Although the season to be jolly has recently passed, we are still fond of great holiday creativity. So here’s a nice throwback to the festive season.
It was the season to be jolly. Jolly with you and your surroundings. Yet, what happens when not even your house is content and comfortable with its own decorations? Well, in Mother London‘s eyes, they morph into little rappers, kindly asking the master of the house to replace them with some other things, such as some cute items from Ikea‘s Winter Collection.
The ad, suggestively titled “Silence the Critics,” marks the brand’s first-ever UK Christmas ad and features an artist that Skepta hailed as “the greatest grime MC of all time” — D Double E. The Ikea ad is nothing else but creative. It is really and truly memorable. Now, let’s have a glimpse at the commercial that made Double E’s fans go crazy!
The Swedish furniture manufacturer enters the festive season arena with an ad that shows how people see their homes before and during the holidays. The film features a family relaxing in their house. But things change as soon as household objects come to life and start performing a rap track, mentioning a place that clearly isn’t ready for the Christmas season.
Lyrics include: ‘I must confess, this place ain’t bless, this place is a mess. This table is older than the pyramids, at least it’s older than the mirror is.’ The objects also rap: ‘That crack in the wall needs addressing, The state of the floor! / It’s just depressing (mad), This table’s older than the pyramids.’
We have fallen in love with these lyrics. Coincidence or not, REBELS AND RULERS 2019’s speaker, and one of our dearest friends, Hans Brouwer, Founder & CEO at MassiveMusic, has the same feelings. And not-by-accident at all, “Silence the Critics” marks Hans’s favorite 2019 campaign. And he has a few words to say about it: “It’s one of those ads where you really stop and think: ‘Wow, I wish I worked on that.’ Among all Christmas frills, I think it was a bold move from IKEA. It really made them stand out. They also launched a long version of the track on Spotify so they could feed the fans on a broader level.” We’ll just leave the Spotify link here, so you can enjoy the music at your speakers! A quick tip though: play the music as loud as you can! It is definitely worth it!
So what does the family do? They start replacing the kitsch ornaments they have with new ones, courtesy of Ikea. “The film shows a crew of everyday household objects come to life and perform a scathing diss track, about a place that clearly isn’t ready for festivities before each one is eventually silenced by the ultimate comeback: some smart IKEA solutions,” describes the London-based agency.
The ad was directed by Tom Kuntz and will be launched across broadcast and VOD TV, cinema, and digital media. The animation was executed by the talented guys at VFX studio Electric Theatre Collective, who were responsible for 3D-scanning each object of the house.
Yet, what makes this ad special is the music. Getting the right song for a commercial can be crucial. But Ikea kind of nailed it. It chose the right artist to perfectly perform the song and the right genre, which communicates the comedic narrative of the film. The song was so highly-appreciated that Fresh N Clean (Silence The Critics) is now available to stream and download today.
D Double E said of the song’s popularity: “I love working with people who allow me to be myself BLUKU BLUKU.” Now, allow us to be ourselves: We’ve got to do some shopping at Ikea because our house is a complete mess…
*Originally featured on our site, Branding.news, where you can always find impressive marketing campaigns from around the world.
How cool would it be if you could have the smartest gadgets at your disposal to shot anything that comes to your mind? Even a short movie. If your answer is “it would be epic,” then you are in for a treat. Even nowadays, there are devices on the market that can achieve very similar results, almost like professional gadgets. We don’t know if you are aware of this, but Apple‘s latest ad was shot entirely using nothing else but its latest smartphone, the iPhone 11 Pro. And those who would think that the video’s quality is nothing but poor, observe!
To shoot the commercial, Apple hired David Leitch, the co-director and executive producer of John Wick films, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2, and asked him to capture a snowball fight. We don’t want to give much away, but we have to say that he kind of nailed it – and the video is a proper “Snowbrawl.” So, maybe it’s time to stop underestimating the prowess of the latest Apple products. But enough chit-chat: Let’s take a look at what the smartphones are capable of doing in 2020:
Indeed, making such a film puts the phone to the test. And we think the device has what it takes with a native 4K video and triple-camera system. Equipped with the latest technology, the phone managed to turn a simple snowball fight into something epic. The short video almost resembles some kind of a trailer for a big-budget Hollywood movie. Whilst the commercial is pretty neat, just watch the “behind-the-scenes” and take a look at how exactly director David Leitch and cinematographer Robert Elswit achieved such amazing images.
Over the years, Apple has shared many “Shot on iPhone” photos and videos but their latest effort pretty much outweighs them all. And we are not the only ones to say so. Stuart Sproule, Former President Americas at Landor — one of our speakers at REBELS AND RULERS 2019 — agrees and has a few words to support our claim.
“It’s a stunning, cinematic tour de force that captures all of the action, adventure, and fun of a good old neighborhood snowball fight. Amazing… and inspiring to see… what a renowned Hollywood director (David Leitch) and a professional film crew can do with an iPhone 11 Pro. Kudos to Apple for again keeping their product front and center which clearly demonstrates the superior and enviable capabilities of said product…and which will assuredly heighten demand. Plus, it’s just plain fun, entertaining, and beautiful to watch!”
Understandably, Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung, couldn’t remain indifferent to the snowy commercial. As a result, the South Korean conglomerate created its own “mobile-shot” ad, using the Samsung Galaxy Note 10. Just watch for yourselves and hopefully we can all agree — that despite Samsung taking a different approach — it is also an artist’s dream come true. The Note shows what it’s capable of by giving birth to a short animation that could easily have been turned into a Disney movie.
“Receiving a project with a product that is revolutionizing the category was a challenge, so much that it led us to look for an idea that was as complete as possible, and so the product could really show its potential,” says Felipe Ortiz, Creative Director from Cheil Chile – agency responsible for the video.
*Originally featured on our site, Branding.news, where you can always find impressive marketing campaigns from around the world.
Nike is well known for giving credits to women in sports they deserve while celebrating their unique performances. However, lately, the sports brand has been showing appreciation to the new generation of female athletes with their new campaign which suggests they should: “Dream Crazier.” The invitation comes as a continuation of the company’s famous “Just Do It” campaign and saw the light of ‘stadiums’ ahead of this summer’s football tournament in France.
During this week’s #ThrowBrandThursday, we take a look at a campaign that Eric Solomon, Chief Marketing Officer at Novio, and one of the speakers at our last event, mentioned as his favorite. “Gillette took a lot of heat this year for trying to do work that was, in their mind, timely and culturally relevant. The backlash might have been a case of the right message from the wrong messenger. Conversely, Nike has trained us to expect emotional, socially aware advertising from them for more than a generation. So, this feels like another honest expression of their brand, even if it’s not at all surprising. Continually surpassing expectations is so difficult, and in this case, it’s mostly a function of the execution, which is both beautiful and brilliant,” he explains.
The thumping spot comes from the creative minds of Wieden+Kennedy Portland and sees Nike as it keeps on championing female athletes and changing the game for women in sports. Simply put, the campaign is all about the start of a journey during which women get highly applauded. It features a compilation of moments by some of the greatest female athletes in the world, such as Simone Biles, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Chloe Kim, members of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, and Serena Williams. And it’s the eminent American professional tennis player who got chosen to narrate the whole, wild story.
“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic,” declares Williams. “If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional. When we stand for something we’re unhinged. When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just plain crazy,” she concludes.
The inspiring movement highlights all the accomplishments women athletes achieved over the years. Just like Chloe Kim, the snowboarder who became the first female to land a Frontside Double Cork 1080, or Ibtihaj Muhammad, the Olympian fencer who became the first woman to wear a hijab in competition during the Olympics.
Finally, Williams understandably adds: “A woman running a marathon was crazy. A woman boxing was crazy. A woman dunking? Crazy. Coaching an NBA team? Crazy. A woman competing in a hijab, changing her sport, landing a Frontside Double Cork 1080, or winning 23 Grand Slams, having a baby, and coming back for more? Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. And Crazy.” She then asks women to do just that: “So if they want to call you crazy? Fine. Show them what crazy can do.”
Now, it’s your time to shine, ladies! Put on your Nike gear and start showing to the world what women are really capable of!
*Originally featured on our site, Branding.news, where you can always find impressive marketing campaigns from around the world.