Wolves are everywhere in manly man advertising like the Old Spice campaign. But there is such a thing as too much wolf, apparel company Johnnie-O claims in a new commercial from ad agency Ignited.

At issue is how far down guys should unbutton their shirts on a night out. Too far down, and you'll gross people out with "Too Much Wolf." Too buttoned up, and you'll suffer from "Too Little Wolf" and be just as much of an outcast.

Johnnie-O demonstrates both extremes below, with help from actual wolves—as well as Vine star Arielle Vandenberg.



As you can see, Johnnie-O has devised a solution: the Tweener Button, designed by Johnnie-O founder John O'Donnell (the brother of actor Chris, by the way). It's an extra, hidden button in between the second and third buttons, and it could just be your savior.

Though, as a rule, it's probably wise to avoid any dudes who bring stuffed wolves with them to the bar.

CREDITS
Client: Johnnie-O
Founder: John O'Donnell
CEO: Dave Gato
Marketing Director: Kim Rohm
Marketing Specialist: John Graham
Ecom Manager: Clare Berner
Ecom Asst Manager: Jessica Cashen
Graphic Designer: Melissa Castro

Agency: Ignited
CCO: Eric Springer
Art Director: Amy Matheu
Copywriter: Joseph Katool
Copywriter: Brian Hallisey
Agency Producer: Eric Edmonds
Account Director: Christel Roldan

Production Company: Rodeo Show
Director: Michael Koerbel
Producer: Raphael Leopold
Line Producer: Chris Ruiz
DP: Joshua Hess
Sound Design/Sound Mixing: Endless Noise
Music/original song: Drew Cole

Remember when a "happy ending" used to mean something else?

We do, too. And Torch is dedicated to keeping your kids in the dark (literally, when it's bedtime) as long as possible.

An anthem spot and a handful of shorter ads Torch—a router that promises better parental controls over kids' browsing habits—provide funny illustrations of how the product protects against inappropriate search results for terms like "happy ending," "pearl necklace" and "tossed salad," which seem innocent to a youngster, but could easily lead down a rabbit hole to adult content.

The ads keep the more depraved implications an inside joke between adult viewers, and show only G-rated interpretations.



Ad agency Fancy Rhino in Chattanooga, Tenn., where former McCann exec Vann Graves is now president and chief creative officer, created the commercials for Torch. The agency is also an investor in the online safety startup.

If the brand's products perform as well as promised (features include mandatory time-outs, site blocking and a comprehensive browsing history), parents can rest assured that kids will be forced to learn graphic slang the same way they did—from their more advanced, and less policed, classmates.

CREDITS
Client: Torch
Product: Torch Router
Campaign: "The Right Click"
Agency: Fancy Rhino
Creative Director: Vann Graves
Copywriters: Vann Graves / Joe Scalo
Art Directors: Joe Scalo
Production Company: Aero Films
Director: Jason Farrand
Producer: Sloane Skala
Director of Photography: Julian Whatley
Editor: Michael Distelkamp

In this ad for Indian dating site TrulyMadly, two women have a musical battle to determine whose would-be suitor is the creepiest.

Performing in the Qawwali style, a type of music originally used by Sufis for devotional purposes, the first group of women—those in pink—start by saying there are two folders on Facebook: one for friends ... and one for creeps.

After describing their Facebook troll, and blaming Mark Zuckerberg for his part in the whole situation, a second group of women challenges the first by talking about a creep who stalks their protagonist in real life. In their narrative, he shows up at her door as an elevator man and pizza delivery guy to say things like, "I delivered your pizza, will you deliver my babies?"

Toward the end, the similarities between both stalkers become too eerie to ignore (for example, both creepers call the oject of their affection "bulbul," the Hindi term for nightingale), and they realize the same person is stalking them both. The tagline tells you that TrulyMadly's verified profiles help weed out unwanted attention.

If only more ads relied on good old musical throwdowns to battle their way to a message.

A long time ago, in a suburb far, far away ...

Duracell powers a fantastical Christmas-morning Star Wars battle of epic proportions in this holiday commercial from Anomaly that breaks Friday nationwide on TV and onlline.

A fun watch in its own right, the minute-long spot—which rolls out ahead of the Dec. 17 release of Star War: Episode VII—The Force Awakens—speaks volumes about the Endor-size influence that entertainment franchises exert on the modern concept of imaginative play, and the way brands can tap into that dynamic.

In the ad, a 14-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister get their Force on in a major way, wielding Duracell-powered lightsabers to fend off an onslaught of Stormtroopers on Yuletide morning at their upper-middle-class home. Their weapons shimmer and sizzle, the halls of the house shudder with fiery explosions, and R2-D2 and C-3PO (the latter voiced by franchise star Anthony Daniels) make a cameo appearance.

Ultimately, the action spills out into the snowy backyard, where towering Imperial Walkers loom menacingly in the distance and Star Destroyers and TIE fighters blacken the sky.



The visual and audio presentation are especially impressive, as you'd expect, given that Duracell partnered with Disney, Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound to achieve an authentic, exhilarating look and feel.

"Everything was very genuine to the Star Wars universe," Seth Jacobs, Anomaly group creative director, tells Adweek. "So much so that our costumes needed to travel from The Force Awakens set in London to Los Angeles, where we were shooting. Then they were watched over by Disney security 24 hours a day for the duration of our shoot."

Pacific Rim's Shawn Levy, who directed the Night at the Museum films, does a fine job of integrating the Christmas-morning happenings with the more dynamic Star Wars footage.

Of course, the sci-fi thrills are taking place entirely in the kids' imaginations. And that's the whole point, says Duracell marketing director Jeff Jarrett, as the brand, in its first major Star Wars sponsorship, attempts to tie in with the beloved franchise's facility to inspire hours of inventive play.

That's not to say, however, that kids are the target here. In fact, Duracell is going after the parents—they are, after all, "the ones who buy batteries," says Jarrett.

"Parents grew up with Star Wars," Jarrett adds. "They did that [imaginative play] themselves. Some of them are still doing it," if only at conventions and costume parties or in their daydreams. And Duracell hopes to leverage that deep, generational connection with this campaign, Jarrett says.

The full spot will appear on YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, Twitter and various other venues, as well as in cinemas, where the movie-quality effects should really shine. Edits will run on shows such as Dr. Ken, Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right.

On a deeper level, the push underscores the power that films, TV shows, video games and media in general exert over our collective playtime. I'd wager that everyone's memories of childhood involve entertainment franchises to some extent. And that's not meant as a criticism. They serve as a cultural repository of ideas and images we dip into as needed for inspiration. In the case of long-running favorites like Star Wars, Star Trek and James Bond, this effect is even more pronounced because of the generational pull.

"I remember playing with these battery-powered Star Wars toys as a kid, pretending that I was a Jedi and trying to save the galaxy," says Anomaly's Jacobs. "Now that we've been working on this project for the past year, I've been getting my kids into the series, because I wanted to share that experience with them. I went on eBay and bought the same toys that I used to play with, and sure enough, they still work! They're hooked on Star Wars. My son's going as Darth Vader for Halloween. I'll be his loyal Stormtrooper, of course."

Whether Duracell's strategy will pay off in a sluggish market for alkaline batteries is anyone's guess. For most folks, one pack of C-cells is pretty much the same as another. That said, this well-executed appeal to nostalgia, and evoking a sense of shared play, might be enough for some parents to remember the Duracell name.

One positive indicator for the brand, perhaps, is Star Wars' potent ability to make grown-ups feel like kids again.

"C-3PO and R2-D2—you see them on film all the time, but meeting them in real life leaves you kind of starstruck," Jacobs recalls. "We were talking with the C-3PO actor before he got in costume, and it was just a normal conversation, but as soon as he's in the suit and talking to you in character, the only thing you can think is, 'Whoa! C-3PO knows my name!' "

CREDITS
Client: Duracell
Spot: "Battle for Christmas Morning"

Agency: Anomaly
Chief Creative Officer: Mike Byrne
Group Creative Director: Seth Jacobs
Senior Copywriter: Barry Katz
Senior Art Director: Alex Kaplan
Head of Production: Andrew Loevenguth
Senior Producer: Matt Flaherty
Business Director: Damien Reid
Account Director: Matt Nigro
Accout Supervisor: Carmen Cramer
Account Executive: Sam Gray
Project Manager: Megan Enneking
Business Affairs: Marissa Burnett

Production Company: Pacific Rim Films
Director: Shawn Levy
Executive Producers: Annie Johnson, Bryan Mitchell
Producer: Rob Newman
Director of Photography: Dan Mindel
First Assistant Director: Bruce Moriarty
Production Designer: Tom Meyer
Wardrobe Stylist: Christine Wada
Casting: Lisa Fields, Los Angeles; Tesley+Co., New York

Lucas Film
Creative Directors: Ali Compercio, Derek Stothard

Editing: Arcade Edit
Editor: Jeff Ferruzzo
Executive Producer: Sila Soyer
Producer: Fanny Cruz
Flame Artist: Tristian Wake
Assistant Editor: Mark Popham

Postproduction: Industrial Light & Magic
Visual Effects Supervisor: Nigel Sumner
Producer: Megan Matousek

Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Stefan Sonnenfeld

Sound Mix: Skysound
Audio Engineer, Sound Design: Chris Scarabosio
Music Editor: Dean Menta
Producer: Matthew Wood

Music, Composer: John Williams
Tracks: Star Wars Theme
-Fighting Destroyer Droids
-Ben Kenobi's Death, Tie Fighter Attack

Volvo's LifePaint—an invisible, spray-on substance—was invented to take some of the fear out of cycling at night. And now, it's being put to good use on the scariest night of the year.

Volvo U.K. and Grey London organized an initiative called "Be Scary, Be Safe" to make sure trick-or-treating kids are visible at night using its the reflective safety spray. Parents can purchase LifePaint from local Volvo dealerships (for just £9 a can), and download a set of skeleton stencils for free online. Use the stencils to spray a skeleton on your kid—and he or she will light up in the glare of headlights.



The bigger news, actually, is that LifePaint has found a retail distribution model to satisfy global demand for it while making no profit. Volvo struck a deal with Swedish startup Albedo100, manufacturer of the product, to distribute LifePaint through Volvo's global dealer network. It's now listed in Volvo's spare parts catalog (#40005923), so any Volvo dealer in the world can now order it for retail.

It's time for the New York City Marathon again, which means another cool stunt from Asics.

The running shoe brand and its agency, Vitro—whose prior marathon campaigns have included a treadmill from hell and 3-D printed statues of 500 runners—is going big this year. Really big. With a 90-foot-tall selfie stick that is fully operational right now in Gansevoort Plaza in Manhattan's Meat Packing District. (This is in keeping with Asics' marathon theme: "It's a big race, go run it.")

The eight-story-tall selfie stick was opened to the public on Thursday and will remain up through Saturday. Visitors can affix their phones to a custom selfie-orb and push a launch button, which triggers the phone's built-in video function and sends the phone along a 90-foot, high-speed track into the sky.



At its highest point, the phone will pause to capture a special Asics message laid out on the ground, then come back down the custom track. When the recording ends, participants have an original selfie video to share using the hashtag #GoRunIt.

Kevin might just seem like a regular guy, but he's so nasty at Call of Duty that he gets to star in this ad for Black Ops III—complete with narration about his exploits from actor Michael B. Jordan, and a stunned reaction from football star Marshawn Lynch.

In other words, the commercial, created by 72andSunny and directed by Wayne McClammy, reprises the brand's approach of using a mix of celebrity, high-octane production, along with famous music, to play up up the role of the everyman.

Titled "Seize Glory," it features the familiar tagline "There's a soldier in all of us," and the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" as the soundtrack. (This harkens back to the original Call of Duty: Black Ops live-action trailer, from five years ago, with the Stones' "Gimme Shelter.") And—spoiler alert—model Cara Delevingne also makes an important cameo, ticking the formula's box for sassy, badass female bit role.



The trailer first aired during Sunday's NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks, for which Lynch is a running back, and the Dallas Cowboys.

Activision selected the new crop of celebrity endorsers in part because they are well known fans of Call of Duty, reports Mashable. But the ad also calls to mind 2013's epic about four friends on a tear through Las Vegas, also featuring Megan Fox and Frank Sinatra. (The first-name-paean approach also tangentially evokes PlayStation.)

And presumably, it's Carl Jr. on which Kevin is munching while he takes his lunch break.

George Clooney has starred in Nespresso ads in Europe and other international markets since 2006. (We've covered a lot of those campaigns, which have often paired the Oscar winner with other actors, like John Malkovich and Matt Damon.) But now, finally, Clooney is becoming the brand's ambassador in the U.S., too, and he kicks things off with a spot from McCann New York co-starring his good buddy Danny DeVito.

Clooney and DeVito are better known for drinking limoncellos together, but perhaps they rely on coffee to revive themselves after one of their epic nights out. In any case, they make an amusing pair of friends, and their new commercial is theatrical and goofy—in that charming, lowbrow-yet-sophisticated Nespresso way.

The actors meet in a movie studio commissary, with Clooney wearing a war general costume and DeVito dressed as Napoleon. Soon enough, DeVito sees that his choice of coffee is as old as his character, and he convinces Clooney to train him in the art of good taste.



"Experience a cup above" is the tagline. The spot will run on TV in 30- and 60-second versions. (The :90 above is an extended cut.)

Clooney, well known as an activist beyond his Hollywood work, has partnered with the Swiss brand for so long partly because of its social responsibility work. He even serves on the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board, aimed at improving the lives and futures of coffee farmers.

"I've been working with Nespresso internationally for nine years, and I really love and respect the brand, what they do, and how they do it," he said in a statement. "Nespresso and I have a shared commitment to sustainability, most recently helping to rebuild coffee farms in South Sudan. They are an incredibly responsible company, and I am excited to expand my partnership with them into the U.S."

Clooney discusses his partnership with Nespresso in the video below. Learn more about the campaign, which will also include print, digital and social ads, at acupabove.com.



Separately, below is McCann London's new Nespresso ad, starring Clooney and Jack Black. Below that, see the credits for McCann New York's "Training Day" campaign.

CREDITS
Client: Nespresso
President: Guillaume Le Cunff
Vice President of Marketing: Davide Moro
Marketing Director: Justin DeGeorge
International Brand Communications Manager: Anna Lundstrom
Manager, Marketing Communications: Allison Moore
Brand Manager: Laura Hagege

Spot: "Training Day"

Agency: McCann, New York
North American Chief Creative Officer: Eric Silver
Chief Creative Officers, New York: Tom Murphy, Sean Bryan
Executive Creative Directors: Larry Platt, Lea Ladera
Creative Directors (Art Directors): Chuck Tso, Carlos Wigle
Creative Directors (Copywriters): Adam Kanzer, Scott Cooney
Chief Production Officer: Nathy Aviram
Broadcast Affairs: Danielle Korn, Su‐Mei Luk
Executive Producer: Kathy Love
Senior Integrated Producer: Wendy Leahy
Music Producers: Eric Johnson, Michael Ladman
Account Management: Dana McCullough, Sarah Louie, Athena Grammas
Strategy: Steve Zaroff, Christine Villanueva
Business Affairs: Erin Levine
Talent Coordinator: Terry Marcello
Traffic: Elly Schribman
Network Clearance: Sarah Malloy
Print, Banner Production: Sharon McKenzie, Mary Anguili, Ralph Cirillo, Teresa Tarquini, Thomas Walsh

"Training Day" Spot:
Production Company: Untitled
Director: Grant Heslov
Director of Photography: Phedon Papamichael
Editing Company: Big Sky
Editor: Chris Franklin
Effects, Finishing: Big Sky
Lead Artist: Ryan Sears
Transfer: Chris Ryan, Nice Shoes
Music Company: NA / Isley Brothers "Fight the Power"
Mix Studio: Sound Lounge
Engineer: Peter Holcomb

Web Films:
Production Company: Beware Doll
Director: Sam Jones

Print, Banner Imagery:
Photographer: Sam Jones

Ikea is opening its second store in Malaysia, and the retailer's products physically can't contain their excitement.

That's judging by this fun new music video that the brand just released, from BBH Asia Pacific, in which various products are seen celebrating by dancing furiously. The new store is located in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Cheras, which is pronounced chur-ASS. And so, the video has the mildly risqué refrain, "Get Cheras to Cheras," which sounds a lot like "Get your ass to Cheras."

The rest of the video has plenty of puns, too, with the products' names put to good use in song lyrics like: "You people wanna DANSA / You're NORDLI only ones / Join the DUDERÖ's and GURLIS, MALMS and their PAPPIS."



"A catchy tune, a funny pun, a twerking panda. I think we used all the tricks in the book to make sure people know about the new Ikea Cheras," BBH Asia Pacific creative directors Tinus Strydom and Maurice Wee said in a statement.

The music video fits perfectly with the occasion—to get Malaysians from all walks of life excited about the biggest housewarming party in Malaysia!" added Tracy Pang, marketing manager at Ikea Malaysia.

It's another winner for BBH Asia Pacific, whose Ikea work also included the famous BookBook spot.

CREDITS
Client: Ikea Malaysia
Agency: BBH Asia Pacific
Creative Directors: Tinus Strydom, Maurice Wee
Executive Creative Director: Scott Mcclelland
Art Director: Marcus Yuen
Copywriter: KC Hong / Ross Fowler
Business Director: Bibiana Lee
Project Director: Lesley Chelvan
Account Managers: Jade Cheng, Cheryl Cheong
Social Strategist: Josie Khng
Producer: Wendi Chong
Director: Nieto
Production Company: Stink Shanghai
Executive Producers: Desmond Loh / Louis Kwan
Producer: Charles Renard
Music: Fuse Adventures in Audio

Poo-Pourri brings the big guns in its holiday campaign this year, having just dropped a perfectly cringeworthy music video—from "Uptown Funk" video director Cameron Duddy—about doing your business away from home without causing a stink.

The odor-eliminating toilet spray has been making viral ads for a couple of years, and this one should do quite well, too. (The holidays are Poo-Pourri's biggest sales period of the year—either because people spend a lot of time eating rich foods away from home, or they like buying gag gifts for other people. Probably both.)

The same posh British spokeswoman from the brand's first big hit shows up here, as she bookends a Glee-like series of inspired song-and-dance routines (choreographed by Sara Von Gillern) all about carrying Poo-Pourri wherever you go, so you can go without embarrassing yourself.



Just try to keep up with the all euphemisms for defecating.

"Our CEO and founder Suzy Batiz was actually a pioneer in converting viral views to actual sales, and we continue to push the boundaries in this space—not only delivering sales but building the brand and shaping pop culture. I expect this new video will be no exception," Will Clarke, whose title is given as "vp of poo marketing," said in a statement.

CREDITS
Vision and Concept: Suzy Batiz, founder and CEO
Director: Cameron Duddy
Writer: Nicole Story
Song and Lyrics: Jeff Lewis and Poo-Pourri Creative Team led by Nicole Story
Composer: Chris Sernel
Choreography: Sara VonGillern
Vice President, Creative Director: Nicole Story
Director of Photography: Tom Banks
Story and Design: Hector Batiz, Will Clarke, Kirsten Gold
Art Directors: Lindsey Juckem, Paola Cortez
Wardrobe: Kirsten Gold, Gay Horman, Annie Cox
Editor: Adam Henderson
Broadcast Producer: Peggy Moore
Production Company: Artists and Derelicts

CAST
Tea Potty: Bethany Woodruff, Kasey Cosgrove, Vicki McCarty
Relationship Verse: Ryan Warren, Lauren Williams, Michael Sylvester, Ika Chigogidze, Oscar Seung, Tori Leigh Smith, Jordan Johnson, Michelle Keys
Office Verse: Alexis Smith, Donna Arrogante, Tyree Holmes, Tori Leigh Smith, Oscar Seung
Confident Verse: Sara VonGillern, Aaron Nedrick, Pierce Bailey
Poo-dini: C.J. Vaughn

Start spreadin' the news. The next round of Jack is on Frank.

Jack Daniel's celebrates the 100th birthday of its most famous fan, Frank Sinatra—who passed away 17 years ago, and would have been 100 on Dec. 12—with a contest that invites devotees to make toasts in the style of Ol' Blue Eyes.

The whiskey brand and its lead agency, Arnold Worldwide, previously resurrected the consummately cool crooner last year for a campaign touting the high-end, 90-proof Sinatra Select. Now through Dec. 12, folks can visit TheToastmakers.com and the brand's Instagram account to check out Sinatra-themed toasts.

Those who share their toasts using the #ToastSinatraContest tag could win a swingin' weekend in L.A. and Las Vegas for themselves and their personal "Rat Pack" of four friends. Sinatra staples like classy formal threads and a helicopter ride are included.

Sounds like hipsville, cats!

"We chose Instagram because of the style of the program—primarily consumer generated video and photography—and the goal of reaching a new, younger audience of legal drinking age," Arnold executive creative director Andy Clarke tells AdFreak. "Frank's life is one that was so well captured on negatives, we wanted to tip our hat to those iconic images in a way that is very much 'today.' "

Musical artists Brendon Urie, Butch Walker and Scott Bradlee will contribute video toasts for the campaign. "These influencers were chosen because they embody many of the same core values as Jack Daniel's and Frank, so we want them to create toasts that are organic to the content and art they are already putting out into the world," Clarke says.

Jack Daniel's is promoting the contest primarily on its Instagram page and other owned properties, as well as through a paid Instagram ad buy during November and December.

Sinatra's avowed passion for Jack Daniel's—he traveled with cases of the stuff on tour, and toasted his audiences from the stage—does give the campaign an air of authenticity. Still, is the brand going to this particular well too often?

I'll let the man himself answer that one, from his Playboy magazine interview in 1963: "I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels."

That is the living end, baby!

CREDITS
Client: Jack Daniel's
President, Executive Vice President: Mark McCallum
Brand Director, Craft and Luxury: Ana Kornegay
Global Brand Director: Matt Blevins
Brand Director: Laura Petry
Brand Manager: Chuy Ostos

Agency: Arnold Worldwide
Chief Creative Officer: Jim Elliott
Executive Creative Directors: Andy Clarke, Wade Devers
Associate Creative Directors: Kelly McAuley, Micah Whitson
Art Director: Daran Brossard
Planners: Vaughn Allen, Emily Brown
Marketing: Paul Nelson, Emily Brooks, Nicolle Fagan, Lindsy Frank
Digital Producers: Todd Buffum, Michelle Dravis
Broadcast Producers: Jaime Guild, Alissa Feldbau
Social, Content Producers: Cristin Barth, Kyle Beaudouin
Art Producer: Ingrid Adamow
Business Affairs: Maria Rougvie

Celebrity Influencer Partner: DKC
Editing, Animation Company: Black Math
Executive Producer: Evan Fellers
Creative Director: Jeremy Sahlman
Sound Engineer: Brian Heidebrecht

In what it's billing as a "luxury commissioning experience," Bentley has launched its Inspirator app with a compelling promise: To use your emotions to recommend you the perfect Bentayga SUV.

VML London powered the app, available on iPad and iPhone, with emotion metric algorithms and data from 3.4 million faces across 75 countries. It creates a pinpoint model of your face, then gauges changes to your expression while you watch a series of "lifestyle-themed visual stimuli"—like pretty dresses, a turquoise sea or the ballet.



In theory, your reactions define each film that follows the first. As you advance, your dream SUV (assuming you dream about sport utility vehicles) is customized in the background. Other Bentley cars will be included in the app over time.

Having downloaded the Inspirator, we can say a few things: To begin with, it's impressive that it recognizes when your face moves off-screen or is blocked (say, by your coffee mug). When this happens, it stops your magic face-reading session to get you back in sync.

It's probably better on the iPad than the iPhone, but is awkward to use either way: To function, your whole face needs to be in-frame for the entire length of the short videos, so the device needs to be right in front of you and at a certain distance. If you're in the market for a Bentley, this is probably not a problem: You probably have very precise servants, or a tripod made of diamonds, to hold it in the right position.

It's also hard to avoid caricaturing the "right" expression when you see or hear something you generally like (or don't); while the smooth-talking, calm—yet somehow still rugged!—narrator walks you through each video, it still feels like watching a cobbled-together Getty slideshow ... which makes the experience feel inorganic and not all that luxurious, actually.

Here's a shot of the app reading my face over my cool, blue, light-blocking supers-pecs:



And here's the car Bentley recommended:



Once the results come out, you naturally want details about why the car was chosen. Apart from the three images you see above the car (one of which I'm pretty sure I scowled at), it wasn't clear there were any. You can learn more about the car's specs, and further customize it if you want, but Bentley doesn't elaborate on what makes the Moccachino especially "me." (Unless it just matches to skin color, in which case... good job! We will always match.)

Still, this is a promising way to make customization—often a confusing and paralyzing process—fun for the tech-savvy (yet refined!) end user, and generally we like where we think this is headed. Facial recognition technology is already pretty sophisticated; if applied alongside stimuli that's genuinely interesting and varied—like that crazy Fellini-inspired short film David Beckham did for Belstaff—the data might yield more worthwhile results.

But hey, that's what app updates are for.

Saying Christmas is a capitalist holiday is like saying the sky is blue—these are accepted truths that don't need to be pointed out. And yet, that's exactly what adam&eveDDB's provocative new spot for Mulberry plays with—though in a fun and unexpected way, in keeping with this brand's cheeky take on holiday cheer.

Watching someone open a gift and gaze upon it with wonder is par for the course during the holiday season, but this setup is smart: After a man gives his girlfriend the luxury bag she desires, the bag taking the role of baby Jesus in the Nativity scene—as members of the community dote on it the way they would a divine newborn.



The game actors deftly and continuously laud the bag's beauty—gold glimmers on each of their faces when they do—all while making sure the tone is very tongue-in-cheek.

It's rare for a brand to be so bold as to tinker with something sacred, especially something like the Nativity scene. And that's what's so special about the spot—Mulberry and adam&eveDDB are willing to take the likely flack for the narrative sake of the spot.

Now let's see how many people actually use the hashtag #MulberryMiracle.

Living to 110 years old, getting knighted by the Queen, becoming the Pope. They're all more common than winning the top honor—a Black Cube—at the Art Directors Club awards.

A new call-for-entries campaign for the annual show focuses on the rarity of winning its prizes, illustrating that fewer people have taken home gold trophies than have climbed Mount Everest.

Created by BBDO New York, the ads include artwork from winners of ADC's Young Guns competition. The cheeky executions also compare the likelihood of winning any accolade from the ADC show to having quadruplets, a third nipple or getting killed by an elephant.

See the ads below.

It's a cheeky, attention-grabbing way to try to drum up more submissions, and distinguish the ADC's hardware from the slew of other advertising awards—even if the comparisons probably wouldn't hold up to heavy scrutiny. (Any ad person in their right mind would still choose a knighting over another piece of metal.)

Climbing Mount Everest seems like too much work, though. As does having quadruplets.

Entries are now open for the ADC's 95th Annual Awards. The coveted Cubes will be presented at the annual awards gala in New York next June.

Former U.S. military personnel discuss the challenges of transitioning back to civilian life in a series of straightforward yet stirring short videos from Saatchi & Saatchi New York promoting Walmart's "Greenlight a Vet" initiative.

The program, launched last week in association with veteran advocacy groups ahead of Veterans Day next Wednesday, asks Americans to change one light in their homes or offices to green in honor of those who have served.

"It's hard to show them our appreciation when, out of uniform, they're more camouflaged than ever," explains the voiceover in the 40-second TV spot below that gives an overview of the program.



Those jade flickers illuminating a city at night, and the muted olive glow of entryway lamps on a street of suburban homes, also appear in two-minute clips that put the spotlight on individual veterans. In the next video, we meet Lourdes, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving a tour of duty with the Army in Iraq.

"Being in a place where tomorrow's not guaranteed, you learn how to value life," she says. "I went to Iraq, and I made it back home. So I can do anything."



Next up is Ian, a 14-year member of the U.S. Marine Corps who took part in dangerous missions overseas. Now in his 40s, Ian still crops his hair in classic Marine fashion and stays fit by running with a 65-pound pack on his back, just like he did in the Corps.



Then there's Lauren, who, after leaving the Army, was diagnosed with multiple disabilities, but ultimately thrived thanks to help from a service dog. Now, she runs Independence Paws, a service-dog organization.



These stories—and you can view more clips below—are inspiring and emotionally charged, but not overstated or manipulative beyond what we've come to expect from social-issues campaigns. In fact, the PSAs strike just the right tone, allowing vets to cast themselves in an honest light (detailing their setbacks and triumphs) rather than having others, who might misunderstand what they're going through, define them.

As for the green lights themselves, Walmart notes that the color universally symbolizes "go," which is meant as a tribute to veterans' willingness "to take action quickly no matter the challenge." At the very least, the campaign puts their plight in perspective, and perhaps allows civilians to appreciate the sacrifices made by men and women who routinely shine in circumstances most of us would do just about anything to avoid.

Of course, Walmart is always an easy target for criticism, no matter what it does. But to its credit, the company has pledged to hire 250,000 veterans by 2020. The company hired its 100,000th vet last month, and has committed $20 million in grants to support organizations that provide job training, education and other veterans services.

The New York Lottery has turned 1,326 New Yorkers into Lotto millionaires since 1978, more than any other in-state lottery game in the U.S. And fresh-faced New Yorkers who become rich overnight are way cooler than deeply weird New Yorkers who've been wealthy for generations. Right?

At least, you'll be cooler than they are.

That's the questionable but comic premise behind McCann New York's new campaign for the client—spanning TV, radio, online and out-of-home ads, as well as an amusing digital field guide to identifying eccentric wealthy folks at RichPeopleGuide.com.

First, check out the TV spots:

The ads pull off the neat trick of being relatable while depicting the polar opposite of the target market. Viewers will relate not to the characters, of course, but to the caps-lock on-screen compliment: "You'd make a way better rich person." And it's hard to argue with that, given these people's preposterous habits, like bat collecting and wine bathing.

In reality, this class-focused humor is dicey—lotteries, after all, are no laughing matter for the poor, whom they exploit even as they help fund things like education. (In other words, whether or not poor people would make better rich people, the lottery will only make them poorer.) But this campaign gets away with the angle mostly because it's lighthearted and cartoony enough to be a caricature.

Also, the field guide—created with help from B-Reel—is a fun wrinkle, profiling "rich people of New York you would be better than if you were rich." These include the Eccentric Collector of Eccentric Collections, the Grown-Up Child Star, the Woman of a Million Causes and the Art Collecting Conversation Controller.

Clicking on each character on the website reveals a full snarky bio. McCann even produced actual hardcover books of the field guide—which look really nice, but frankly are a bit of an eccentric way for a wealthy marketer to spend its millions.

Check out a few OOH executions below.

CREDITS
Client: New York Lottery

Agency: McCann NY
Eric Silver, North American Chief Creative Officer
Tom Murphy, Chief Creative Officer New York
Nathy Avriam, Chief Production Officer
Mat Bisher, Executive Creative Director
Grant Smith, Executive Creative Director
Grant Smith, Writer
Jillian Goger, Group Creative Director
Jillian Goger, Writer
Matt Swinburne, Creative Director
Raphael Milczarek, Creative Director
Raphael Milczarek, Art Director
Chauncey Hollingsworth, Senior Copywriter
Stephen Icardi, Art Director
Zoe Kessler, Art Director
Molly Wilkof, Copywriter
Deb Archambault, Senior Integrated Producer
Loly McIndoe, Senior Integrated Producer
Bryan Litman, Senior Integrated Producer
April Gallo, Senior Print Producer
Lauren LaValle, Group Account Director
Geordie Larratt-Smith, Account Supervisor
Rachel Heiss, Account Executive
Mike Medeiros, Executive Planning Director
Kenny Gold, Associate Director, Social
Caitlin Bishop, Digital Strategist

Gingerpic – Frames
Executive Creative Director: Fabiano Feijo
Producers: Ana Azambuja, Ali Lewis
Art Direction: Fabiano Feijo, Fabricio Moraes
3D Manager: Fabricio Moraes
Lead 3D Modelers: Fabricio Moraes, Guilherme Formenti, Gustavo Schinner
3D Shading and Texturing: Guilherme Formenti & Fabricio Moraes
Lead Concept Artists: Flavio Hoffe / Artur Rocha
Lead Photoshop Artists: Veronica Otero, José Feijó, Fabiano Feijó

Andrew Rae – Illustrator

B-Reel – Digital Field Guide
Managing Creative Director: Ben Hughes
Art Director: Mike Potter
Art Director: Marley Stellmann
Designer : Tom Kemper
Animator: Elaine Lee
Motion Designer: Po-Chen Chia
Technology Director: Eric Heaton
Developer: Lucas Dupin
Director of Production: Myke Gerstein
Senior Producer: Ryan Leong

O Positive – TV
Director: Jim Jenkins
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Producer: Marc Grill
Production Manager: Brynn Maguire

Mackenzie Cutler – Post TV
Editor: Ian Mackenzie
Assistant Editor: Mike Leuis
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfield

Pomann Sound – Radio
Mixer/Sound Designer: Justin Kaupp

Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Susan B. Anthony. There are plenty of solid suggestions so far on who should grace the new female-fronted $10 bill, replacing Alexander Hamilton on redesigned bills coming from the U.S. Treasury in 2020.

But how about your face, ladies?

Here's some cold hard reality to go with that cold hard cash, however: It won't be worth a sawbuck, but rather just $7.80 if you're a woman earning it, compared to every $10 that men get paid, and even less if you're African American or Latino. That's the premise of a video from ad agency Rethink that points out the gender gap, and new social campaign by ad agency WongDoody in Los Angeles.



The website and social campaign, #TheReal10, provide a faceless bill on which women can paste their own photo. (I did it, and it's sort of a kick to be on currency, initially, but of course that doesn't make up for the battered bottom line). The bill reflects the 78-cents-to-the-dollar that the average woman earns, though the story is even bleaker for ethnic minorities: $6.30 for black women and $5.40 for Hispanics.

WongDoody partnered with the American Association of University Women on the project, with its executive creative director Pam Fujimoto calling it "a great opportunity to bring attention to another monetary issue for women."

TheReal10.org and the AAUW sites give info on ways to work toward equal pay.

Water Is Life "steals" from poor people in the destitute Kibera district of Nairobi, Kenya, in an effort to give them back a whole lot more in the humanitarian organization's latest innovative campaign, "Art Heist for Good."

A few years back, when the nonprofit was shooting its "Kenya Bucket List" video, the team toured Kibera, where banners by French artist JR had been installed on local rooftops. The artwork was part of JR's "Women Are Heroes" outdoor exhibition from 2009. Once the exhibition was over, the banners remained on the roofs, providing protection from the sun and rain.

"Those with the banners did not know the value," Kristine Bender, Water Is Life president, tells Adweek. "Many had been ripped up, and even stolen to put on the floor of someone else's home."

Some of the art, however, was in good enough condition to sell. The locals had no way of doing so—thus, Water Is Life and ad agency Deutsch hatched a plan to remove the banners and auction them off, with funds supporting improvements in the region's sanitation and hydration systems.



"We wanted to do something bold and brave, generating direct impact for the community," says Menno Kluin, Deutsch executive creative director.

The "heist" was meticulously planned, to avoid putting its perpetrators in harm's way. "We had a security team and local partners who helped us coordinate," Bender says. "We were very careful, as this area can be highly volatile and dangerous—and anger and violence can erupt at any given moment. Those who lived in the homes where we took the banners were elated to be getting a new iron sheet roof for protection."

So far, one banner has been sold, and four more are being prepped for auction, while others will be harvested from rooftops in the months to come. The goal is to raise $400,000, with the funds supporting:

• A 5,000-gallon-per-day water filter
• A permanent community hand-washing station
• 40 hand-washing outlets for 4,000 school children
• Overhauling the water distribution apparatus
• A training program and school curriculum about hygiene

Deutsch created the short film above to generate awareness about the project and, hopefully, get the word out to potential buyers of the art.

"Most charity advertisements have to ask people for donations," says Kluin. "We didn't. We simply saw something of value that would have otherwise gone to waste and used it to make a direct impact for the people."

It's an unusual approach. The legalities are intentionally portrayed as murky, whether or not they actually were—something the campaign emphasizes rather than downplays, as a way of generating drama. But Water Is Life, lauded for inventive campaigns of all sorts, has achieved impressive results by writing its own playbook.

CREDITS
Client: Water Is Life
Kristine Bender, President
Email: kristine@waterislife.com
Project: "The Art Heist for Good"
Agency: Deutsch, New York
Chief Creative Officer: Kerry Keenan
Executive Creative Director: Menno Kluin
Creative Directors: Sam Shepherd, Frank Cartagena, Julia Neumann
Art Directors: Brittany Rivera, Katrina Mustakas
Copywriter: Kevin Meagher
Director of Photography: Neil DaCosta
Design Director: Juan Carlos Pagan
Designer: Brian Gartside
Director of Integrated Production: Joe Calabrese
Producer: Joe Pernice
Post Producer: Francess Tom-Sahr
Editor: Pete Slife
Directors: Sam Shepherd, Frank Cartagena, Menno Kluin
Music: Found Objects
Record/Mix: Duotone

Paypal has accidentally played the Grinch in Britain this holiday, according to several hundred viewers who have lodged complaints about its Christmas ad, claiming the commercial implies that Father Christmas—aka, Santa Claus—isn't real.

The spot, created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, shows an older brother predicting that he and his sibling won't get any presents this year, because he hasn't seen his parents out shopping for any. This has infuriated some parents, who believe it implies they buy all the gifts—and Santa doesn't deliver any.

They are particularly peeved that the ad has been running when kids are still up—not after 9 p.m., which is when ads that aren't kid-friendly typically run.



PayPal has apologized, explaining that it thought kids commonly believed that parents buy some of their presents and that Father Christmas brings others.

"We just want to take a moment to say we're sorry that some people have been upset by our new U.K. Christmas TV advert," a spokeswoman said. "Our ad aims to take a fun look at those Christmas presents kids know come from their parents, and not in any way say Father Christmas doesn't also deliver presents to them."

PayPal is also working to have the spot air only after 9 p.m. The Guardian reports that the country's ad watchdog, Advertising Standards Authority, is still weighing the evidence to see if there is cause for an investigation into the ad.

The 20th Annual Webby Awards has a pretty cool call for entries campaign—featuring 20 prior Webby winners creating posters inspired by the theme "The Internet Can't Be Stopped." We highlighted several of them a few months ago (from Wieden + Kennedy and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, among others.) Now, here's a new batch—featuring entries from two of the Internet's biggest players, Google and Facebook.

 
1) Google
Google's poster is a series of icons, topped by a head wearing virtual reality goggles. Along the way, the poster seems to nod to Facebook and Instagram with thumbs-up and heart icons (which could double as a Twitter reference now, of course) before including Google Plus's +1 icon. Check it out here:

 
2) Facebook
Facebook's poster, meanwhile, is much simpler and more cosmic—an all-way traffic light that's green all the time, just hanging there in space. (Voiceover: "And that's why traffic lights are like Facebook…")

 
3) Forsman & Bodenfors
Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors, best known for its "Epic Split" ad with Jean-Claude Van Damme, was also commissioned to do a poster. It went for comedy with this riff on planking:

 
4) National Geographic
We like the haunting nature of NatGeo's entry, too, reminding us of how the Internet isn't separate from the "real" world at all. It's also cosmic, in its way, with more of an emotional pull than the Facebook poster.

 
5) R/GA
Finally, here is R/GA's entry. It also has a stoplight theme, although in R/GA's vision, the Internet is hardly green all the time. One day it will be, perhaps, if we can solve the pesky issue of buffering.

 
New posters are going up on webbyawards.com each week. Check out the site in the coming week for entries from Droga5, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Giphy, Mother New York and Vice. The Webbys are also featuring interviews with some of the poster makers—like this one with Wieden + Kennedy.