Rip Curl Films

Surfing super-brand Rip Curl teamed up with Timeslice Films to capture surfers in “bullet time.” Bullet time is the camera effect seen for the first time in the 1999 blockbuster hit movie The Matrix.

I wanted to share this with you guys because I got the sense this is yet another creative attempt at branded entertainment. One of the earliest cases of this, I remember reading about during my graduate school days was BMW Films. An interactive marketing campaign released on the Internet to help promote the new luxury car of that particular year obviously.

Have any of you seen the BMW short films?

Best,
-A.B.

Agency.com

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

So I found the infamous Agency.com pitch viral video that they did for Subway via Adrants and Adgabber. The only thing is I couldn’t understand what was so inappropriate about it. I understand that it seemed kind of dumb and may have embarrassed the client but I didn’t see anything offensive, did you guys? The article Adrants said, “They publicly masturbate but there was some backslapping. But people have to understand that the video is an agency pitch video so there has to be a congratulatory tone to the video. What do you guys think?

Best,

A.B.

No, Not Another Poker Show

I saw this ad on on Adrants and thought yes, another poker show I get to watch. Upon taking a closer look I realized that it isn't an ad for a poker show, its an ad for a new show by CNBC titled Demolished. According to the Adrants article its a show on how the American dream became a nightmare. I can only assume that this show will focus on the collapse of the U.S. housing market.

For those of you who don't know, the idea of the American dream is being a success, owning a home with a white picket fence. I thought the ad was for a poker show because of the scattered cards, it reminded of the show titled Poker Superstars Invitational on Fox Sports for some reason. But anyway, way to promote depressing subject matter.

w what the ad is advertising right away doesn't that indicate a weak creative execution? But again, this is just my opinion take it or leave it.

The ad was created by Woods Witt Dealy & Sons.

Best,
A.B.

Gymkhana

The video above is a marketing video to promote the sport of Gymkhana to become larger in the U.S. Gymkhana is the real live version of the movie "Tokyo Drift." The above viral Web-video was apparently watched over 29 million times via various sources.

The video was produced for rally racer Ken Block, DC Shoes and Subaru. The agency the produced the above Web-video is called Mad Media. My question is, will this video actually result in more events taking place in major U.S. cities, higher ticket sales, and major event sponsoring companies?

I realize that viral marketing is one of the best methods to promote your product or service but how will it be measured? How will they determine the success of this viral campaign, is it simply by how many times the video is viewed? I hope that we will see an increase in Gymkhana motorsport events. I would certainly go see it.

Now the video is included in Inside That Ad as well.

Best,
A.B.

Voltage Everywher

Mountain Dew has recently introduced a new berry-flavored drink that they hope will saturate the web. The campaign known as “Voltage Everywhere” is primarily a viral marketing effort on the part of PepsiCo. The “Voltage Everywhere” campaign is asking people to go to Dewmocracyvoltage.com where dew fans are rewarded points for spreading the word about the new soft drink.

By spreading the word I mean talking it up on social networks like Facebook and MySpace just to name a few. They can place notes on message boards and start fan pages. Fans can then collect points towards things like an Xbox or iPod. This type of promotion is the year 2009 version of school promotions such as “look under the cap to win.”

On Dewmocracyvoltage.com fans can also play games with other site members, download wallpaper, and do many other things. The site intends to keep the target audience engaged with the product. This is a great idea in my opinion, but it is already being executed on many other websites like the ones mentioned above, why would a consumer want to add another site that they have to visit?

The creators of the site, DDB Tribal claim it is so that the consumer can become deeply involved with the product. Would someone really want to be that engaged with his or her favorite soft drink? DDB Tribal seems to think this is a great idea.

By the way DDB Tribal is an interactive creative shop.

Best,
A.B.