Dodge was taking a bit of a risk in hiring Ron Burgundy as pitchman—the ads, after all, promote Anchorman 2 at least as much as they sell any car. But the automaker must be happy with the number of times the brand and model names get uttered in Will Ferrell's latest spot for the automaker, which broke Sunday. He has a lot more to say, anyway, than he did the previous weekend in the "Get the Heck" spot, also posted below. Agency: Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore.

UPDATE: Another three new spots hit YouTube this afternoon. See them all below.

Gerry Graf is getting the old team back together.

The founder and chief creative officer of Barton F. Graf 9000 has hired Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal, his former key lieutenants at TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York, as partners and executive creative directors. Most recently, Vitrone and Reichenthal ran the New York creative department of Wieden + Kennedy as co-ecds.

At Barton F. Graf, Vitrone and Reichenthal will focus on what they do best: nurturing talent and creating memorable, character-driven and, at times, bizarre ads. The hires give the growing New York shop a total of three ecds. The other one, Brandon Lugar, also came from W+K.

"Scott and Ian are hands down the greatest creative directors in the world," Graf said, in a statement. "It's almost unimaginable the effect they will have on Barton F. Graf 9000."

A fourth ecd, Eric Kallman, has left the agency and is expected to take a top role at another shop. In fact, his decision to leave triggered Graf's move to hire Vitrone and Reichenthal. The shop employs more than 40 staffers, including 17 in the creative department.

At TBWA\C\D, "Scott and Ian," as they're known in the industry, worked primarily on Mars, helping to create Cannes Lion-winning work such as "Sheep Boys" for Skittles and the "Man Mom" campaign for Combos. Their W+K work included the head-turning repositioning of Southern Comfort, which began with a stout man's proud walk on a beach.

The duo parlayed their earlier creative success as group cds at TBWA\C\D into the opportunity run creative deparments: first at Young & Rubicam in New York, and then at W+K. Along the way, they diversified their reels, not only in terms of the types of brands but also in kinds of work.

Since TBWA\C\D, Vitrone and Reichenthal have touched everything from Xerox and LG to Heineken and ESPN. And now they'll work across all Barton F. Graf accounts, including Dish Network, Kayak, Little Caesars, Unilever (Ragú, Bertolli and Wish-Bone) and Finlandia.

In Britain, where Christmas ads are a pretty big deal, the battle for this season's supremacy continues with the Tesco ad below, from Wieden + Kennedy in London. And it couldn't be more different from John Lewis's lavish animated production.

Is it bad that when I first watched the Tesco spot—which is made to look like old home-movie footage of Christmases past—that I immediately thought of Clark Griswold in his attic, killing time reliving the Decembers of his own youth? The approach is so sentimental, it's already borderline parody—though of course there's no slapstick punch line in the Tesco ad to punctuate how cheesy this kind of nostalgia can be.

Instead, it's earnest—in keeping with the brand itself. And the spot—directed by John Crowley and set to Rod Stewart's 1988 hit "Forever Young"—is interesting to watch largely because of the incredible attention to detail in the period sets and costumes, following one family in and around the same home from the '60s to the present day. Crowley shot on 8-millimeter film for the '60s and '70s, then on videotape beginning in the '80s, and a smartphone for the present day. The agency sourced actual Tesco products in their actual vintage packaging from a brand museum. There were 12 different setups, and of course, plenty of hair and makeup work went into aging the couple.

The tagline is: "There's nothing better than Christmas."

Does it work? It might depend on your tolerance for sentimentality. For me, professional camerawork that takes pains to look amateurish can be distracting. (Plus, it marginalizes the director's own skills of framing and composition, which don't have to be at odds with a nostalgic theme at all—see BBH London's brilliant KFC spot from 2011.) And there's the issue, too, that watching someone else's (faux) memories of Christmas have only so much bearing on your own memories, even at a holiday with so much shared imagery and custom.

That said, the spot undeniably captures Tesco's down-to-earth spirit. "We had great fun building sets and laughing at fashions and toys of years gone by. We wanted to show what a real Christmas is all about—not a perfect, airbrushed one—but the ones we recognize from our own lives," says David Wood, Tesco's U.K. marketing director. W+K creative director Ray Shaughnessy adds: "Let's face it, Christmas isn't perfect and Tesco's point of view is, nor is it supposed to be. … Through the good, the bad and the occasionally ugly bits of real Christmases, Tesco properly get under the skin of things, and show that it's the being together that really counts."

Now, if someone could just fall through some attic stairs at the end, we'd be all set.

CREDITS
Client: Tesco
Spot: Christmas 2013 :A Family Christmas"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
Creative Directors: Dan Norris & Ray Shaughnessy
Copywriter: Sophie Bodoh
Art Director: Dagmar Hoogland
Producer: James Guy
Account Team: Charlotte Evans & Ollie Pym
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson / Kim Papworth
Executive Producer: Danielle Stewart

Production Company: Tomboy Films
Director: John Crowley
Executive Producer: Barnaby Spurrier
Line Producer: Production Manager – Ella Herlihy
Director of Photography: Rob Hardy

Editorial Company: Final Cut
Editor: Struan Clay
Post Producer: Frankie Elster
Post Executive Producer: Michelle Corney

VFX Company: MPC
VFX Supervisor: Bevis Jones
Flame Artist: Bevis Jones, Christopher Fraser
VFX Producer: Marianna Bruynseels
Titles/Graphics: W+K Studio

Music and Sound Design
Composer: TBC
Sound Designer: Aaron Reynolds
Song: "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart
Producer: Amber Clayton
Music supervision: Major Tom

Mix Company: Wave Studios

Thanksgiving may still be two weeks away, but the trickle of holiday commercials this week became a torrent, especially from retailers in Britain, who take their Christmas advertising responsibilities very seriously. 

Three of our contenders below are meant to put the spirit of the season in your heart and remove your wallet from your pocket. Do John Lewis, Tesco and the NBA pull this off? Or is Kmart's new good-versus-evil spot, or a short film for Prada—directed by Wes Anderson and starring Jason Schwartzman—the best ad of the week? 

Watch them all below, and vote for your favorite. We'll name a winner later this afternoon. And if your favorite's not listed here, let us know in the comments.

UPDATE: Congrats to the NBA, whose ad was voted the week's best by Adweek readers.

Taking its cues from the great 1997 documentary Hands on a Hardbody, Dodge and Wieden + Kennedy will launch a contest Tuesday called Hands on Ron Burgundy—an online test of endurance that will feature daily prizes as well as a grand prize of (as in the movie) a new car. In the film, contestants put their hands on a pickup truck, and the last person to take his or her hand off won the truck. The Burgundy contest, part of a larger campaign promoting the Dodge Durango and the upcoming film Anchorman 2, will go live at noon ET on Tuesday—and it looks like it will challenge users to click on Burgundy in photo after photo. The details will become clearer tomorrow, but it will surely take some serious stamina to win the car.

This kind of advertising as punishment was popular a few years back, when Burger King made people watch a spinning Whopper for hours on end to get coupons—and, in a somewhat similar idea to Dodge's, Peugeot had people click and hold their mouse button on a car for a chance at a free week's rental. People lasted up to 15 hours in that contest (and 77 hours in the movie)—so, proceed with this Burgundy thing with caution.

Envy makes advertising go round—when creatives aren't busying copying ideas, they're coveting them. D&AD celebrates that dynamic with a series of new spots, created by Wieden + Kennedy in London, to promote the awards show's 2014 call for submissions.

In the videos, industry heavyweights including Dan Wieden share their picks for work from the past year that they "wish they'd done." In Wieden's case, it's an ad by Barton F. Graf 9000 that proposes changing the titles of devastating hurricanes from apparently random names like Katrina and Sandy to names like Marco Rubio and Michele Bachmann, in an attempt to lay blame for the natural disasters on politicians who deny climate change. It's sort of like an "Oh, diss, gotcha dummy" on the dilapidated playground of American politics—but done in a way Wieden hopes will actually have some positive effect.

The other spots focus on mediums beyond straight advertising. For the digital category, W+K alum Iain Tait, now at Google Creative Lab, praises Philips's Internet-connected, color-changing lightbulbs. For the design category, Jessica Walsh of Sagmeister & Walsh spotlights the new "W" logo for the Whitney Museum, in what may be, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most opaque explanation to the uninitiated—because design work that looks good doesn't always translate to the most down-to-earth or persuasive argument.

The parts of the promos most worth envying may be the opening zoetrope animations that Nexus's Productions Factory Fifteen developed. The spinning toys pack in quick references to past standout work—the advertising bit, for example, includes the Guardian's "Three Little Pigs" opus (BBH), Honda's flying motors (W+K) and Cadbury's famous Phil Collins gorilla (Fallon). For insiders, the presence of such greats should amp the challenge to submit—or maybe just render it moot. Nobody is ever going to make anything half as good as a big-feeling simian beating the crap out of a drum kit.

After more than 18 years at Wieden + Kennedy, Tom Winner is calling it a day.

Winner, the longtime U.S. director of media buying for the full-service shop, is retiring and will be succeeded by a key lieutenant, group director of media buying Patrick Mauro. The handoff takes effect next month.

Mauro himself is a veteran of Wieden, having joined in 1996. Most recently, he worked on accounts such as Electronic Arts, Old Spice and Booking.com. As director, he’ll lead broadcast buying on more than a dozen brands, including Nike, ESPN, Facebook and ABC.

Winner, 67, was among the first staffers at Wieden’s New York office when it opened in 1995. He joined the independent agency after more than 20 years in the business, beginning in the research department at NBC and continuing at Advanswers, William Esty and Anheuser-Busch, where he was director of the Busch Media Group in New York.

“That’s a 42-year career in advertising. Think about that for a minute,” Wieden president Dave Luhr said. “That’s unheard of and a true testament to his substance.”

Before Wieden, the 43-year-old Mauro handled TV planning and sales at Paramount Television and Blair Television. In his new role, he'll oversee about 20 staffers. Wieden’s North American media boss--leading all media planning and buying--is director of media Lawrence Teherani-Ami, who is based in the shop’s Portland, Ore., headquarters.

Depending on your views (or ability to carry a tune), karaoke can be a fun way to let loose among friends or a guaranteed path to total embarrassment. This year, in the name of holiday cheer, Heineken helped realize the very worst fears of those in the latter group.

Working with Wieden + Kennedy in New York, the brand invited a bunch of people—presumably plied with promises of unlimited Heineken—to participate in a delightful holiday evening of "Carol Karaoke." But unbeknownst to these poor schmucks, Heineken's henchmen have hidden a TV studio behind a curtain in preparation to broadcast the performances live in Times Square, on taxi screens around New York and on the Jumbotron at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

After a few rounds of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells," Heineken reveals the ruse, and gives the karaoke-ers a choice: ditch the mic, or continue singing the carol … for 30,000 strangers.

These people were already naive enough to have agreed to "Carol Karaoke" (seriously, who does that? You go to karaoke bars to sing "Baby Got Back," not "Little Drummer Boy"), so it's not much of a surprise that a good number of them are more than willing to share their vocal talents with thousands of people. Equally unsurprising is that none of them are very good singers. (Although mic drop guy is admittedly pretty awesome.) At least the Wizards fans appear to have gotten some mild amusement from the whole thing. 

But you know what? It's not about talent. It's about the holiday spirit! (And also marketing stunts.) Because as a wise elf once said, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear."

CREDITS
Client: Heineken
Project: Carol Karaoke

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone
Creative Directors: Erik Norin & Eric Steele

Copywriter: Will Binder
Art Director: Jared White
Producer: Orlee Tatarka
Executive Producer: Nick Setounski
Head of Content Production: Lora Schulson

Account Team: Patrick Cahill, Samantha Wagner, Kristen Herrington
Business Affairs: Lisa Quintela

Production Company: M ss ng P eces
Director: Josh Nussbaum
Executive Producer/COO: Ari Kuschnir
Executive Producer: Kate Oppenheim
Executive Producer: Dave Saltzman
Line Producer: Tory Lenosky
Director of Photography: Adam Jandrup

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial
Editor: Kelly Brickner
Post Producer: Michelle Carman
Post Executive Producer: Michelle Carman
Editorial Assistants: Jess Baclesse / Stephen Nelson / Kadie Migliarese

VFX Company: Joint
VFX Lead Flame: Yui Uchida

Telecine Company: Company 3
Colorist: Tom Poole

Mix Company: Plush NYC
Mixer: Rob Fielack

Old Spice appears to be gunning directly for Axe with a new line of refresh body sprays, two new spray scents—with the explosively awesome names of Bearglove and Lionpride—and some of its first spots targeted directly at the fragile psyches of teenage boys.

The concept is that Old Spice will make you smell like a man, which will make ladies treat you like a man, which will make your poor mother cry. Easier than running afoul of the law and far more satisfying than simply talking back, men around the nation now have a healthier way to rebel: Just spray to get laid.

In the three spots from the "Smellcome to Manhood" campaign, by Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., the lamentations of the mothers are conveyed in amusing musical fashion as they stalk their sons. The frumpy old moms are seriously creepy, dressing up like janitors, washing up on beaches like corpses and sliding up the ball return at the bowling alley as their sons are out on dates with nice young ladies. Even better, the nice young ladies actually look like nice young ladies and not lingerie models twice their age. For extra mom-upsetting value, the two :15s are both interracial. The :30 is better than the :60, which is a more in-depth bildungsroman and has some seriously weird parts in it.

Fun fact: While the spots don't get into it, the campaign is part of an education effort by the brand to prevent the scourge of overspraying—you know, where young men overcompensate for the hideous smell of their pubescent bodies by dousing themselves with the magical juice that promises to bring bikinied babes running at them in slow motion, except all it does is set off the fire alarm or cause kids in the school to be hospitalized. Supposedly, Old Spice is tackling that somehow with these spots. (See more in the infographic below.) But more important, it's doing it with an awesome PSA about how to scent responsibly that involves synthesizers and a guy in a mullet.

If anyone can spray goodbye to boyhood hygiene habits, Old Spice can.

CREDITS
Client: Old Spice
Project: Old Spice Global | Refresh Body Sprays
Global Marketing Director: Bobbie Jo Ehlers
Global Brand Manager: Mathew Krehbiel
Global Associate Brand Manager: Charlie Nutting

Agency
Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Craig Allen, Jason Bagley
Copywriters: Justine Armour, David Povill
Art Director: Ruth Bellotti
Senior Producer: Lindsay Reed
Account Team: Liam Doherty, Diana Gonzalez, Yaya Zhang, Jessica Monsey
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman, Joe Staples
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Steve Ayson
Executive Producer: Emma  Wilcockson
Line Producer: Mark Hall
Director of Photography: Ryley Brown

Editing
Editing Company: HutchCo
Editor: Jim Hutchins
Assistant Editor: Patrick O’Leary
Post Producer: Jane Hutchins

Visual Effects
Visual Effects Company: The Mill
Head of Production: Arielle Davis
Executive Producer: Sue Troyan
Producer: Adam Reeb
Coordinator: Ben Sposato
Creative Director, Flame Lead: Tim Davies
Shoot Supervisor: Steve Anderson
3-D Lead: Meng-Yang Lu
3-D Artists: Mike Di Nocco, John Price
2-D Artists: Lisa Ryan, Margolit Steiner, Jale Parson, Edward Black, Steve Cokonis, Tara De Marco, Tim Robbins, Dag Ivarsory

Music
Music Company: Walker
Producer: Sara Matarazzo
Assistant Producer: Abbey Hickman
Composer, Arranger: Brad Neely
Music Record: Warehouse Studio, GGRP Productions
Music Record Engineer: Vince Renaud 
Composition Engineer: Graeme Gibson
Music Engineer Assistant: Zach Blackstone
Record Coordinator: Derick Cobden
Final Mix Studio: Barking Owl
Post Engineer: Brock Babcock
Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Color Transfer
Company: MPC
Artist: Mark Gethin

While most of the ad industry is busy buzzing about Super Bowl XLVIII, let's not forget that other massive sporting event (i.e., branding opportunity) on the horizon: the 2014 Winter Olympics. Procter & Gamble certainly isn't overlooking the Sochi games, and in classic wholesome Midwestern fashion, the company has already started rolling out its latest installment of the long-running, tearjerking "Thank you, Mom" campaign celebrating the matriarchs behind athletes everywhere.

Despite focusing on a quartet of icy winter sports, the new spot, "Pick Them Back Up," is as warm and fuzzy as it gets. The video follows four future athletes—a skier, ice skater, snowboarder and hockey player—from their first (not so successful) baby steps to their Olympic debuts. But the ad isn't really about the athletes, of course. It's about the dedicated moms who were there to pick them up when they fell (which is quite a lot), ice their bruises and warm their freezing toes—and send them back out to try again.

Whether or not you've ever actually been a parent, it's pretty hard not to get a little misty about "Pick Them Back Up." The spot, by Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore. (and director Lance Acord, who previously did Nike's "Jogger" spot through W+K), has all the essential ingredients for a successful heartwarmer, from adorable tumbling babies and determined kids to painful disappointment followed by well-deserved triumph (plus a great cinematic score). And it manages to stop short of becoming too cloying.

The public seems to agree: The two-minute video, which will make its TV premiere on Sunday during the Golden Globe Awards, has already racked up nearly 1.5 million views on YouTube since being posted two days ago. (The campaign actually kicked off in October with "Raising an Olympian," a film series showcasing the journey of 28 world-class athletes as seen through the eyes of their moms.)

And what about the dads, you ask? Well, when they catch up to their female counterparts as the primary purchasers of P&G products at the supermarket, maybe they'll get a little love too.

CREDITS
Client: Procter & Gamble
Project: "Pick Them Back Up"

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Director/Copywriter: Kevin Jones
Creative Director/Art Director: Ollie Watson
Senior Producer: Erika Madison
Account Team: Eric Gabrielson / Jesse Johnson
Strategic Planner: Dave Burg
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Susan Hoffman
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Park Pictures
Director/DP: Lance Acord
Executive Producer/Owner: Jackie Kelman-Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Line Producer: Caroline Kousidonis
Production Designer: Jason Hamilton

Editorial Company: Joint
Editor: Peter Wiedensmith
Post Producer: Ryan Shanholtzer
Post Executive Producer: Patty Brebner
Assistant Editor: Kristy Faris

VFX Company: A52
Executive Producers: Jennifer Sofio Hall / Megan Meloth
VFX Supervisor: Patrick Murphy
VFX Producer: Kim Christensen
Lead Flame Artists: Patrick Murphy / Andy Bate
Flame Artist: Steve Wolff
Roto Artists: Cathy Shaw / Robert Shaw
CG Supervisor: Kirk Shintani
CG Artists: Erin Clark / Adam Carter / Joe Chiechi

Song: Primavera
Composer: Ludovico Einaudi
Sound Designer: Peter Wiedensmith

Mix Company: Eleven
Mixer: Jeff Payne
Producer: Caroline O'Sullivan

Don't think of your tax return as an annual blood sacrifice to our merciless bureaucratic overlords. Think of it more as a delightful recap of your exciting and eventful life!

That's the upbeat message of TurboTax's new campaign from Wieden + Kennedy, themed "It's Amazing What You're Capable Of." With ads already running on TV and online, the campaign will also include a 60-second Super Bowl spot—the brand's first. (In addition, parent company Intuit is donating a 30-second Super Bowl ad slot to a small business selected by voters.)

Each ad in the TurboTax campaign focuses on the major life decisions you make each year that can have an impact on your taxes. "That's what taxes are: a recap, the story of your year," notes the narrator. And speaking of the narrator, it sure sounds like character actor John C. Reilly, but as with many celebrity-voiced campaigns of late, the agency couldn't confirm that due to contractual obligations.

Check out the anthem spot below and a few more executions after the jump.

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