booster) and ginger. "Alone, [activated charcoal] has a neutral taste, so the Midnight Tonic has more of a slightly sweet flavor, with a bit of a kick, thanks to the ginger," the publication reassures skeptical readers.

Image credit: Well and Good

There's been a lot of debate about the real merits of superfoods, which many argue are hype-sucks that won't do much more for you than basic veggie-rich eating will. But it's hard to retain facts when Instagram is swathed with gorgeous pictures of exotic chia seed puddings and raspberry-seminola-porridge bowls, artfully sprinkled with quinoa puffs.

Pepper that stream with elaborate yoga poses and freshly-toned torsos, and you've got yourself the perfect storm for a cottage industry. The result is marketing that defies gravity.

But more than the FOMO, the mystery, the brand value and the harmless ingredients list, Suja attributes the success to its focus on the people that fuel it—a critical element whose value is sometimes lost when hype is on your side. 

"I think it is more important than ever to look beyond advertising, both traditional and non-traditional, to stay connected with consumers," Cox concludes. "We as consumers are programmed to see not only more, but also better optimized, advertising every day."

We'll drink to that.

No agencies were used (or harmed) in the execution of the campaign, which was strictly influencer- and fan-focused. Design agency Bex Brands developed the packaging, with Covet handling PR.

Facebook Gave Ad Agencies an Inflated Video Viewing Metric for 2 Years

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On the cusp of Advertising Week, Facebook has some egg on its face when it comes to perhaps the industry's most promising space—digital video.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday evening that ad agencies were upset with Facebook for giving them an inflated metric for the average amount of time users spend watching clips on the social platform. The publication cited Publicis Media, which was informed by Facebook that the social network's measurement system had previously overestimated the average time spent viewing videos by anywhere between 60 percent and 80 percent. The Journal gained access to a letter sent to clients from Publicis in late August. 

The inflation occurred because Facebook—when calculating average time spent—was only factoring in video views of more than three seconds rather than lesser view times. This faulty practice went on for two years, said The Journal. 

UPDATE: Facebook authored a blog post today to futher explain the metric-based miscue. David Fischer, vp of advertising and global operations, wrote: "About a month ago, we found an error in the way we calculate one of the video metrics on our dashboard – average duration of video viewed. The metric should have reflected the total time spent watching a video divided by the total number of people who played the video. But it didn't – it reflected the total time spent watching a video divided by only the number of 'views' of a video (that is, when the video was watched for three or more seconds). And so the miscalculation overstated this metric. While this is only one of the many metrics marketers look at, we take any mistake seriously."

At any rate, the stat in question may have influenced how much some brands have been spending on Facebook, which made $6.24 billion in ad revenue in Q2. At the same time, Facebook has incredible reach, approaching 2 billion monthly global users, so it's possible the bad data point wouldn't have affected marketers' spend in dramatic fashion.

It's hard to say, exactly, but Facebook said they have corrected the situation. The company revealed in late August that its average-time-viewed calculations have been too high in a post on its Ads Help Center hub before being pressed by ad buyers about the specifics, according to The Journal.  

"We recently discovered an error in the way we calculate one of our video metrics," the company said in a statement emailed to Adweek. "This error has been fixed, it did not impact billing, and we have notified many of our partners both through our product dashboards and via sales and publisher outreach. We also renamed the metric to make it clearer what we measure. This metric is one of many our partners use to assess their video campaigns."

Pro Athletes School Gatorade Drinkers in the Brand's Most Humiliating Campaign Yet

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Gatorade is back to gleefully shame more of its own consumers for being lazy and out of shape—this time with a roving crew of top athletes and nasty sportscasters, who all pop out of the back of a box truck to mock them for drinking the beverage while not sweating.

A new series of of reality-style videos from TBWA\Chiat\Day titled "Burn It to Earn It," features big names from football, basketball and baseball—the NFL's J.J. Watt, the NBA's Karl-Anthony Towns, and MLB's Bryce Harper. There's even a soccer version for Spanish-language audiences, with James Rodriguez, midfielder for European football club Real Madrid.

In the first minute-long U.S. spot, Watt, tight end for the Houston Texans, tackles a stunt man into a pile of trash, then chases some poor sap (or an actor playing one) and swatting the Gatorade out of his hand. In a second, towering Minnesota Timberwolves player Towns crushes one passerby in a dunk contest where the judges are the true stars, mocking the gravity-bound loser with ruthless signs and banter.



The basic idea traces back to 2014, when the sports drink first launched its "Sweat It to Get It" message with a series of spots set in a convenience store, starring comedian Rob Belushi and athletes Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, who all refused to sell Gatorade to customers who weren't dripping with the evidence of an intense workout. That campaign also included the line "Burn Some to Earn Some."

A 2015 extension, also featuring Manning alongside his brother Eli, saw an exacting vending machine refuse to grant students the sports drink on the same grounds.

The new spots may take the humiliating tradition to new heights, or depths. In a third video, Towns, a 7-foot-tall center and the league's 2015 Rookie of the Year, plays a game of keep-away with a woman who won't stop jumping for the bottle of Gatorade he's stolen from her. She scores an incredible number of points for her persevering spirit but wins for the perfect primal scream she lets out when she finally nabs the drink (or more accurately, when he lowers his ridiculously long arm enough for her to actually be able to do so).



In a fourth spot, Washington Nationals right fielder Harper berates some roped-in guy for running too slow to deserve a Gatorade (the pro player has apparently, to his credit, stopped counting incessantly). In a fifth, Watt challenges a woman to push a blocking sled, and then, dissatisfied with her performance, offers to help—which manifests in a manner that shouldn't be surprising or funny, but is.



A sixth spot sees Towns schooling another random Gatorade drinker in a one-on-one match-up. In a seventh spot, Watt scoops up and carries off a skinny young man who's had the misfortune—or fortune—of happening into the quarterback role during an in-the-street snap. As one announcer puts it, in perhaps the most hilarious line of the campaign, the NFL star has made the yellow-polo joe "the luckiest girl at the dance."



In the eighth spot, a guy in a Nationals jersey gets a chance to pitch for Harper. Alas, according to the judges, he has the arm of a "weak, sad kitten." In the ninth ad, Harper lazily pegs ground balls past a couple of guys who got shanghaied into being the world's most inept infielders, before forcing them both to do sit-ups instead—and only rewarding one.



The spots, of course, all seem clearly staged. But the concepts are largely entertaining, and the zingers from the judges particularly so, even if they are mean-spirited and the gag drags on at times. One thing, at least, is for sure—professional sports would always be a blast to watch if all announcers were as acerbic as these.

David Ortiz Shows Off the JerkyBot, a Drone Snack Tray That Follows You Around

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There are lots of current applications of drone technology, but not many of them are very useful to the average consumer. But what's this? A drone that allows you to literally snack nonstop? Now that's something plenty of Americans can get behind.

Viral video agency Thinkmodo made just such a device, called the JerkyBot, which is a flying ad for Chef's Cut Real Jerky. Red Sox slugger David Ortiz shows it off in the video below—which happens to be the first time Thinkmodo, which usually prefers YouTube, has launched a video on Facebook.



The brand says:

JerkyBot is part drone, part cutting board, and all about delivering jerky in the clutch. Chef's Cut Real Jerky and brand partner David Ortiz teamed up to make his post-baseball life more efficient and fun. And that's how JerkyBot was created. JerkyBot is set to take jerky to new heights—like, serving tray height—to provide David (or anyone) premium, hand-cut, chef-crafted jerky on the go—without having to go anywhere.

It's a gag, clearly, but there's been plenty of interest, judging by the view counts. As of Wednesday, the Facebook video (and reposts) had more than 7 million views. 

Jack Daniel's Puts the Townspeople of Lynchburg Front and Center in Its New Ads

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If you don't know jack about the townsfolk of Lynchburg, Tenn., that's about to change.

Lynchburg's most famous resident, Brown-Forman brand Jack Daniel's, puts the spotlight on some of its less-renowned neighbors in new ads from Arnold Worldwide created for the distillery's 150th anniversary.

An anthem spot breaking today opens on a sun-kissed field of tall grass, with locals popping in and out of the frame as a Southern-fried fiddle plays in the background.

We briefly meet, among others, a young woman who immigrated to Lynchburg from Taiwan; a gray-haired lady named Hiawatha Kitty McGee; and a burly dude who can heft 500-pound barrels of whiskey:



Jack's no stranger to invoking its heritage, and this latest push, labeled "Our Town" (Thornton Wilder would be proud), marks a roots return for the brand after recent promos focused on Frank Sinatra. In fact, the "postcards" bit near the anthem's close harkens back to Jack's Lynchburg-themed print campaigns that began in the 1950s.

This edit brings that idea into sharper focus:



Just don't try to actually send bottles of Jack Daniels through the mail, because at the USPS, Prohibition never ended.

No worries, though, because that barrel guy can haul plenty of product:



"We filmed everybody we could, doing our best to get as many of these real people as possible," says Arnold executive creative director Wade Devers. Quick clips featuring the woman from Taiwan, Hiawatha Kitty McGee and other quirky Lynchburg characters will break in due course.

"There was a 104-year-old woman who came to the shoot," recalls Devers. "She got her hair done the day before. We kept her in an air conditioned car until we were ready to roll because it was fairly hot out there. When the car door opened and she came across the field toward the crowd, the entire town gave her a standing ovation."

Luckily, one group of troublemaking locals stayed away. "We were freaked out about chigger bites, which are supposedly both terrible and common if you happen to be in standing in tall grass in Tennessee in July," Devers says. "Thankfully, no chigger bites."

Yeah, that would be a plus.

Tapping into its origins and evoking whiskey-soaked Americana is a safe, intuitive strategy for Jack.

"It's rare that a brand as universally recognized and respected as Jack Daniel's is only made in one place," says Devers. "This is a small, tightly knit community that pretty much does things their own way. They've grown up together for generations, and they have a great respect for the work they do. When you have a community like that making whiskey, they're really making it with purpose. And people respond to that."

This tried-and-true approach feels authentic because, after all these years, the brand still calls a picturesque Tennessee town of 600 souls home. That said, this sort of thing can get cloying, so it's best consumed in moderation. 

CREDITS

Client: Brown-Forman / Jack Daniel's
Mark McCallum - Executive Vice President, and President, Jack Daniel's Brands
Philip Epps - VP, Global Brand Director - Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey

Agency: Arnold Worldwide
Global Chief Creative Officer: Jim Elliott
Managing Partner ECD: Wade Devers
Art Director: Chris Valencius
Copywriters: Jonathan Graham and Greg Farley
SVP Broadcast Producer: William Near
Assistant Broadcast Producer: Alissa Feldbau
Managing Director: Paul Nelson
Senior Marketing Manager: Mallory Brannan
VP, Brand Strategy Director: Vaughn Allen
Senior Brand Strategist: Ellis Reavy
EVP Director of Business Affairs: Anne Joynt

Production Company: Radical Media LLC
Director: Steve Miller
Executive Producer: Gregg Carlesimo
Producer: Laura Heflin
Head of Production: Frank Dituri

Editorial Company / VFX: Lost Planet & Black Hole
Editor(s): Hank Corwin & Charlie Johnston
Executive Producer: Krystn Wagenberg
Producer: Casey Cayko

Sound: Sound Lounge NYC
Engineer: Tom Jucarone


Oreo Is Now Making Tasty-Style Recipe Videos for Some of Its Stranger Flavors

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If you're looking for a low-calorie dessert that mixes avocados and chocolate, then Oreos has a video for you.

To promote new special-edition mint and strawberry-cheesecake flavors of the classic sandwich cookie, packaged-foods conglomerate Mondelez is now making its own versions of the BuzzFeed Tasty-style, hands-and-ingredients recipe shorts that have exploded across Facebook feeds in recent years—because clearly, there weren't enough already.

Oreo turned to Twisted, the food-themed social media channel of U.K. content production outfit Jungle Creations, for help putting together the clips, which feature concoctions like Mint Oreo Dirt Desserts (a pudding that relies on mashing up the aforementioned green fruit) and No Bake Strawberry Oreo Cheesecake (which requires, unsurprisingly, globs of low fat cream cheese).

All told, there will be six recipe videos. Other items on the menu include Strawberry Cheesecake Oreo Icebox Cake and Mint Chocolate Chip Oreo Lasagna (relax, there's no tomato sauce). Other elements in the campaign include two branded video articles and a live stream featuring Vine supermarket prankster Aaron Crascall, all created by Twisted for Oreo.

Objectively speaking, it's a questionable moral strategy to contribute in any way to the proliferation of a format that, at its heart, has been shamelessly bombarding innocents with an endless stream of supposedly easy-to-make dishes that are also usually dripping with hypnotic globs of melted cheese.

Enough people, though, seem to like the general approach (that is to say, it's been wildly successful, in an apparent abdication of all reason—the point seems more to be sedated by the recipes than to actually make them) that it's hard to fault Oreo for wanting to jump on the bandwagon. And the brand is, to its credit, making an effort to be health conscious, promising that a serving of each of its souped-up treats contains less than 250 calories.

Whether they're anything worth making, or eating, is another question—perhaps the kind of cooking a college or high school student might want to undertake for kicks on a weekday afternoon (and to be fair, there are worse ways to get into trouble).

Good sense dictates that scraping out the filling from the number of cookies required for each recipe seems awfully tedious, and everyone's time would be better spent just eating them out of the package, without all the extra steps.

Then again, that's not a bad takeaway for the brand, in the end. 

The Jolly Green Giant Is Back and Coming to a Theater Near You

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The newest CGI superhuman to hit American movie screens this fall isn't part of the DC or Marvel universes; he doesn't struggle with the ethical challenges of his powers; he's never fought a prominent villain. But he and his trusty sidekick Sprout do have a very important mission: convincing kids to eat their vegetables.

The Green Giant who first appeared in ads for Minnesota Valley Canning Co. in 1928 was a far cry from the animated icon we've grown to know in recent decades. It wasn't until a young Leo Burnett made him Jolly and put him on TV in the '50s and '60s that he became one of the 20th century's most recognizable brand icons.

You may be forgiven for thinking the Giant had retired as he hasn't appeared on TV screens in recent years. But a new campaign launched this month by Deutsch will explain where he's been—and why he picked now as an ideal time to make his comeback.

This teaser-style launch film, which will (appropriately) air in movie theaters around the country, doesn't include any shots of the Giant himself. But it leaves no doubt that he is back and bigger than ever.

General Mills sold Green Giant to B&G Foods in late 2015, and the new parent company hired Deutsch to relaunch the brand and its leafy icon in January 2016. The ultimate goal is to make him just as relevant as he was in his 1978 heyday, when the city of Blue Earth, Minn., built a 55-foot fiberglass tribute reminiscent of that state's famous Paul Bunyan statue. 

"He's been off the air for several years," says Deutsch chief creative officer Dan Kelleher, who is leading the campaign, "but for us this was a great opportunity to bring him back and give the Giant and his campaign a more modern approach. [They're] bringing him back to reinvigorate the brand, but also as a way to introduce some new innovations in frozen vegetables."

The Giant's backstory will eventually reveal itself as the campaign evolves. Kelleher tells Adweek, "He's back to help you swap in these new vegetables as healthy alternatives, and you'll also be learning where he was and what he's been doing all this time." 

A full, multiplatform campaign will follow this teaser in the months to come with Sprout, who scored all the lines beyond "Ho Ho Ho" in the old ads, reprising his role as the Giant's acting spokesperson. "In addition to the teaser, we will launch an Instagram campaign called 'Giant Road Trip,'" says Kelleher. "There will be photos from the Giant's point of view and from Sprout's point of view."

Kelleher isn't ready to reveal what the Giant will look like when audiences get their first glimpse of him in the (virtual) flesh, but he does say that the agency and its production partners are working on a treatment and talking to an A-list director after teaming with music video veteran Patrick Daughters (Adele, Feist, Beck) for the teaser spot.

"Today when you walk down the frozen vegetable aisle, nothing really stands out," Kelleher says. "We are reminding people that he is The Green Giant: You grew up with him, you loved him and now he's back."

CREDITS

Agency: Deutsch (New York office)
Title: "The Giant Awakens"
Client: Green Giant/ B&G Foods Inc.

VP, General Manager: Jordan Greenberg
Marketing Director: Steve Finnie
Senior Brand Manager: Jodi Mordekai
Associate Brand Manager: Diana Ark

Chief Creative Officer, North America: Pete Favat
Chief Creative Officer: Dan Kelleher
Executive Creative Director: Matt McKay
Creative Directors: James Cowie, Rich Kolopeaua
Copywriter: Fanny Josefsson
Director of Integrated Production: Joe Calabrese
Executive Producer: Andrea Curtin
Senior Project Manager: Michelle Ziff
Group Account Director: Jayme Maultasch
Account Director: Erin Metcalf
Account Executive: Ramona Luo

Production Company: Gorgeous – West Hollywood, CA
Director: Patrick Daughters
Executive Producer: Maddi Carlton
Line Producer: Mala Vasan

Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors – New York, NY
Editor: Adam Pertofsky
Assistant Editor: Marjorie Sacks

Telecine: MPC – London, U.K.
Colorist: Jean-Clement Soret
Visual effects company: The Mill – New York, NY 
Music/licensed music tracks: Woodwork Music – London, U.K.

Audio post company: Heard City – New York, NY
Sound designer/mixer: Phil Heard

End tag animation/graphics company: The Mill – NY

Shoot location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Need a Little Sausage Support? Johnsonville Experts Are Now Just a Phone Call Away

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Sooner or later, everyone's sausage needs some support.

If you find yourself in such straits between now and this Friday—say, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central time—go ahead and call Johnsonville HQ at (844) 9-SAUSAGE. Company employees will be serving up all manner of advice on pork-pipes and cow-casings as part of the marketer's "Sausage Support Center."

Live! Unscripted! Sausage talk! That number again: (844) 9-SAUSAGE.

This trailer dishes on the initiative:



As you might recall, previous phases of the "Made the Johnsonville Way" campaign had company staffers dream up Carl the Great Bratsgiver and appear in wacky commercials they helped create. Why launch a Support Center this time around?

"We've all been there—standing in a grocery store or kitchen, wishing someone would just tell us what to make for dinner," says Kevin Weir, associate creative director at Johnsonville ad agency Droga5. "So we thought, 'Who better to be that person than some certified sausage experts in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin?' Now, they're just a phone call away."

So, who could you wind up grilling for recipes and cooking tips? Well, company chairman and founder Ralph Stayer Jr. will be among the 30 or so folks on hand. Or you might get Bob, who stars in the clip below. Once, on a bet, he wrestled a bear at a county fair:



Based on that beast-fight reenactment, we're guessing Bob lost. "I was off camera pretending to be the bear," recalls Droga5 associate creative director Chris Colliton. "When Bob charged at me full speed, it was terrifying." (Hey, if you think advertising is a grind, try making sausage for a living!)

Also at the Support Center, Sheri is available to chat about spicy baked beans (and quilts):



And Mark's got the 411 on breakfast quesadillas. But don't dial 411. That number again: (844) 9-SAUSAGE:



Then there's Tammy. She's really into … sigh … sausages, what else?



Those Johnsonville sausage sages even dropped some beefy beats for Pandora and the brand's social sites:



Juicy jingles, meat masters! (Don't quit your day jobs.)

CREDITS
Agency Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman David Droga
Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer
Group Creative Director Scott Bell
Associate Creative Director Chris Colliton
Associate Creative Director Kevin Weir
Jr. Copywriter Madeleine Trebenski
Jr. Art Director Brittain McNeel
Chief Creation Officer Sally-Ann Dale
Executive Broadcast Producer Scott Chinn
Associate Broadcast Producer Isabella Lebovitz
Head of Interactive Production Niklas Lindstrom
Executive Interactive Producer Tasha Cronin
Associate Interactive Producer Alyssa Cashman
Social Producer Gabrielle Nicoletti
Technical Lead Michael Mosley
Head of Art Production Cliff Lewis
Head of Print Services Rob Lugo
Senior Print Producer Rick Gutierrez

Junior Print Producer Abraham Nowels
Senior Retoucher John Ciambriello
Global Chief Strategy Officer Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director Aaron Wiggan
Senior Strategist Marc Iserlis
Group Communications Strategy Director Brian Nguyen
Communications Strategist Kevin Wilkerson
Data Strategy Director Lily Ng
Group Account Director Julia Albu 
Account Director Pat Rowley
Account Supervisor Kate Tyler Monroe
Associate Account Manager Camille Cheeks-Lomax
Project Manager Rayna Lucier

Client Johnsonville
Sr. Group Marketing Director Ryan Pociask
Integrated Marketing Director Jamie Schmelzer
Creative Director, Brand Communications Anthony Rammer
PR and Social Media Manager Stephanie Dlugopolski
Shopper Marketing Manager Stephanie Plehn
Brand Marketing Kimberly Keller

Production Company D5 Films
Directors Chris Colliton, Brian Lannin
DOP Brian Lannin
Producer Sara Vander Horn

Editorial D5 Studios
Sr. Editor Matthew Badger

Post Production The Mill
Executive Producer Andrew Hamill
Flame Artist Brandon Danowski

Music APM
Stompin' Down the Road Nicolas Moreau (SACEM)
Smooth Groove (A) Laurence Cottle (PRS)

Sound Sonic Union
Mixer David Papa

Chance the Rapper Meets Chance the Wrapper in Weird, Awesome Kit Kat Ad

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In advertising's best pun so far this year, Chance the Rapper encounters Chance the Wrapper in this new Halloween-themed Kit Kat commercial by agency Anomaly.

The 23-year-old hip-hop star is seen wearing a bear suit and shopping for Halloween candy (Kit Kats only, of course) when his wrapper alter ego calls out to him. And as promised, we get Chance's version of the Hershey brand's famous "Gimme a Break" jingle—a slow, crooning piano version of it, as it turns out.

The "Gimme a Break" jingle turns 30 this year, and no wonder it's lasted so long. As Chance says at the end of the new spot: "That's a good song." 

An Embattled Chipotle Is Looking for a New Creative Agency Partner

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Fast casual chain Chipotle has begun the process of bringing a new ad agency partner on board to help guide its marketing efforts.

The Denver-based company has previously eschewed traditional television advertising in favor of a combination of digital-only spots, earned media, projects like a 2014 collaboration which featured the words of contemporary novelists on cups and bags, and the epic animated spots by Creative Artists Agency that have become the brand's trademark. So far, it has run only one TV spot, which aired during the 2012 Grammy Awards.

Now Chipotle is reconsidering its approach as it continues to recover from an outbreak of E. coli that hit several locations in the U.S. Unlike the 1993 outbreak of E. coli at Jack in the Box, no fatalities or serious injuries resulted from this scare, but it caused a drop in foot traffic, sales and stock prices throughout 2016.

"We are working with Pile & Company as we explore the possibility of a new agency to help us with some marketing programs we are planning for 2017," Chipotle communications director Chris Arnold told Adweek. "We are always evaluating our roster of agency partners based on current and anticipated needs."

Chipotle has worked with Austin's GSD&M since 2014, and the chain named Carrot Creative as its social media agency of record last year. Earlier this month, the company released a digital-only campaign, created by GSD&M with animation by HouseSpecial, in a bid to win back loyal customers by focusing on its original selling point: quality ingredients.

Arnold declined to elaborate on Chipotle's future marketing plans, but he did state that GSD&M is among the agencies being considered for future assignments. An agency spokesperson has not responded to requests for comment on the news.

In other recent marketing efforts, Chipotle added chorizo to its menu in time for National Taco Day this week after announcing that it would give out $20 million in catered meals to 85,000 members of its new rewards program Chiptopia.

The company's chief creative and development officer Mark Crumpacker was the subject of unwanted headlines this summer after he was arrested for cocaine possession in New York, but the company reinstated him last month after briefly placing him on leave.

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