Pharrell Releases 24 Hour Long Interactive Music Video for ‘Happy’

Pharrell - 24 Hours of Happy

Michael Jackson may have been crowned the King of Pop, but he was also a leader in producing long-form music videos. Arguably his most popular video, ‘Thriller’ was nearly 14 minutes long. His videos for Bad was 16 minutes and Ghosts was an epic 39 minutes long. However artist, producer, fashion designer Pharrell has ‘upped’ them all and released a website featuring a 24-hour version of his song ‘Happy’.

The 24 hour video is made up of 360 back-to-back performances of the song, including 24 by Pharrell himself (one at each hour), but also features celebrities such as Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt, Steve Martin, Steve Carrell, Magic Johnson and Jamie Foxx taking their turn in front of the camera. The site features an ingenious form of navigation that allows you to jump to, and share any moment within the 24 hours.

The video was directed by We Are Social LA and produced by Iconoclast.

Here’s a more bite-sized 4 minute version of Happy for your enjoyment.

[via Mashable]

USA

Mates Raise Their Glasses to a Departing Friend in Tullamore Dew Short Film

Tullamore Dew - The Other Wall

If I was to create — what at least in in my head, would be the perfect Irish whiskey ad — it would look and sound like ‘The Other Wall’, a new ad from Tullamore Dew.

The long version (embedded below) starts out with a group of black suited lads walking across a lush green hillside to the tune of ‘The Parting Glass’. (here’s a version of the song by The Pogues)

They stop and turn as one quotes James Joyce, “Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.”

Glasses are passed around as the four take a seat on on a stone wall over looking a cemetery. The lads one by one fill their glasses and join in on the song. One raises his glass and offers a toast; “glasses up to my brother Jerry.”

For all purposes it appears they are there to say a final farewell to a dear friend. But then the church bell rings, a bride appears and it’s obvious that Jerry is being toasted before he departs on another kind of journey.

‘The Other Wall’ ad was created by New York ad agency Opperman Weiss and directed by Laurence Dunmore of RSA Films.

[via Ad Week]

USAIreland

Google Doodle Celebrates 50 Years of Doctor Who With Addictive 8-Bit Game

Google Doodle Celebrates 50 Years of Doctor Who

Productivity should pretty much grind to a halt today in any office that includes science fiction fans, thanks to a Google home page Doodle that celebrates the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who.

The doodle, which apparently is known internally at Google as the “Whodle”, features an 8-bit game featuring all 11 Doctors in the series.

As a Dalek rolls across the screen stealing the word ‘Google’, your mission is to guide the doctors through several dangerous environments to retrieve the letters while avoiding roving Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels.

[via The Guardian]

USA

Mercedes-Benz Takes AMG Vision GT Concept from Video Game to Reality

Mercedes's AMG Vision Gran Turismo 1:1 Scale Model designed for Gran Turismo 6

December 6 marks the release of Gran Turismo 6 and the 15th anniversary of the racing game franchise. To mark the occasion Polyphony Digital Inc. has partnered with a number of automakers for an initiative called Vision GT to come up with a vision of the sports car of the future.

Among the list of participants are leading design studios from Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Honda, Infiniti, just to name a few. The results will be made available to players of Gran Turismo 6 as special downloadable content.

The first car from the project to be revealed is the AMG Vision GT, created at the Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Center in Sunnyvale, California. The car’s futuristic shape was inspired by the iconic 1952 300 SL, and includes an oval grille with variable pattern LEDs. For even more added realism the Mercedes-AMG sound specialists created the sound for special V8 engine sound for the virtual 577hp AMG V8 biturbo engine in the car.

The best was yet to come, as the Mercedes unveiled a full-size concept of teh AMG Vision GT at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. Unlike the virtual AMG Vision GT, the full-size concept was powered only by an electric motor so it could be moved around the convention center.

GermanyUSAJapan

[via CarScoops / New York Times]

Agency Creates Custom Typeface for Eye Doctor Using Broken Eyeglass Frames

Schossler:  Broken Eyeglass Typface

Dr. Anna Schossler, an eye doctor in Warsaw, Poland who specializes in vision correction. Her expertise is using laser surgery to rid people of their dependence on eye glasses.

To help illustrate that point, ad agency Sek crafted a custom typeface made from the reconstructed remains of broken and twisted eyeglass frames. The typeface was then used for posters advertising Dr. Schossler’s clinic.

[via Gutewerbung]

Poland

British Airways Digital Billboards React to Aircraft Flying Overhead

British Airways - 'Magic of Flying' Digital Billboards

This outdoor digital billboard created for British Airways by Ogilvy 12th Floor is certainly an inspired example of real-time advertising.

The digital billboards — part of the airline’s ‘Magic of Flying’ campaign — are located in Chiswick and Piccadilly and interact with British Airways aircraft flying overhead.

The billboards use custom-built surveillance technology, that track the plane flying overhead, interrupting the normal rotation of the billboard with an image of a child pointing at the plane as it passes over.

The billboard displays the flight number and the destination it’s arriving from, along with information such as the lowest available fare or the temperature at that location.

[via Marketing Week]

UK

Foot Locker Ad “Rights the Sports World’s Wrongs” with Tyson, Holyfield and More

Foorlocker - Week of Greatness

In the new spot promoting Footlocker’s ‘Week of Greatness’, Cleveland Cavalier point guard, Kyrie Irving feels that all is right with the world,

Kyrie may be right on the money with that thought, as the ad goes on to show Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield making up over the “ear incident”, Dennis Rodman booking a one-way flight to North Korea, Craig Sager burning his colorful sports jackets, and Brett Favre realizing it’s time to walk away… from pie.

The ad was created by BBDO New York, and directed by Jim Jenkins of O Positive Films.

FYI: there is a Tumblr blog dedicated to Craig Sager’s colorful wardrobe. However, in my opinion he doesn’t hold a candle to our very own Don Cherry.

[via Agency Spy]

USA

Australian Online Bookstore Creates Pop-Up Book Stop for Commuters

Bookworld Bus Stop Bookshelf

As part of a Christmas campaign, Australian online store Bookworld has created pop-up book stops at bus shelters around Sydney and Melbourne. Interested commuters were free to help themselves to any books that they wanted.

The campaign created by ad agency VCCP, hopes to remind Australians that Bookworld, with over 13 million books, is a local alternative to large international booksellers companies like Amazon.

[via mUmBRELLA] [photo via Twitter]

Australia

Coke Zero’s Ugly Holiday Sweater Generator Will Leave You in Stitches

Coke Zero - Ugly Sweater Generator

The ugly Christmas sweater has become as much a part of the modern holiday season as secret Santas, awkward office party passes and those reindeer antlers that people put on their cars.

What started as an ironic statement about ’80s holiday fashion has since gone mainstream now with dozens of online sites and trendy boutiques offering up the best of the worst ugly holiday sweaters.

Coca-Cola and it’s agency Droga5 have jumped all over the trend and have launched the Coke Zero Sweater Generator. Customize your sweater by choosing the color, patterns and decorative elements.

Whether you decorate your sweater with porpoises, snow cobras, dinosaurs or roasted turkeys, you’ll want to share your creation with your friends. The top 100 vote getters by December 1 will actually have their sweater produced just in time for the holidays.

[via Ad Age]

USA

Baileys Christmas Ad Features Modern Spin on Classic Nutcracker Story

Baileys Nutcracker

Experiencing a live performance Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite have become a Christmas holiday tradition for audiences around the world.

Agency BBH London and Baileys have pulled together a ‘A List’ of talent to create a condensed stylized take on the classic tale. Leading the production is ‘Three Little Pigs‘ director Ringan Ledwidge, ‘Black Swan’ choreographer Benjamin Millepied, composer, pianist and producer, Nicholas Britell, costume designer Rosa Dias and set designer Sarah Greenwood. The dancers are Royal Ballet Dancers Steven McRae as the Nutcracker, Thiago Soares as the Mouse King and Iana Salenko as Clara, the heroine of the story.

The retelling begins with the group of girls heading out through a snowy forest for a girl’s night out at Candyland. After enjoying a complimentary Baileys, a suave Nutcracker steps forward for a dance. Soon they’ve attracted the attention of a tattooed Mouse King, who steps forward and makes a grab for Clara. Before you can say “pirouette” there’s a full-scale dance-battle going on between the two. Clara ends it all with a spinning round kick to the face of the Mouse King, before heading off for more fun (and Bailey’s) with the girls.

Appropriately enough the full 2 minute ad debuted during the UK TV premiere of ‘Black Swan‘.

Baileys Christmas Nutcracker

The making of our Baileys Christmas Nutcracker

[via Creativity]

UK