In our first ad showdown of 2014, brands come strong with spots focusing on family—particularly mothers, both happy and sad—and all the good and bad life can bring. 

Three of our picks this week are from agency Wieden + Kennedy, with one destined for the Winter Olympics in Sochi and another that's part of a campaign that's heading to the Super Bowl. The other contenders are Grey's latest installment in a successful DirecTV campaign and a PSA that will make you never want to drive again. 

Which was the best? Vote below. And if your favorite isn't here, tell us in the comments.

UPDATE: Congrats to this week's winner, Procter & Gamble!

Getting ripped at a luxury gym will make you want to get more naked everywhere, says luxury gym Equinox.

OK, if your prerequisite for being comfortable getting more naked everywhere is having the body of a super-fit fashion model, sure, makes sense. Getting ripped at a luxury gym will also make you want to get a black eye, though, or stow away with your buddy in the trunk of a luxury Mercedes, says Equinox. That makes less sense, because it's dumb to get punched in the face, or cram two people into the trunk of a sedan.

The images in the new print and digital campaign from Wieden + Kennedy in New York, shot by photographer Robert Wyatt, feature the tagline "Equinox made me do it," because writ large, getting ripped at a luxury gym will make you feel like a badass, says the company. That means all kinds of new confidence and adventures with your high-end fashion accessories.

It's not dissimilar in spirit to a highly sexualized campaign, shot by Terry Richardson, that the brand pulled amid criticism late last year. It's just toned in favor of a more ambiguously suggestive and playful sort of mischief, which makes it right on target for a health club that likes to hire fashion photographers to give it that vague haute glow.

The new campaign even approaches direct relevance to the brand's actual product—fitness—with the shot of the guy in the ice bath, assuming he's recovering from a particularly intense workout … though he probably doesn't really need to bring that fancy watch into the tub with him.

More images, a video and credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Equinox
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York

Print and OOH credits
Executive Creative Directors: Colleen DeCourcy, Mark Fitzloff, Ian Reichenthal, Scott Vitrone
Creative Directors: Gary Van Dzura, Stuart Jennings
Copywriter: Nick Kaplan
Art Director: Cyrus Coulter
Designer Director: Serifcan Ozcan
Account Team: Patrick Cahill, Jacqueline Ventura
Creative Services Director: Chris Whalley
Project Manager: Yann Samuels
Art Buyers: Michelle Chant, Molly Dowd, Hillary Frileck
Print Producer: Kristen Althoff
Photographer: Robert Wyatt
Wardrobe Stylist: Simon Robins
Hair Stylist: Owen Gould
Makeup Artist: Jo Strettell
Business Affairs: Quentin Perry
Brand Strategist: Erik Hanson
Retouching Agency: Loupe Digital Imaging
Retoucher: Mark Baxter

Video credits
Executive Creative Directors: Colleen DeCourcy, Mark Fitzloff, Ian Reichenthal, Scott Vitrone
Creative Directors: Stuart Jennings, Gary Van Dzura
Interactive Creative Director: Gary Van Dzura
Copywriter: Nick Kaplan
Art Director: Cyrus Coulter
Head of Content Production: Lora Shulson
Producers: Luiza Naritomi, Kristen Johnson
Brand Strategist: Erik Hanson
Account Team: Patrick Cahill, Jacqueline Ventura
Business Affairs: Quentin Perry

Director, Director of Photography: Hugo Stenson

Editing Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Carlos Arias
Post Producer: Lisa Barnable
Post Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Editing Assistants: Chris Mitchel (senior assistant), Alex Liu (assistant)

Telecine Company: Company 3
Colorist: Tom Poole

Mix Company: Heard City
Mixer: Eric Warzecha
Assistant Engineer: Jeremy Siegel
Producer: Sasha Awn

Flame Artist: Edward Reina
Flame Producer: Melanie Gagliano
Flame Assistant: Jazmine Venegas

Music Company: Good Ear Music Supervision
Music Supervisor: Andrew Kahn
Song: Ticket Home
Artist: The Bones of J.R. Jones

Sony really wants you to know just how relevant it is.

The legacy tech behemoth is out with an ambitious new 90-second anthem spot from Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., that draws on a star-studded cast to illustrate just how far the brand's reach extends.

Everyone remembers that Sony invented the Walkman. This ad is smart to start by capitalizing on that familiarity. It's also smart to fast forward to the present, where DJ Cassidy, signed to Sony-owned Columbia Records, plays with one of the brand's tablets. Directed by Stacy Wall and shot in Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, the ensuing montage manages to pack in cameos from child actress Quvenzhane Wallis, who will star in Sony Pictures' new rendition of Annie, actor Grizz Chapman of 30 Rock, and Spike Lee, shooting on a Sony camera and name-checking PlayStation. In other words, it's a major production loaded with rich and specific examples of Sony's history and cultural influence, that all come together to show the company has actually stayed closely linked to the experiences audiences actually care about.

It's far from the first tech company to try to bring to life products that can seem cold or complicated. Apple's tone, though, can come across as pretentious—it wants to be the blisteringly cool company that is inventing the future. And Google can often feel excessively sentimental—it wants to be the awesomely geeky company that is intensifying all the most important moments in your life. Sony benefits from the diversity of its business, but nonetheless, its approach keeps the message playful, and ultimately charming—it wants to be the old friend that makes sure you are having fun at the party. And the anthem's titular, feel-good soundtrack, the Who's 1972 hit "Join Together," does a great job of anchoring that message of belonging.

The new campaign also includes shorter, goofy product-centric videos that fall somewhere between amusing and awkward—using, for example, a metaphor about popping your eyes out of your head to peddle a detachable smartphone camera lens. A little more hammy grandpa jokes than the life of the party. And yes, the anthem's breathless fascination with the meeting of art and engineering feels a little contrived. But it does succeed at fitting into the zeitgeist of "innovation" without leaning on a hackneyed buzzword. More important, for most of the spot, the script stays out of the way, letting the film craft, which is quite deft, build to the voiceover's punch line—that Sony has always been about "making you feel something"—and the ad's tagline, "Be moved."

So go on, feel something: the vague but slightly unsettling pleasantness of a well-made sales pitch.

CREDITS
Client: Sony
Spot: "Join Together"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Mike Giepert / Chris Mitton
Copywriter: Chris Mitton
Art Director: Mike Giepert / Matt Moore
Producer: Jennie Lindstrom
Account Team: Diana Gonzalez / Trish Adams / Nick Larkin
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Stacy Wall
Executive Producer: Doug Halbert
Line Producer: Timory King
Director of Photography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr.

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial / Work Editorial
Executive Producer: Patty Brebner / Corina Dennison + Erica Thompson
Editor: Peter Wiedensmith / Rich Orrick
Asst. Editor: Steve Sprinkel / Adam Witten + Patrick Murphree
Post Producer: Ryan Shanholtzer / Olivia Chiu

VFX Company: The Mill – Los Angeles
Sr. Exec. Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Dan Roberts
Production Coordinator: Jesse Looney + David Lawrence
Creative Director + Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe
Matte Painting: Thom Price
2D Lead Artist: John Shirley
3D Lead Artist: David Lawson
2D Artists: Becky Porter / Nick Tayler / Ben Smith / Remedy Huynh
3D Artists: Milton Ramirez / Siran Liu / Martin Rivera / Blake Guest / Hartwell Durfor / Blake Sullivan / Miguel Guerrero / Danny Yoo / Krystal Sae Eua / Fabrice Le Nezet / Brett Angelillis
Motion Graphics: Justin Demetrician
Art Support: Clare Carrellas

Telecene Company: The Mill
Colorist: Adam Scott
Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson
Producer: Natalie Westerfield

Music
"Join Together (Izzie Twins Unchained Remix)" by the Who

Sound Design Company: Human

Mix Company: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Asst. Mixer: Jeff Malen
Producer: Jessica Locke

Credits for the online spots:

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Mike Giepert / Chris Mitton
Copywriter: Derek Szynal
Art Director: Mike Giepert  / Devin Gillespie
Producer: Jennie Lindstrom
Account Team: Diana Gonzalez / Trish Adams / Nick Larkin
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Imperial Woodpecker
Director: Stacy Wall
Executive Producer: Doug Halbert
Line Producer: Timory King
Director of Photography: Mihai Malaimare, Jr.

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial  / Work Editorial (Skeptics Only)
Executive Producer: Patty Brebner / Corina Dennison + Erica Thompson (Skeptics Only)
Editor: Katie Turinski + Steve Sprinkel / Patrick Murphree (Skeptics Only)
Asst. Editor: Steve Sprinkel 
Post Producer: Ryan Shanholtzer / Olivia Chiu (Skeptics Only)

VFX Company: The Mill – Los Angeles
Sr. Exec. Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Dan Roberts
Production Coordinator: David Lawrence
Creative Director + Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe
2D Lead Artist: Robin McGloin, Nick Tayler
Motion Graphics: Justin Demetrician
Art Support: Clare Carrellas

Telecene Company: CO3
Colorist: Siggy Ferstl

Music
"Eyeballs"
"The Whistlin' Duck (feat. Theo Mertens)" by Bobbejaan Schoepen
"Inventing Furniture" + "Floor Plan"
"Moon Waltz" from the motion picture Beginners by Brian Reitzell, Dave Palmer and Roger Neil
"Skeptics"
"Theme" from the motion picture Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind by Jon Brion

Mix Company: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Asst. Mixer: Jeff Malen
Producer: Jessica Locke

In this week's battle of the brands, four spots—for Guinness, Sony, Apple and Duracell—seek to strum an inspired chord within us. But a fourth, for the horror film Devil's Due, leans on our innate desire for schadenfreude with its frightening prank.

Which was the best? Vote below. And if your favorite isn't here, tell us in the comments.

UPDATE: Congrats to Duracell, which absoutely crushed a strong field of contenders.

Chrysler is not discussing reports that it has bought time on Sunday's Super Bowl and will air an ad starring Bob Dylan.

None other than Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne hinted to automotive reporters two weeks ago that the company had purchased time on the big game, suggesting that the Chrysler 200 would be featured in an ad. Then, this week, Billboard, a sister publication of Adweek, reported that Dylan would star in a Chrysler Super Bowl ad.

Asked today about the reports, a representative for the automaker declined to comment.

While most marketers now preview or at least tease their ads before the game, Chrysler typically does neither. Silence used to be the standard among Super Bowl advertisers, but all that changed with the rise of the Internet and social media.

Attention men: Want hair-care products that turn your hair into a sentient toupee capable of the most charming antics?

No? Really, it's better that it sounds. It's great for when you're in a business meeting and some dial tone is droning on about whatever who cares, and the hot woman across the table is eyeing you hard … it will mack on your behalf without anyone noticing.

So says one of two new oddball spots from Wieden + Kennedy for Old Spice hair products, vaguely reminiscent of Axe's walking-hair-loves-headless-boobs commercial from 2012. (The director, Tom Kuntz, also has experience working with hair that has a mind of its own—going back to Skittles' "Beard.")

Another new Old Spice ad tells you that your creepy-furry head pet will also serve you exceptionally well when you're on a date at the boardwalk. Just look at the magical surprise it can pull, hands-free, out of the arcade claw.

It really is the perfect marriage of the campaign's tagline, "Hair that gets results," and the brand's classic marketing ethos—"If your grandfather hadn't worn it, you wouldn't exist."

Credits plus a print ad below.

CREDITS  
Client: Old Spice
Spots: "Meeting" and "Boardwalk"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley
Copywriter: Jason Kreher
Art Director: Max Stinson
Producers: Hayley Goggin, Katie Reardon
Account Team: Georgina Gooley, Liam Doherty, Nick Pirtle, Jessica Monsey, Michael Dalton
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
Executive Producer: Scott Howard
Line Producer: Emily Skinner
Director of Photography: Andre Chemetoff

Editorial Company: McKenzie Cutler
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Assistant Editor: Ryan Steele
Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld

Visual Effects Company: Framestore
Visual Effects Supervisor: Alex Thomas
Compositing Supervisor: Russell Dodgson
Producers: Tram Le, Claudia Lecaros
Flame: Stefan Smith, Trent Shumway
Nuke Leads: Vanessa DuQuesnay, Jonni Isaacs, J.D. Yepes
Nuke: Geoff Duquette, Jason Phua, Carl Schroter, Jack Fisher, Anthony Lyons, Katerina Arroyo, Nick Sorenson, Kenneth Quinn Brown

Music Company: Rumblefish
Producer: Mikey Ecker

Final Mix Studio: Lime Studios
Post Engineer: Loren Silber
Assistant Engineer: Patrick Navarre
Producer: Jessica Locke

Color Transfer: CO3
Artist: Stefan Sonnenfeld

Using children in politically tinged advertising is often problematic. Some would say it's tantamount to propaganda. Still, the kids who sang "America the Beautiful" in other languages for Coca-Cola's Super Bowl ad are so charmingly innocent in these behind-the-scenes videos—and so optimistic about how the ad will be received—that it makes the whole ruckus seem extra ridiculous.

Of course, Coke isn't as innocent. It knew the ad, by Wieden + Kennedy, would be controversial. Even these clips from the recording sessions hint at that—why else would they ask the girls how people might react to the ad? And yet it's irresistible when Naomi, the girl who sings in Spanish, says: "They might feel joyful. They might feel like, 'Wow, America has all these different things.' And they might feel, like, really proud of their country, I hope. Cause I know I am pretty proud."

Coke released its own statement about the ad this week, saying in part: "For centuries America has opened its arms to people of many countries who have helped to build this great nation. 'It's Beautiful' provides a snapshot of the real lives of Americans representing diverse ethnicities, religions, races and families, all found in the United States. … We believe 'It's Beautiful' is a great example of the magic that makes our country so special, and a powerful message that spreads optimism, promotes inclusion and celebrates humanity—values that are core to Coca-Cola."

The ad's director, John Hillcoat of Skunk, has also spoken out this week. "We all know there are those kind of bigots out there, but I had no idea how deeply embedded it was. It seems that the divide in America has never been greater," he said in a statement.

Despite its optimism, Coke recognizes that divide, too. Tellingly, YouTube comments are disabled on all the videos featuring the girls—to protect them. Comments are enabled on the main ad, though, and are at 12,500 and counting. Wade into that debate at your own risk.

Levi Strauss & Co. is back with FCB.

The jeans marketer, which previously created some of its most memorable work with Foote, Cone & Belding in San Francisco, has shifted its business to Interpublic’s Draftfcb and independent The House Worldwide.

The shift comes after the company split with Wieden + Kennedy five months ago. Omnicom Group's OMD remains the company’s global media agency. Global media spending on the brand could not be ascertained but in the U.S. alone spending totals about $40 million annually.

Draftfcb and The House, a global network of independent agencies that was launched last March by former Publicis global chief operating officer Richard Pinder, will work together as a team on the business. Pinder worked with Draftfcb’s recently-installed global chief Carter Murray when he was Publicis's Paris-based chief marketing officer and a worldwide account director, working on Nestlé. Both are also alumni of Leo Burnett.

Murray credited Dominic Whittles, president of Draftfcb in San Francisco, in helping to win the business. The agency's San Francisco and Irvine, Calif. offices will work with House units ChinaMadrid in Spain and CumminsRoss in Australia. Whittles will oversee North America and Pinder, international markets.

Advertising was a big component in creating Levi’s success and the brand was built for 67 years by the San Francisco office of Foote Cone & Belding. Throughout the ‘80s and early ‘90s in particular, FCB created campaigns like ‘501 Blues’ under the direction of creative director Mike Koelker with ads that combined urban street scenes with richly varied music.

It's Feb. 11. You know what that means? There are only three days left until Valentine's Day! Oh, and it also means you'd better have solid dinner plans for Friday night, because all the good reservations filled up months ago.

But what if, between the Super Bowl and the Olympics and constantly shoveling snow, you forgot to make plans?

Heineken has you covered, thanks to a new social-media campaign devised by Wieden + Kennedy in New York. All this week, you can tweet at @Heineken_US to request a #DateInABox—which is a red, glittery vault containing a certificate for a prearranged date for two. (Examples include "a jujitsu lesson for two, couples' tattoos and an improv class." That's what you get for not thinking ahead.) There's a catch, though: In order to get the code to unlock the vault, the guy in the relationship must publicly share a picture of the #DateInABox on Instagram.

If that doesn't sound like much of a "catch," that's because you, dear reader, are probably a lady. According to Heineken, ladies are all about declaring their love on social media. (That is, if a heavily filtered photo of you and your significant other of two weeks with the caption "MY BF ILYSM" counts as a declaration of love.) Dudes, on the other hand, are loathe to share their romantic sides online for fear of letting their bros know that they are, in fact, total softies.

So, forgetful men of the world, that leaves you with an important choice. Admit defeat and stay home alone on V-Day, or risk your social media cred by accepting Heineken's offer.

If neither sounds appealing, you could always try to steal someone else's dinner reservation. There are probably a few John Smiths on the Cheesecake Factory waiting list, right?

CREDITS
Client: Heineken
Project: #DateInABox

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Creative Directors: Eric Steele, Erik Norin
Social Strategist, Creative: Jessica Abercrombie
Brand Strategist: Kelly Lynn Wright
Copywriter: Mike Vitiello
Creative, Community Manager: Rocio Urena
Head of Content Production: Lora Schulson
Executive Producer: Nick Setounski
Senior Broadcast Producer: Cheryl Warbrook
Print Producer: Kristen Althoff
Account Team: Patrick Cahill, Samantha Wagner, Kristen Herrington
Business Affairs: Quentin Perry
Design Director: Serifcan Ozcan
Designer: Lorin Brown
Project Manager: Sunjoo Ryou

Production Company: Joint
Executive Producer: Michelle Carman
Photographer: Doug Zajaczkowski
Producer: Jennifer Chen
Editor: John Resner
Motion Graphics Director: Yui Uchida

Have you heard the one about the astronaut and the cosmonaut watching hockey together in the International Space Station during the Olympics?

The American team scores against the Russian team, and the cosmonaut spills his Coca-Cola in zero gravity. But then he and the astronaut work together to slurp up all the free-floating droplets before they can wreck havoc on the vessel's electronics—because, cue fantasy, Coke brings everyone together. (The cosmonaut, amusingly enough, is the same actor from DirecTV's "Opulence, I has it" ad—seems the Russian oligarch bought his way to space.)

This ad, from Wieden + Kennedy, is from the sugar-water school of international relations, consisting largely of Coke ads hitting you over the head with a happy hammer. Do you feel good? You'd better.

A second new spot, also posted below, is from the sugar-water school of mini snowmen and romantic walks through winter wonderlands. There will be charming, twee songs like Kat Edmonton's "Lucky" playing in the background. "We don't even have to pretend we know what it is we're looking for," say the lyrics.

Duh, we're looking for a Coke, of course.

CREDITS
Client: Coca-Cola
Spot: "ISS"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Hal Curtis, Antony Goldstein, Jeff Gillette
Copywriter: David Povill
Art Director: Brad Trost
Producers: Jennifer Fiske, Hayley Goggin
Account Team: Brian Mead, Luke Purdy
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples, Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Furlined
Director: Adam Hashemi
Executive Producer: Diane McArter
Line Producer: Pete Vitale
Director of Photography: John Lynch

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial
Editors: Kyle Valenta, Eric Hill
Outside Editor: Mikkel EG Nielsen, Rock Paper Scissors
Post Producer: Shelli Jury
Post Executive Producer: Patty Brebner
Sound Designer: Charlie Keating
Assistant Editor: J.B. Jacobs

Visual Effects Company: The Mill
Visual Effects Supervisor, Flame Artist: Tim Davies
Visual Effects Producer: Jordan Sharon
Executive Producer: Sue Troyan
Coordinator: Jillian Lynes
Colorist: Adam Scott
Telecine Producer: LaRue Anderson
Producer: Megan Campbell
3-D Lead Artist: Phill Mayer
3-D Artists: Kenzie Chen, Yorie Kumalasari, Juan Zavala, Martin Rivera, Michael Lori, Jacob Bergman, Miguel Guerrero, Robert Chapman, Katie Yancey, David Hackett, George Liu, Ashraf Ghoniem, Meng Yang Lu
2-D Lead Artist: Tim Davies
2-D Artists: Steve Cokonis, Adam Lambert, Daniel Lang, Robert Murdock, Lisa Ryan, Dag Ivarsoy
Matte Painting: Andy Wheater, Andy Romine
Shoot Supervisors: Tim Davies, Nick Lines

Music, Sound Company: Stimmung
Composer: Robert Miller
Song: Light Calvary (Franz Von Suppe, original composer)
Producer: Megan Campbell
Executive Producer: Ceinwyn Clark

Mix Company: Eleven Sound
Mixer, Sound Design: Jeff Payne
Producer: Suzanne Hollingshead
Audio Assistant: Ben Freer

You have a weird, ineffable obsession with your cast-iron skillet. You carry it with you everywhere like a safety blanket. You believe like it could make you feel joy, but it does not, because something is missing.

Velveeta appeals to the kitchenware creeper segment with a new pair of spots from Wieden + Kennedy for the brand's Cheesy Skillets dinner kits. It's a new twist on the agency's oddball approach to the product, with some of the dramatic flavor of Old Spice still in the voiceover and epic positioning, "It's liquid gold," but sight gags balancing it out.

In some ways, it's the American cheese of advertising—comfort food that's pleasing at first but ultimately a little too processed to leave you feeling entirely good about having eaten it. If you can get past the slightly overdone copy, though, there's some pretty rich comedy in the dumb facial expressions of the actors.

You might even call it gold.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Velveeta
Project: Velveeta Cheesy Skillets

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Karl Lieberman, Eric Baldwin
Digital Director: Pierre Wendling
Copywriters: Heather Ryder, Darcie Burrell
Art Director: Matthew Carroll
Interactive Producer: Ryan Adams
Event Producer: Victoria Semarjian
Account Team: Ken Smith, Rachel Parker, Danica Jones, Sarah Augustine
Media Director: Alex Dobson
Head of Broadcast: Ben Grylewicz
Broadcast: Shelley Eisner, Nicole Kaptur, Yamaris Leon
Art Production: Stacie Balzer, Eugenie Frerichs, Denise Hanggi, Rainier Goubault
Project Manager: Megan Nugent
Studio Manager: Anna Gatewood
Studio Artists: Leslie Warra, Thomas Bradley
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman
Business Affairs: Amber Lavender, Anna Beth Nagel, Pam Atkinson
Content Services: Zoe Hoetze, Anders Lund

Production Company: Smith & Jones Films
Director: Ulf Johansson
Executive Producer: Philippa Smith
Executive Assistant: Tori King
Line Producer: Justine Madero
Postproduction Company (Editorial): Spot Welders
Editor: Haines Hall
Producers: Carolina Wallace, Lisa English
Visual Effects: A52
Executive Producer: Megan Meloth
Producer: Meredith Cherniack

Last month, Sony rolled out a sweeping celebration of its own contributions to technology and the arts. Now, it's diving deep on the same subject, taking viewers on a tour of Northlandz, a giant model railroad museum in New Jersey, as miniatures photographer Matt Albanese uses a Sony QX100 camera to capture images of the tiny scenery.

Northlandz's creator, Bruce Zaccagnino, co-stars in the documentary-style ad, offering such bits of humble-bragging genius as: "Thousands of people will come out, and they'll say this is a wonder of the world. … I don't think it's a wonder of the world. It's not the Taj Mahal." Fact is, the landscape is quite impressive. The photos that come out of Albanese's work are plenty cool, too, and a nice testament to the potential of the camera.

But the four-minute documentary, created with Wieden + Kennedy, makes the whole thing feel pretty forced and awkward. "For this project I chose a camera that will get me into tight spaces and gives me unique vantage points," says Albanese. That may be the selling point, but the footage and the photographs make the point well well enough without the contrived sales pitch. A little less throat-clearing and philosophizing might serve the spot well, too—but at the end, Zaccagnino's extra talent makes for a perfectly oddball kicker.

The campaign includes a website, www.Separate--Together.com, that goes beyond the film and features an interactive companion piece with three panoramas you can rotate and zoom into.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Sony
Project: Be Moved - Separate Together

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Mike Giepert, Dan Hon
Copywriter: Charlie Gschwend
Art Director: Devin Gillespie
Information Architect: Jason Sack
Creative Technologist: Billy McDermott
Head of Interactive Production: Pierre Wendling
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz
Content Producer: Katie Reardon
Account Team: Trish Adams, Diana Gonzalez, Nick Larkin
Associate Director of Technology: Ryan Bowers
QA: Robb Hand, Rachel Mason
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples, Susan Hoffman

—Web Film Partners
Production Company: m ss ng p eces
Director: Josh Nussbaum
Executive Producers: Ari Kuschnir, Kate Oppenheim
Head of Production: Dave Saltzman
Line Producer: Veronica Balta
Director of Photography: Alex Khudokon

Editorial Company: m ss ng p eces
Editor: Adam McClelland
Post Producer: Amy Crowdis

Colorists: Nat Jencks, Adam Mcclelland

Composer, Original Score: Matt Abeysekera
Sound Design & Mix: Eli Cohn

—Interactive Experience Partners
Development Partner Company: BOSSA
Executive Creative Director: Hans Weiss
Creative Technologist: Jeramy Morrill
Lead Developers: Jeramy Morrill, Josh Gross, Matt Greene
Creative Director: Andrezza Valentin
Art Director: Sarah Skapik
Producer: Nic Santana

When you use Old Spice hair products, your hair is capable of anything.

First, it leaps off your head—that's a given. Then, as we've seen, it either hits on women at work or skillfully operates claw machines on the boardwalk to retrieve lost children.

Now, though, it reveals its most impressive talent to date—playing all the best-loved Huey Lewis and the News songs on the keyboard. In the interactive video below, also embedded at ThatsThePowerofHair.com, you can request any of 29 Huey Lewis songs, and a mop of hair will play them soulfully for you, supported by props like a disco ball and Hula girl.

"The Power of Love," "The Heart of Rock 'n' Roll," "I Want a New Drug," "Bad Is Bad," "Doing It All for My Baby"? Hear all those and 24 more great hits right now.

The digital experience, on desktop and mobile, is being embedded online in custom banners, news sites and Old Spice's social channels. Agency: Wieden + Kennedy.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Old Spice
Project: "That's the Power of Hair"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley, Matt O'Rourke
Copywriter: Jason Kreher
Art Director: Max Stinson
Executive Interactive Producer: Mike Davidson
Director of Broadcast Production: Ben Grylewicz
Director of Interactive Production: Pierre Wendling
Technology Lead: Ryan Bowers
Account Team: Georgina Gooley, Liam Doherty, Nick Pirtle, Michael Dalton, Jessica Monsey
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples

Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
Executive Producer: Scott Howard
Producer: Emily Skinner

Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Carlos Arias
Asst. Editor: Christopher Mitchell
Producer: Lisa Barnable

VFX Company: Framestore, New York
Creative Director: Mike Woods
Producer: Christine Cattano
Head of Commercial Development: Ming-Pong Liu
Lead Developers: Sebastian Buys and Nien Liu
Lead Compositor: Mindy Dubin

Music Company: Stimmung
Executive Producer: Ceinwyn Clark
Post Engineer: Rory Doggett
Composer: Greg Chun

It must be nice to be Three.

The British mobile network has the most fun-loving advertising slogan around: "We all need silly stuff." And Wieden + Kennedy in London makes the most of that promisingly vague positioning. Last year, we had the dancing Shetland pony. Now, it's time for the singing cat.

The new ad is brilliantly shot by Traktor, and features remarkable performances—not just by the preternaturally talented kitty but by the girl, too, who apparently was born to lip-sync old Starship songs. (W+K London has lots of relevant feline experience, too, of course, having also done the much-loved "Cats With Thumbs" work for Cravendale.)

The only downside: The related website, where you can upload your photo and "star in your own kitten-rocking, face-morphing music video," doesn't load outside the U.K.

Credits below. Via Unruly Media.

CREDITS
Client: Three
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
Creative Directors: Dan Norris, Ray Shaughnessy
Creatives: Chris Lapham, Aaron McGurk, Luke Tipping
Production Company: Partizan
Directors: Traktor
Postproduction: MPC

Procter & Gamble's "Tough Love" ad, which celebrates the pride and determination of athletes and their moms ahead of next month's Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, manages to play on the heartstrings without hitting a saccharin note.

Not long ago, images of kids without limbs struggling to excel in sports would have been viewed as appropriate for fund-raising PSAs but too downbeat for other types of advertising. It's a mark of how far we've come that such visuals are now seen as inspiring and triumphant. And the found footage in this minute-long clip from Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., showing determined youngsters swimming, racing and skating (with their supportive moms nearby), is especially soul stirring.

Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy narrates: "You could have protected me. You could have taken every hit. You could have turned the world upside down so that I would never feel pain. But you didn't. You gave me my freedom because you were strong. And now, so am I."

The ad, running both online and on TV, debuted on Feb. 19 and has racked up 2.2 million YouTube views so far. Part of P&G's "Thank you, Mom" campaign, the spot serves as a companion piece to W+K's similarly themed viral hit "Pick Them Back Up," which follows four athletes from their baby steps to Olympic glory.

Taken together, the two spots make the point that all athletes, regardless of ability or skill level, similarly strive toward their goals. They fight to overcome long odds, personal travails and self-doubt—often relying on the dedication and perseverance of their moms to help them succeed. Such equality communicates a simple, universal truth: You have to let them fall a few times before they can soar.

IDEA: You hear it often—it's what's inside that counts. That's especially true for an automaker touting a roomy vehicle, like Honda has with its new Civic Tourer wagon in Europe.

To advertise it, Wieden + Kennedy focused on all kinds of interiors in an amazing 60-second spot called "Inner Beauty." The quirky, charming, exquisitely crafted ad takes the viewer, in a first-person view, zooming across a desert and through all sorts of objects—from a golf ball to a suitcase to the Civic Tourer itself—revealing their curious innards.

The brief to W+K was, "There is an estate hidden inside"—i.e., the Civic Tourer has as much room as an estate vehicle (a big van/station wagon in the U.K.). "We decided it was interesting to focus on the human curiosity of looking inside things," said W+K creative director Scott Dungate, "plus the joy you experience when you're surprised and pleased by what you see."

COPYWRITING: The ad opens with the viewer speeding across a desert floor as Garrison Keillor, the brand's longtime voice in Europe, says: "For those who love the inside as much as the outside, this is for you."

Quickly, the camera travels up to and through a golf ball, camera, wrapped gift (with a robot inside), amplifier, suitcase (containing clothes and a snow globe of San Francisco) and chest of drawers (with mostly socks). At the end, it explores the Civic Tourer's interior, then pulls back to show all the previous items flying into its trunk.

"There," says Keillor. "Aren't you glad you looked?"

There was a lot of debate over which objects to include. "I still wish we'd cut through a rock revealing a fossil and 'crystal cave,' but that was a casualty of the process," said Dungate.

The spot ends with the vehicle name onscreen, followed by the Honda name, "The Power of Dreams" tagline, honda.co.uk URL and #CivicTourer hashtag.

ART DIRECTION/FILMING: The visuals are a mix of live action, stop motion and CGI. "We ended up taking things more surreal, but didn't want to feel the CGI too much," said Dungate. "While the final aesthetic is 'hyper-real,' I think it feels quite fresh as it uses a lot of real textures."

Oscar-nominated Nexus directors Smith & Foulkes, whose Honda work goes back to 2004's Grand Prix-winning "Grrr," filmed the live action in Teruel, Spain, and the stop motion in a studio. They wove in the CGI with help from Time Base Arts.

"Quirky was important," said Dungate. "It needed to be playful, human and warm—which can be difficult with inanimate objects and a 'slicing technique.' "

TALENT: Keillor, 71, brings a warm folksiness. "He adds humility, which is a point of difference in a category full of overclaim," Dungate said. "Perhaps even more useful is, it's good for when you're writing. If you can't imagine him saying it, it's probably not right."

The driver of the car is almost invisible. "I didn't want him in there at all," said Dungate. "But someone had to drive, so I lost that argument."

SOUND: There's no music—it's all sound design, rich and complex. "Sound played a big role in bringing humanity to the objects," Dungate said. "It also plays a massive role in storytelling, setting up what the objects are and the lifestyle story relevant to the audience. Take, for example, the little kid laughing in the camera. Or the sound of the jet going into the suitcase. These all help you get the story of each object really quick, which is important as we move through things quite fast."

MEDIA: The spot broke first in Germany, then in other European markets. It's running for a month in the U.K.

THE SPOT:

BEHIND THE SCENES:

EXTENDED EDIT:

CREDITS
Client: Honda
Spot: "Inner Beauty"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
Creative Director, Copywriter, Art Director: Scott Dungate
Producer: Michelle Brough
Account Team: Paulo Salomao/Alex Budenberg/Sophie Moss
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson / Kim Papworth
Agency Executive Producer: Danielle Stewart

Production Company: Nexus
Director: Smith & Foulkes
Executive Producer: Tracey Cooper
Director of Photography: Mark Patten

Editorial Company: Trim
Editor: Paul Hardcastle

VFX Company: Time Based Arts
VFX Supervisor: Mike Skrgatic
Flame Artist: Sheldon Gardner
VFX Producer: Chris Aliano

Music+Sound Company: Factory
Sound Designer: Anthony Moore & Tom Joyce

Mix Company: Factory
Mixer: Anthony Moore & Tom Joyce

After meeting widespread ridicule for a lofty first attempt at brand advertising in 2012 (and subsequent stumbles pitching its Facebook Home product), the social network has quietly been rolling out ads online this year that are quite a bit more grounded. And they focus more on promoting the core utility of the social network—in particular, its role as a motivator for non-virtual self-improvement.

Don't worry, the campaign, created by Wieden + Kennedy, doesn't wholly commit to the mundane. One spot insists on emphasizing the calculated quirkiness of a group of young adults acting like teens. They have decided to drill skis and snowboards to the bottom of couches and ride the makeshift toboggans down a slope. This is apparently a real thing that someone, somewhere has done before. That lends a little credibility to Facebook's point that it will help organize even the most oddball of gatherings.

Another spot focuses on using the network to crowdsource recommendations for a tango teacher, who turns out to be a charming, colorful personality. Other ads highlight an aspiring marathon runner, whose many friends encourage him through the network, and a girl who's going through a breakup, who only needs one friends to make things better.

The spots do a solid job of using specific examples to illustrate Facebook's real value—its efficiency as a way to communicate with more than one person at once. That won't answer any grand existential questions, but it does get out of its own way and shows, concretely, how the product can help make life off-screen better—a concept Facebook has struggled to articulate in the past.

That is, if making life better is defined as making it easier to sucker people you met once into watching you go sledding, or get shopping advice, or go fishing for affirmation.

Kobe Bryant doesn't just play pianos. He makes them.

Or so it would appear from the opening scenes of this new ad from Wieden + Kennedy pitching "The Kobe Piano," from which "every note [is] a comedy and tragedy that would make Shakespeare laugh and weep. It will turn piano boys into piano men. It will make Lionel Richie's tears cry tears."

Turns out it's an elaborate metaphor for a line of shoes designed by Bryant for Foot Locker and Nike. The collection, the ad informs us, is the "grandest grand collection of grand collections." And yes, Richie himself makes a cameo—adding to his own commercial lore in the process.

While the voiceover copy is a bit Old Spicey, the ad blends the winking melodrama of "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" with a healthy heaping of mock pretension, à la Bryan Cranston selling an iPad, and a dash of good old-fashioned Ron Swanson style woodworking.

It has the obligatory sports-stats reference. It's beautifully shot and well paced, and entertaining enough. It makes its point, however circuitously, that the product is like a finely crafted instrument.

A second spot, meanwhile, likens the collection to the invention of a better, stronger lightbulb—complete with a shattering sledgehammer and the ability to make even Judah Friedlander look dapper. Sorry, ladies. It's just another metaphor for sneakers.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Clients: Nike and Foot Locker
Campaign: "Made by Kobe"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Don Shelford, Rob Thompson
Copywriter: Adam Noel
Art Director: Jon Kubik
Producer: Shannon Worley
Executive Agency Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Account Team: Jordan Muse, Heather Morba
Executive Creative Directors: Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples

Production Company: Traktor Towers
Director: Traktor
Executive Producer: Rani Melendez
Line Producer: Rani Melendez
Director of Photography: Bojan Bozelli

Editing Company: Stitch Editorial
Editor: Andy McGraw
Assistant Editor: Alex Tedesco
Post Producer: Chris Girard
Post Executive Producer: Juliet Batter

Visual Effects Company: The Mill
Visual Effects Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson
Flame Artists: James Allen, Glyn Tebbutt
Visual Effects Producers: Dan Roberts, Antonio Hardy
Titles, Graphics: Justin Morris

Music, Sound Company: Beacon Street Studios
Composers: John Nau, Andrew Feltenstein
Sound Designer: Mike Franklin
Songs: "Out of the Woods" ("Piano"), "The Wunder r3" ("Lightbulb")
Executive Producer: Leslie Dillullo

Mix Company: Beacon Street Studios
Mixer: Mike Franklin
Assistant Engineer: Dewey Thomas
Producer: Caitlin Rocklin

It's been almost a year since we've seen Terry Crews psychotically scream his way through an Old Spice sales pitch. So, to make up for lost time, we get twice the Terry in one spot. 

"Get Shaved in the Face" is the newest oddity from Wieden + Kennedy, which first tapped Crews in 2010 for a series of over-the-top spots directed by comedy duo Tim & Eric. In this installment, Crews faces the existential dilemma of whether to shave off a facial hair that appears to be his micro-clone.

While Isaiah Mustafa is still the most iconic Old Spice guy, Crews seems to be the brand's personality of choice over the long term. He's gone from advertising Odor Blocker Body Wash to shaving cream—and here he's fronting Old Spice's newest foray into grooming hardware. Thanks to a partnership with Braun, you can now buy an Old Spice Hair Clipper ($49.99), Beard & Head Trimmer ($49.99), Wet & Dry Shave & Trim ($59.99), Shaver ($69.99) and Wet & Dry Shaver ($79.99).

They're apparently the perfect devices for committing anthropomorphic follicide—you know, in case that's an issue for you.

CREDITS
Client: Old Spice
Project: "Get Shaved in the Face"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley
Copywriter: Andy Laugenour
Art Director: Matt Sorrell
Broadcast Producer: Jennifer Hundis
Director of Broadcast Production: Ben Grylewicz
Account Team: Georgina Gooley, Nick Pirtle, Michael Dalton, Jessica Monsey
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples

Production Company: Gifted Youth
Direction, Editing, Visual Effects: Fatal Farm
Sound Mix: Charlie Keating, Joint Editorial

Electronic Arts is searching for an agency to handle its media business in the U.S.

The search comes amid a split with longtime incumbent WK Media. WK had handled the business since 2005.

EA's domestic media spending is estimated at $130 million annually. Select Resources International in Santa Monica, Calif. is managing the search.

In a statement, EA vp of social marketing Chris Thorne thanked WK Media for its efforts through the years and said EA's relationships with its creative agencies and MediaCom, its media shop in overseas markets, remain in place.

EA game titles include Madden NFL, The Sims, FIFA Soccer, Need for Speed and Battlefield. The company is expected to complete its search in May.