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When Chevron approached us for a new branding campaign, our biggest obstacle was not awareness—people have long thought of Chevron as an oil company. Almost no one, however, thinks of Chevron as a company that gives back. We used this storytelling narrative to lend a little personality and introduce the world to Chevron’s impressive efforts—for example—to slow the spread of AIDS, protect an endangered species and provide microfinancing to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
In 2007, Absolut Vodka asked celebrities and artists to define what an “Absolut World” would mean to them. In the summer of ’08, Kanye West was brought onto the project and in Kanye’s Absolut World, everyone got to be—who else—Kanye West. At Great Works, we created a website (spoofing every late-night TV miracle product) selling BeKanye pills—the miracle drug guaranteed to turn you into Kanye West. Side effects include increased awesomeness and sex appeal, along with heightened sense of fashion and rhythm. Unfortunately, the pills are only available in an Absolut World. The site was paired with 2 TV spots and an outdoor campaign in major US cities.
Sneaux Shoes approached MFP looking for a TV spot that would appeal to teenage boys more interested in video games than a sales pitch. So we created this short stop-motion film featuring a guy performing his best tricks on a human skateboard. The film was an immediate hit online and response videos are still showing up on YouTube. The spot was also a Creativity Spot of the Week and an iTunes Spot of the Month. And the cringe-worthy flips and grinds earned it a spot on Fox’s World’s Funniest Commercials in ’08.
The Jazz Museum in Harlem opened its doors in 2003 to meager crowds. Despite such a rich Jazz history in the community, there wasn’t enough interest in the museum—particularly from the younger generation. This campaign related to a new generation the amazing stories behind Jazz and its crucial influence on modern music.
Mike’s Hard Lemonade tasked us at MFP with raising sales for men ages 25-35. We looked around and realized (based on, among other things, the popularity of Judd Apatow movies and the guys around us) that a universal truth for these guys is they don’t wanna grow up. At least not all the way. The campaign taught these men “Adultiness” or the act of appearing mature and responsible to impress colleagues and, of course, women. We hired an improv troupe to create the spots, built houseofmikes.com—Mikes’s swingin’ bachelor pad—and created a slew of alt media executions perpetuating the Adulti life-style. I worked on the outdoor executions, online executions—including this site we created with Collegehumor.com—and event executions like the High Roller Bank Slip note pad, which let you pass out the digits on bank slips with 6 figure balances. Other promotional items were the C-note money clip and business cooler, which looked like business luggage, but unzipped to reveal a cooler to be filled with Mike’s, of course.
Convincing businessmen they need a pleat in their shirtsleeves was no easy task. But, after putting our heads together, we realized no matter the current fashion, men still dress for success. That insight inspired these line-driven print ads that ran in Sports Illustrated and Vanity Fair.
My second week in the business, I was asked to work on the ADC awards invitations. And the brief was to fill them with industry inside jokes. Despite barely being inside the industry myself, I had a great time with this project and we came up with a “pimp-your-cube” type execution. In addition to being able to outfit your cube with “spinners,” you could add a faux-front, changing your award from ADC Gold to “Intern Bait” or “Something Mom Understands.”
How the Grinch Stole Christmas The Musical came to Broadway in 2007. Our strategy was to impart to New Yorkers, who often scorn the tourist-driven holiday shows, that the Grinch was coming to their city to steal their Christmas. The low-budget, alt-media campaign took over the city in the form of wanted posters, news radio announcements, a New York Post front page story, a poster campaign and a Grinch-sighting web site where viewers could use Google maps to post in which neighborhoods they had spotted the holiday hijacker. The show sold out in weeks, a feat almost unheard for Broadway newcomers, and the campaign was awarded an Effie for its success.
