Last Friday we helped Wheaties FUEL to launch the above new video from DJ Steve Porter. It’s the first of a series of videos designed to mix up the way people feel about the brand. Porter is a renowned DJ, and his real claim to fame is the wild success of his video remixes.
THIS IS THE REMIX
The first of the FUEL series was cut using footage from an earlier campaign featuring athletic partners for the brand like Peyton Manning, Kevin Garnett, Albert Pujols, Bryan Clan and Hunter Kemper. All of the videos will be available on the Wheaties FUEL Facebook and Youtube pages, and a 15-second television spot begins airing this week in Detroit, Salt Lake City, Louisville and Toledo. New York-based agency Saatchi & Saatchi partnered with the Wheaties FUEL team to develop the concept and support the campaign.
MORE TO COME
After the launch of the first video, a second remix will debut with the roll out of a Facebook app this June. The app will feature a tool allowing consumers to create their own mashups online. The third video of the series will be posted on the Wheaties FUEL Facebook and Youtube pages in late June/early July. Stay tuned for more info!
Christine is a Talent Manager at SaatchiNY. If you’re interested in more on her background, please head on over to her LinkedIn page. Portraits taken by resident H/H photographer Brian Davidson.
WHAT DO YOU DO AT SAATCHI & SAATCHI?
I’m a talent manager – a little bit of everything from recruitment to managing professional development.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB?
Ahhh, the days of working reception at a law firm in NJ. It was just like being in a John Grisham novel, minus Tom Cruise and all of the excitement.
WHAT LED YOU ON THE PATH YOU’RE ON TODAY?
My dad. He worked for many years as a Creative Director for Y&R – I have a bunch of his Clios from 1968 sitting in my office! Even though I knew the creative world wasn’t for me, I wanted stay close to the advertising industry and its people – Human Resources seemed like a great way to do both.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE AD (ALL TIME OR CURRENTLY)?
So hard to pick one! I’m partial to this Excedrin campaign . . .because its my father’s from waaay back in the day. =)
IF YOU NEVER HAD TO WORK AGAIN, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO DO?
Am I also loaded? Because if that’s the case, I’d hire an entourage made up of my friends and family and we’d travel the globe together. Want in?
FAVORITE PLACE YOU’VE BEEN TO?
Berlin! I have an odd affection for the street food, Currywurst.
WHAT’S YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION?
My LG flat screen. Is that terrible? I should have picked something more sentimental. Whatever, sorry . . . I love TV.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE YOUTUBE VIDEO?
This is pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on:
WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU MAKE REALLY WELL?
A giant mess of my bedroom.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE WARM-WEATHER NYC ACTIVITY?
Lying on grass while reading US Weekly.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHTIME SPOT NEAR THE OFFICE? Better Being Underground on Leroy St. The Fu Man Chew sandwich is a revelation.
WHAT’S THE BEST MEAL YOU’VE EVER HAD?
Braised short ribs & polenta followed by homemade chocolate cake. Made by mom.
IF YOU COULD BE THE WORLD RECORD HOLDER OF ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Most important person. Ever.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CREATIVE PURSUIT?
Improv Comedy! I’m currently a member of two improv teams. One called “The Enemy” and the other an all-girls team called “Goldie & The Hawns.” We perform regularly at The People’s Improv Theater.
WHAT BLOGS/MAGAZINES/BOOKS/PAPERS/WEBSITES CAN YOU NOT LIVE WITHOUT? Facebook, IMDB, and I’m currently obsessed with my friend Steve Soroka’s Blog – Steve Zings The Movies.
WHAT’S THE LAST GREAT EVENT YOU WENT TO? Scissor Sisters concert at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE GREATEST INVENTION OF YOUR LIFETIME IS AND WHY?
The iPhone (see Lovemark question above)! It keeps me entertained, keeps me in touch with my favorite people, and keeps me from getting lost.
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
It’s never too late to reinvent yourself!
For this week’s installment of “Links you should give a s#*t about,” we’ve asked Participation Planner Jared Grant to share some of the more entertaining, enlighting and engaging links from the web. Enjoy!
GAGAVILLE
We all are probably on Lady Gaga overload (I personally can’t get enough). Well she is popping on more than our TVs, magazine covers, YouTube videos, and iPods. She is now in Farmville. The hilarious promotional video at the top of the post says it all.
GOOGLE WALLET
Keywod convenient, Google is going to help us pay for our late night Sour Patch Kids and taxi rides with their newest product Google Wallet
CONAN O’BRIAN’S GUIDE TO CREATIVITY
This great Fast Company article offers an inside look at the way Conan O’Brian and his staff build out a show. It’s a really interesting read.
PINTEREST
Pinterest has been around for a bit but it’s still ramping up. This is a great digital pinboard platform to help you easily keep track of your inspirations. Request an invite to get started.
PRIZES FOR NOTHING
If you like a prize enter the Shopularity contest and secure as many votes as possible by any means necessary. If you have the most votes, you win the prize. No singing in-front of J.Lo, trivia to know the answers to, or entry cards to mail. You can be stupid and talentless as long as you have friends that like to vote.
JESSICA AND HUNTER
They’re a self-created provocative duo from YouTube. Their off-the-wall videos have made them local characters in LA and they are starting to ripple outward into the rest of culture. They are even making songs which you can get off iTunes. Just goes to show the power of originality and persistence can pay off. Check out their latest video.
FIND MISSING PEOPLE WITH FACEBOOK
To bring awareness to National Missing Children’s Day (May 25th), Miami Ad School creatives in Hamburg created a platform that uses facial recognition technology which scans public photos on Facebook to find your missing loved ones. If you are being kidnapped try to photo crash other people’s photos. Maybe you’ll get found.
TOM HANKS AS ANIMALS
For a completely absurd amount of entertainment, we present this Tumblr collection of gifs featuring Tom Hanks’ face on animal’s bodies. (We’ll just say “you’re welcome” in advance)
One of the many great illustrations from Barb's FIT series
Starting early next month, our very own Barbara Graetzer (Art Director at SaatchiNY) will be showing off her illustration wares at the FIT Graduate Illustration Show. Her series of illustrations, “Laughter Is an Instant Vacation” will be on view at the FIT museum (located at 27th Street and 7th Avenue), from the opening reception on June 7th (from 5:30pm-7:30pm) through to July 2nd.
Museum hours are Tuesday – Friday 12pm-8pm, and Saturday 10am-5pm. We’ve provided a little background on the work – which is awesome by the way – and we highly recommend visiting while it’s open to the public.
LAUGHTER AS AN INSTANT VACATION
To quote the official gallery literature:
“Laughter Is an Instant Vacation” is a series of illustrations exploring the world of comedy and its many personalities. I love comedy. I’ve performed as a stand-up comic myself and that gave me a lot of respect for the profession. I wanted to honor that. The title is a famous quote by Milton Berle “Laughter is an instant vacation”. That’s a very powerful idea and my work pays homage to that, says Barbara Graetzer.
Graetzer’s illustrations, done in ink and watercolor, highlight different iconic personalities in the world of comedy. “There’s a small story behind each of the people I picked, some of them I know personally, others I just find inspiring. As far as the imagery goes, I removed the environment, the background, and the narrative, to concentrate on the portraiture. The goal was to communicate the essence of their different personalities and to transmit their humor. I like the idea that my artwork can bring a smile to someone’s face.”
What are you waiting for? Add it to your calendar today!
In case you missed it, the Lenovo “For Those Who Do” campaign launched last Sunday during the Billboard Music Awards. The “Anthem” spot (seen above) kick-starts a big communications effort that includes additional TV spots, print, OOH, and digital work.
The campaign is aimed at all the Doers – those individuals who are driven by accomplishment. Those who live for the opportunity to roll up their sleeves, achieve great feats, and leave their mark on the world around them.
The Lenovo team at SaatchiNY has been hard at work the last few months to produce creative that will bring the Lenovo brand to the forefront and inspire the Doers to Do more and Do better with the help of Lenovo.
Be sure to look out for all the great work which will be rolling out in the coming weeks!
Last week SaatchiNY opened our summer Saatchi Sound Series with a set from Sub Pop folk-rock band The Head and the Heart. The band’s self-titled debut record has sold over 30,000 copies since they released it last year, and they have toured with(or are about to) such illustrious company as Dr. Dog, Iron & Wine, and Death Cab for Cutie. They also happen to be really nice. If you missed the show last week, or you’re a music fan in general, be sure to check out the below interview, pictures and videos. Then go buy the record . . . these guys rock! [special thanks to Jennie Armon at Amber Music for photos and video]
IN VIDEO
IN PICTURES
It was a full house
They rocked the house
And sang very impressively
Then Ryan Fitch thanked them for being awesome.
THE INTERVIEW
First off, tell us how you met.
We all met in February 2009. I [Jossiah] had been playing this open mic in Seattle for a couple of months. John moved from Virginia and he also started playing at the open mic. I think that for us, open-mic was a way to not be in a band – because bands can get weird and political sometimes. I guess after you have been in a couple of them, you get kind of jaded, unless its with the right people. It’s kind of like a relationship. We started writing songs together, and we had this group of friends who were all around the same open-mic circle and we would play these acoustic shows together. So we had that vibe going for a while, and then we met Kenny [who plays piano] and we realized that the three of us were more like a group, rather than this random collection of people.
Was there a specific moment when you guys realized you were offically a “band”?
It just kind of became more and more apparent. I mean we had to stop “dating” a couple people, and that was rough. And after that, it was just realizing “oh all you people really want to be here, cool – I guess now we have a band.”
When did you guys start recording as The Head and the Heart?
As soon as we had a band and we had a mission and then it was “and…go!” We originally thought that we were just going to record a demo, and do the show circuit, telling people “This is what we sound like, you should book us to play your show.” But, we kept nitpicking over things, and taking longer and spending more money, which was painful – but ultimately it ended up working out and sounding really good. This album was recorded last spring. We released it ourselves. Over the summer and into the fall we were just selling it on our own. [That is until, they were signed by Sub Pop!]
Is this your first time out touring together?
We did a week and a half tour in June last year, and a couple of three week tours last fall. The last four and a half months we have been all over the country and out of the country. Germany, Sweden, Norway, UK, Ireland, Scotland – all of those places!
What are some of the best places you’ve played so far?
Amsterdam. Not because Amsterdam is…Amsterdam. It was just a really good show. The audience was amazing! In London and Paris (we headlined shows there,) there were more people who were there just to see us, and that was kind of weird – to be like “how do you know about us, you live in another continent!” It’s amazing.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE IN THE STATES?
Boise. Boise out of all places man, its weird. I think its one of those things where its such a small market that gets looked over and passed over so often – that when there is a band, people freak out. We have played there 7 times. Our first shows were so bad and tiny, that anyone who was there – we became friends with. So when we come back, we stay at their houses. Its weird, its not a city that I would want to live in – but it feels like home when we go there.
How does the songwriting work with you guys?
It’s kind of back and forth. Some will be written by just Josiah, and some will be written completely by me [John.] On a lot of them, we will have a verse, or a verse and a chorus, and we will just finish each other’s songs. Usually whoever is playing acoustic or singing lead – wrote the song. Whoever wrote the words – sings the song, we never take the lead on someone else’s words.
Tell us a little bit about how you tackle your vocal harmonies.
We kind of just throw on harmonies everywhere, and then strip them back depending on the dynamics of the song. John and I have a really good ear for finding the first harmony – there is an easy harmony to find in my opinion, and then there is kind of like a weird interesting second harmony to find. Charity is really good at finding that. She has a really good handle on it. There was a time when we would harmonize on everything, all the time. We were obsessed, because we had never played with that many good singers.
What does the future hold for The Head and the Heart?
Traveling. Playing shows. Touring on these songs for now! Over the next two months we are opening for Iron and Wine, playing a couple of festivals, opening for Death Cab for Cutie over in Europe, and then opening for the Decemberists back here. We are doing pretty well. In the fall, we are going to do our first headlining tour nationally. It’s nice when people want you around!
Last week, INKLAB took ourselves for an outing in the rain to see “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” at the met for a deeply inspirational journey through the exhibition. Beholding his mastery of balance, scale and proportion in the smorgasbord of materials he worked with will leave you in awe.
TWO DECADES IN THE MAKING
More work from the McQueen Exhibit
The two decade retrospective is broken into 5 areas and although it times you feel like cattle heading to slaughter it does make the experience all the more memorable. One room is covered in tarnished antique mirrors, another arranged like a “cabinet of curiosities” to showcase his accessories. As you wind your way through his body of work you are constantly being reminded that this is not fashion—it is the sublime.
The pieces i admired the most are the ones closest to nature: a coral head dress, a carved wooden bust, a top fashioned from mussel shells, a dress of pheasant feathers, a heel made from horn, a skirt constructed of nacreous shells.
SO MUCH BEAUTY
Headdresses and shoes
So much beauty, and had he not passed few of us would have had the fortune of seeing any of it. A gorgeous catalogue of the pieces photographed by Sølve Sundsbø is available in the gift shop. On the cover is a lenticular lens that shows McQueen and a metallic skull—just the kind of haunting beauty that captured the spirit of his visions.
Fair warning though . . . it’s easy to see why this exhibit is so hugely popular. The crowds were immense, so we highly recommend you see it for yourselves…first thing in the morning…on a weekday.
