Irresistible Ice-cream
From Italy: ice-cream brand Gruvi makes great use of a Phil Collins classic in a mouth-watering spot that lovingly captures the ecstasy of ice-cream indulgence.
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In Your Space
From Poland: a PSA that looks nothing like a PSA and even if you knew it was a PSA, it would be hard to imagine its message. That comes out only in its audacious, jaw-dropping reveal.
Ticket Tracking
A new spot for the British National Lottery finds a creative and fun way to make the point of how the lottery helps communities.
The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
MOVIE REVIEW
This is a joyous imagining of the Dickens classic that spotlights its less-talked-about humour, layers it with more, and adds a bit of tasteful theatricality and lots of colour.
For those who have read the book, the very first scene of the movie gives you a sense of what to expect, with a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the protagonist presenting observations surrounding his birth. To be clear, you don’t need to have read the book to enjoy the movie but it’ll be a lot more fun for those who remember the characters and the lines.
That is made all the more delightful, thanks to a glorious ensemble cast that gives wonderful performances all around. Dev Patel is terrific in the lead but for my money, Peter Capaldi (as Mr. Micawber) is the standout.
It’s hard for me to find fault with anything that director and co-writer Armando Iannucci has ever written or directed but going into this, I admit that I wasn’t sure of what to expect. I’ve unashamedly relished his razor sharp wit and I couldn’t see room for that in this. I shouldn’t have had any doubts: it’s an outstanding movie.
Hypnotically Engrossing
From New Zealand: three marvellous spots for free streaming service TVNZ+ that make the case how perilously addictive it can be.
Of Robbers and Kindergarten Teachers
From Norway: a couple of spots aimed at recruiting kindergarten teachers that feature- believe it or not- robbers making a getaway.
Unrecommended for You
From France: retail chain Fnac is flipping around the idea of algorithm-based recommendations to instead present to its customers, books, movies and CDs that they are less likely to enjoy. The idea is rooted in a belief that “culture should be curious and free”.
Bollywood Badass
From Thailand: snack brand BunBun announces the launch of its paprika flavour with a spot that joyfully blends Thai humour with the over-the-top outlandishness that some of Indian cinema has come to be associated with.
Whoppery Lottery
From Germany: ordering a Burger King Whopper in one of its over 200,000 possible customised variations can win you a prize of up to 1 million euros.
The Honest Truth of Online Shopping
From Thailand: department store chain Central is promoting its online shopping app with a new campaign titled ‘Shop it your way’. The brief, I guess, was to illustrate the convenience that it gives customers. The result is a side-splitting spot that shows the extreme real-life equivalent of what that experience would be.
Tender Love
From South Africa: Chicken Licken is promoting its new ‘Love Me Tender’ burger with an unusual campaign that seeks to match a real-life musician looking for love with anyone else looking for love, via an app called ‘Tender’.
If You Love Seeing Fish Being Fried…
That’s pretty much all there is to this series of spots for The Better Fish. 48 seconds of a close-up of Barramundi being sizzled. No voiceover. No music.
Links to videos:
-Butter and Garlic
-Tomato
-Soy
Try Before You Fly
In light of renewed interest in moustaches, thanks to Top Gun: Maverick, Dollar Shave Club is offering virtual moustaches to try on, before you decide. To quote from the brand website:
The adrenalin! The speed! The excitement! Truly, nothing in life compares to the thrill of growing a mustache. “But wait!” I hear you cry. “Doesn’t growing myself a fine mustache require years of intense training, and possibly some important life lessons about personal responsibility?” Well…no, honestly? Not sure where you got that idea from. But you could certainly use some guidance if this is your first stache, so allow us to be your wingman on this hairy journey.
First up, is a mustache definitely right for you? Only you can make that decision, but to make it easier, we’ve created some fine virtual mustaches for you to try out, which you can find over on our Insta. If you’ve already made up your mind, then make the job easier on yourself by printing out these stencils and shaving around them.
About ‘The Duck’, which may or may not have anything to do with Top Gun, there is a specific bit of advice:
That last one might be a little tricky to pull off, but man, just imagine if you did, it would be amazing.
Dead Easy Wills
From Australia: will writing service Willed has a new brand ambassador- a vampire. From a post on the company’s LinkedIn page:
Introducing our newest ambassador, Count Gregor
As a vampire, he knows a thing or two about death - he's seen many come and go in his 700 years! Gregor understands the importance of writing a Will better than anyone. He says, "I have been telling people to get a Will for centuries. I said it to Ned Kelly, I said it to Prince. Now I say this to all Australians. Get a Will with Willed. It’s dead easy.”
Together with Gregor, we are on a mission to provide guidance and care by making end-of-life planning simple, affordable and accessible for all Australians.
Flipping the Fraudsters
From Thailand: a new spot for caller ID app Whoscall puts an entertaining spin on the serious subject of fraudulent calls.
When Bankers Don’t Understand You…
From Sweden: old-school bankers get roasted in a series of droll spots for fintech startup Juni.
Dirty Talk to Clean Up the Streets
From a news report out of Sweden:
The Swedish city of Malmö is seeking to combat littering by installing rubbish bins that express arousal when fed rubbish, with phrases like, ‘hmmm, yeah’, ‘that was crazy good’, and ‘just to the left’.
“The sentences are part of the campaign’s intention to get more people to talk about the dirtiest thing there is: littering. The stuff that ends up in our streets, squares, and sea,” Marie Persson, section chief at the city’s roads department, told the Sydsvenskan newspaper. “So please go ahead and feed the bins with more rubbish…yes, just like that.”
Then there is this piece that raised some questions about the initiative:
In 2017, the city installed 18 talking trash cans, with only two still functioning. The older cans didn’t deliver racy messages, and one wonder what, if any, audio message users need when throwing away trash. For that matter, why is there only a sexy female voice option?
Toilet Talk in a place called Shitterton
It’s part of a campaign for probiotic food supplement brand Symprove, intended to “find a non-traditional and disruptive way” to get Britons to talk about gut health and bowel movements.
Cheese-scented Nail Polish
From the press release:
“VELVEETA is known for its rich, creamy texture and cheesy, melty goodness, so what better way to bring this to life for our fans than with something equally as rich and creamy — nail polish,” said Kelsey Rice, Senior Brand Communications Manager at The Kraft Heinz Company.
Created for pleasure seekers who love to flaunt and live their best lives, the new limited-edition, cheese-scented nail polish is made so you can live your life pinkies out, wherever you are and whenever you want.
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)
MOVIE REVIEW
This is a heart-warming and beguiling movie in a way that would be hard to believe, unless you actually watch it.
On the face of it, there is nothing that might give a clue as to the movie’s charm. It is from a country- Bhutan- not known for its cinematic output. The plot is straightforward, familiar and predictable. It centres on a young primary school teacher who reluctantly takes on an assignment in a remote village that eventually changes his perspective on life. There are no extraordinary stylistic choices made. Add to that, most of the roles are portrayed by non-actors. There is also the fact that yaks- not the most cinematically appealing of creatures- are frequently referenced, and one yak in particular- though not particularly interesting- has a fair bit of screen time.
The reason the movie works is because, at its heart, it taps into the fundamental power of cinema to transform what is simple and sincere into something magical. It is a movie that is so much more than the sum of its parts.
Strangers on a Bus
From Malaysia: a wonderfully scripted spot for Cadbury Dairy Milk with a brilliant central performance.
Alternative version (I like this more)
Hunt for an Expletive
The latest instance of a newscaster messing up the surname of British politician (and PM hopeful) Jeremy Hunt: link to video
Also:
A video compilation of previous instances
A piece in The Guardian that explores why these slips might be happening
Not on my watch
From Norway: a recruitment ad for healthcare workers mixes snappy visuals in a fast-cut montage.
Wodehouse on Whiskers
The real-life views of P.G. Wodehouse on what he described as “face fungus” in his stories.
From a letter written in 1942 while interned during WWII, as reproduced in Performing Flea:
A lot of us grew beards. Not me. What I felt was that there is surely enough sadness in life without going out of one’s way to increase it by sprouting a spade-shaped beard. I found it a melancholy experience to watch the loved features of some familiar friend becoming day by day less recognizable behind the undergrowth. A few fungus-fanciers looked about as repulsive as it is possible to look, and one felt a gentle pity for the corporal whose duty is was to wake them in the morning. What a way to start one’s day!
O’Brien, one of the sailors, had a long Assyrian beard, falling like a cataract down his chest, and it gave me quite a start when at the beginning of the summer he suddenly shaved, revealing himself as a spruce young fellow in the early twenties. I had been looking on him all the time as about twenty years my senior, and only my natural breeding had kept me from addressing him as ‘Grandpop’.
From a piece that that appeared in The Forum in 1937 (and elsewhere) in which he linked whiskers with “caustic criticism”:
LONG WHISKER – SHORT TEMPER
But let a man omit to shave, even for a single day, and mark the result. He feels hot and scrubby. Within twelve hours his outlook has become jaundiced and captious. If his interests lie in the direction of politics, he goes out and throws a bomb at someone. If he is an employer of labor, he starts a lockout. If he is a critic, he sits down to write his criticism with the determination that the author shall know that he has been in a fight. You have only to look about you to appreciate the truth of this. All whiskered things are short-tempered — pumas, wildcats, Bernard Shaw, and — in the mating season — shrimps.
Lightweight Loans
A new spot for ANZ Australia takes a rather curious approach to highlight the simplicity of its home loans.
The Joy of being Hair-free
Imagination takes flight in this spot to launch Veet Men’s new Intimate Hair Removal Kit.
Kinky about Climate Change
You have to see it to believe the bizarre brilliance of this new commercial for sustainable deodorant brand Wild that centres on a woman in a relationship with a 7 feet-tall stuffed Polar bear that talks. The 3 minute spot kicks off with the bear walking in on her, pleasuring herself to a video of- hold your breath- melting ice caps.
Cure for Racism
A guerrilla marketing campaign featuring hundreds of splendidly-designed, fake pillboxes planted in pharmacies across New York. To quote from a report:
A label on the pillboxes reads: “There is no recommended dosage of anti-racism treatment. Only learning and understanding can help. If you are experiencing racist thoughts or behavior and feel increasingly violent towards others, just stay home and rest. Forever. No one wants racists out on the city streets. We all belong here.”