Digitally Killing Jesus

Surviving a drone attack with an Audi. Celebrating unconventional everyday heroes with IKEA. Cringing at an overly long, really boring and positively disgusting homage to an ad show.

Yep. It’s been that type of week. And this kick-ass digital website for Killing Jesus makes it even better.

Religion aside, this is an HTML 5, multimedia, tour de force from the folks at Mullen. Complete with audio clips, archaeological tidbits and sweeping tableaus that scroll like butter, the site delivers “the greatest story every retold” just in time for Easter. The three-hour docudrama airs Palm Sunday on the National Geographic Channel (trailer here).

Prepare to be immersed (to immerse yourself?) in a digital site that tackles Jesus from three different viewpoints: Son of God (the view of Christ and his disciples), Son of Man (the view of the Jewish priests of the time), and Threat to Rome (the political/economic implications).

Warning: You can easily spend hours scrolling through each chapter, flipping from one perspective to the other. Simple and straightforward navigation lets you get lost in the story without getting lost in the website.

Yes, there are bible verses, but relax. This isn’t your typical Sunday School lesson. The writing is easily digestible to keep you scrolling along at a good clip. The site will also surprise you with informative audio clips here and there, so make sure you volume is turned up. The background track isn’t overly annoying, so there’s that.

Finally, did I mention the tableaus? Do yourself a favor and go full screen. You’ll thank me later.

 

That’s McDonalds? What A Shame.

Despite the abysmal ratings and overly scripted comedic moments, this year’s Oscars managed to pull off some stellar moments. Most of which had little to do with the ceremony itself, but everything to do with advertising. GS&P New York pulled off a visual tour de force for Comcast Xfinity with Emily’s Oz which easily became Ad Age’s Ad of The Day. And then, there was the spot that managed to simply convey movie magic and captivate audiences weary of a bloated awards telecast. Right up until the brand reveal.

I’m talking about this wonderful spot from Leo Burnett Chicago for McDonalds.

Simple. Highly interactive. Perfect. Everyone was enthralled at the party I attended, yelling out answers, pointing at the screen and clapping their hands with every solved equation. Then came the reveal and with it a collective groan. “McDonalds?! Aw, I really liked that commercial. What a shame!”

In that moment, I understood the power of branding like never before. Here you had that right ingredients (pun intended) for a marketing slam dunk. Every ingredient except the most important one: a reputable brand.

McDonalds used to be cool. Growing up, we happily drank the marketing Kool-Aid, singing, “Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese…” Fast forward through years of poor wages for its workers, questionable business practices, pink slime and other nutritional violations and you’re left with a brand image that’s severely tarnished. Not to mention all of the marketing missteps like this one. Now, it seems it might take a lot more happy meals, charitable actions and Ronald McDonald shuffling to get them back to where they used to be.

Oh, and what’s not helping is the wee bit of controversy about the originality of said Oscar spot.

 

Sara’s Secret: Cucumber | Ads of the World

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Did this run in the states? If so, was it at 3 a.m. sandwiched between an Enzyte and Girls Gone Wild ad? Well, if it didn’t run here, it was definitely made in the US (in Dallas to be exact) by an agency called Dieste. Personally, I think it’s funny and memorable, Sara’s Secret is definitely on my list of stores to go to the next time I’m out shopping for sex toys. The only disturbing part is that the cucumber is back in the refrigerator (and under a pizza!) at the end.

 

Scary PSA

So, totally pissed right now. I had a really good post for these two and totally deleted it a second ago. Oh, well. These two PSAs are really creepy, but not really that effective in my opinion. Let me know what you think.

 

NMCU (Norwegian Motorcycle Union): Bugs | Ads of the World

Today’s Adventure in Advertising comes from Ads of the World. This site has a huge collection of creative pieces from all of the world, so if you interested in seeing some great stuff, some not so great stuff, and some just plain weird stuff, go here.So, I like the TV spot that follows for a couple of different reasons:

1. What an interesting way to portray how people in cars sometimes ignore people on motorcycles.

2. It’s such a simple idea, one that anyone whose driven a car can relate to.

3. It’s a PSA that’s not a tear jerker, not a shocker, and still makes you think.

Enjoy!

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