SPARK: The latest digital trends and unique thinking

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: MONEY CAN HIDE TERRIBLE THINGS

When one looks at the world, they can be sceptical towards acts of ‘kindness’ in governmental affairs, but the Amnesty International Independence campaign reveals it all. Money can bring happiness, but it can also be used to cover up the truth — the truth is not always what it seems. This video by TBWA Paris for Amnesty International, an independent organization fighting for human rights, depicts world issues such as torture, child soldiers and inhumane acts of violence. The victims in this video are covered with bills used to represent that money covers up the truth. Warning: if you’re easily offended then man up and watch this anyway, it’s important.

FACEBOOK TO STREAM THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME

Facebook users on Wednesday night will be treated to a one-night only screening of the classic film Casablanca, which will be streamed from the film’s brand page. Only one screening for each Facebook account is permitted. This screening coincides with the recent launch of Casablanca’s 70th Anniversary three-disc Blu-ray and DVD combo edition from Warner Home Video.

HELLMANNS RECIPE RECEIPT

Hellmann's and agency Ogilvy Brazil came up with a novel way to encourage consumers to use mayonnaise for more than just sandwiches. The brand teamed up with supermarket chain St Marche to install special software in 100 of its cash registers. This not only recognized when consumers bought Hellmann's but clocked the other items they were buying, and came up with recipes that combined several ingredients, printing them out on the till receipt. In the first month alone of the three month experiment, sales increased by 44%.

INTEL: THE HOUSE OF FLYING LAPTOPS

Directed by Daniel Kleinman, the man behind several title sequences in James Bond movies, the new Intel global campaign make “everything else seems old-fashioned”. A spaghetti western and a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon style TVC prove once again that Intel, despite behind a product behind a product, is a pretty cool brand who works hard to keep such coolness alive & kicking.

COKE ZERO: BATTLE FOR EVERYTHING

Considering that the movie Battleship was inspired by a game, it was perhaps inevitable that the movie, in turn, would inspire a game. That’s just how the circle of digital life works. In addition to the official Playstation/Xbox console version, though, Coke Zero offered a separate game that tied into the movie, available for free online. Created by Coke Zero and digital shop B-Reel, Battle For Everything is a strategic "tower defence" game that pits players against a seafront alien attack. The storyline comes straight from the film, along with some actual footage and plot points, but it also has the feel of the classic board game. There’s also a social media component, which allows players to compare their scores with friends.
 
PEEING IN THE RIGHT POT

Behavioural economics seem to be creeping into more and more advertising campaigns as we see the shift from pure messaging to the creation of experiences.  This example from Waternet (Amsterdam water supplier) shows a unique approach to stopping guys peeing into the canals during Queen’s Day. A simple idea – make a game out of peeing. Urinals were rigged up to measure the length and strength of each pee. The winner with the biggest bladder won back his water taxes.

SANTAM INSURANCE AND NANDOS PLAY CHICKEN

How is a brand supposed to respond when another brand spoofs their ad? South African insurance company, Santam decided to fight fire with fire.

It began innocently enough with an advert for Santam featuring the Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley, clearly Nando’s weren’t too impressed as can been seen with their spoof response. It was a cheap shot by Nando’s, which left Santam and their agency King James with a dilemma – how to respond?

They decided to fight fire with fire, issuing a ‘Back at ya’ challenge to Nando’s.

To their credit, Nando’s took on the challenge and even raised the stakes of the bet. This lighthearted exchange demonstrates that brands can often benefit by being good humoured, even when ‘attacked’ by others.

When the first ad was spoofed, instead of engaging Nando’s in a potentially costly litigation battle, Santam’s tongue-in-cheek response demonstrated a human side to the brand and generated positive buzz in the process.

MILLER LITE PUNCH-TOP CAN

Miller/Coors is promoting the Miller Lite Punch Top Can design with “A Star is Born”, a commercial series created by Funny or Die’s recently launched production company Gifted Youth. “A Star is Born” features an overzealous infomercial host aided by an awkward racetrack-suit wearing beer sidekick, demonstrating the wide array of unconventional methods possible to utilize Miller Lite’s new punch top can. Eight online videos answer the question, “How do you punch it?” through a series of tongue-in-cheek vignettes featuring low budget sets and over the top acting.

SAMSUNG MEMORY: LOADING BALL LARRY, FIONA FREEZE AND BRUTUS BATTERY

In a world...where ad agencies can't do the movie trailer-style ad concept enough, we have new work from IDEO and Hungry Man for Samsung. Introducing us to three characters, Fiona Freeze, Loading Ball Larry and Battery Brutus, each of the three commercials highlight the computing nightmares we have all experienced; the spinning ball, the frozen screen and the battery dying before its time. All this seemingly end of the world drama is, of course, to inform us we should all be using Samsung memory, which presumably, is more powerful and uses less energy.

FOOD BANK FOUNDATION: HUNGER DELIVERY

In order to make people understand how bad it feels to be hungry, the Food Bank Foundation in Paraguay made a deal with the two biggest pizzerias in Asunción: on a Friday night they were asked to deliver their pizza with significant delay. When the pizzas got delivered, complaining customers found this message in the box: "When you’re hungry, you understand hunger. This pizza is free so you can contribute what you can to help the national food campaign".

GUINESS OPENS AN UNDERWATER BAR IN A SUBMARINE

London-based architecture firm Jump Studios designed the interior of Guinness’ unique deep-sea bar for the brand’s Sea Experience competition. This celebrated its 250th anniversary by offering a trip to the depths of the Baltic sea inside the custom-built Guinness-branded submarine.

MARKS & SPENCER: SHWOPPING

Britain's biggest clothing retailer is launching a campaign to stop one in four items of clothing bought in the UK ending up in the bin. Marks & Spencer wants customers to hand over an old or unwanted garment whenever they buy a new one, to encourage a phenomenon it has dubbed "shwopping". It wants to kick-start a "buy one, give one" culture which could allow unwanted items to be resold, reused or recycled by its charity partner Oxfam. "Shwop bins" have been installed in 350 stores across the UK next to the tills and there’s even talk of a 5 pound incentive when you ‘shwop’ on a new purchase. They kicked off the idea with an incredible installation in brick lane, East London, which used 5 minutes worth of UK clothing waste - 9513 pieces – to cover a building entirely.

JUST DANCE 3: AUTODANCE

Every advertiser’s dream – create a service that people actually want to use to in order to create their own content about your product and share it with all their friends. The trick with this kind of approach is often brand relevance.  This launch campaign for Just Dance 3 is brilliant.  CP+B Gothenburg created the mobile app that proves that “anyone can dance”.  Users could record their friends doing stuff and the app syncs their movements to a choice of dance tracks from the video game resulting in a personalised clip that was ready to share.