Pussy People by Ikea

Remember that really beautiful IKEA advertisement from last year, where the cats run around and play and sleep on things, just to remind us that we are “happy inside” (with IKEA furniture)? Well, it seems that that along with the behind the scenes video–Herding Cats–another video was released as part of the IKEA Cats promotion: Pussy People.

Pussy People isn’t about an IKEA store nor is it really an advertisement for a product itself. Instead, the video delves into the lives of the people who own the cats in the Happy Inside advertisement. We meet several cat loving people, namely Dorothy Woodhouse (a cat show president), Beryl Reeves (a cat sculptor), and–my favorite, champagne swigging mum–Ros Hamilton (a cat lover). We learn about their love for cats and what being a cat owner means to them. We also learn something very important: what the term “pussy people” means, which is actually a very existential look into what it means to call something a “person.”

This video is a hoot and such a beautiful, well shot, funny, bite-sized documentary to brighten up your day and make you rethink cats. It takes a lot to make a commercial for a company that isn’t about any of their products work, but Pussy People definitely does a lot of good for IKEA. And, for cats.

KYLE

Nike ‘Write The Future’ Commercial

I’m not a big football (soccer for us Yanks) fan though I know the majority of the world is, but watching this new Nike Football commercial for their upcoming Write The Future campaign totally gave me chills. The spot was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, who you might also know as the director of movies like Babel and 21 Grams as well as the producer of football movie Rudo y Cursi. The story follows several of the biggest football stars out there, though I could only name Ronaldo, going through the “what if’s?” and potential outcomes of the matches they’re playing.

Watching it I was totally riveted and actually got a little emotional, it definitely hit all the right buttons for me. Iñárritu’s direction is spot and the team he worked with should absolutely be commended for creating such a rad commercial that nearly feels like a short film. I love when Wayne Rooney’s kick gets intercepted and all of England rejects him, tearing down his posters, the stock market crashes and all hell breaks loose… and he knows he has to make up for it quickly in order to divert disaster.

If you’re curious, the players in the commercial are Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Fabio Cannavaro, Franck Ribery, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Patrice Evra, Gerard Pique, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Thiago Silva. Plus it’s fun to see Homer Simpson, Gael Garcia Bernal (who starred in Rudo y Cursi) and Kobe Bryant.

Bobby

Audi’s “Unbox The Box” Commercial

While watching the Papercraft DVD (as mentioned in the previous post) I came across this really amazing commercial by the folks over at 1st Ave Machine and Passion Pictures. It’s a simple concept executed exceptionally well. A little felt-marker-doodle man pops out of a plain white cardboard box and starts folding it together, slowly turning it into an Audi Q5. All the little details are done perfectly and the song playing in the background makes the whole thing feel so charming.

Bobby

Snoopy and Kaela Kimura for Hot Pepper

I constantly get catchy beats in my head, so I had to share this gem of an ad. It’s for the free discount/coupon paper Hot Pepper, featuring Snoopy and Japanese pop star Kaela Kimura singing the best song I may have ever heard. I just can’t stop listening to this! And she’s so cute too, dancing around in her little tights and oversized shirt. I dare you to not play this over and over.

Found through Jean Snow

Bobby

Doing Things Differently Leads To Something Exceptional

Absolut Vodka has teamed up with director Rupert Sanders to create a series of advertisements that absolutely (ugh) make me smile. The ad features a number of different locales, the forest, city, snow and so on, and in each place there’s a different word, which eventually creates the phrase, “Doing Things Differently Leads To Something Exceptional.” The overall effect is pretty stunning, I mean the creative direction behind it is really top notch.

I think my favorite scene is with the bottles in the forest. They were somehow able to raise and lower the height of the bottles, so when you see it at first they look about waist high. But then later you can see them from below, spelling the word ‘Things.’ Over 2,000 bottles were used to create the effect.

I’ve put behind the scene videos for each of the words under the cut, so don’t forget to take a peek at those as well. It’s really rad being able to see how they created each of these shots.

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