Take me down to the “Foam City” where the grass is greener…

After months of online chatter, Fallon London’s Sony Foam City ad has been released, pushing the latest Handycam and Cybershot ranges.

The campaign sees downtown Miami flooded with 460 million litres of foam by a machine that generates over 2 million litres of foam every minute.

The ad broke today in Europe, but will not appear on UK TV screens until 1 May.

In the ad over 200 residents from Miami are invited to enter “Foam City” armed with the cameras from the range to capture reactions.

The spot is directed by Simon Ratigan at HLA and uses 3 cameras running 80,000 feet of film.

It features music composed by Warren Ellis, from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

All the images taken on the shoot will be uploaded to an online database and is accompanied by a digital campaign that focuses on the technologies of the new camera range.

The ad ends with the line: images.like.no.other

Credits

Project name: Foam City
Creative agency: Fallon London
Client & their job title: James Kennedy, General Manager, Sony Marketing Communications Europe
Brief: Unite Sony’s digital camera brands under one umbrella campaign
Creatives: Samuel Akesson & Tomas Mankovsky
Agency Producer: Emma Gooding
Planner: Heidi Hackemer
Production Company: HLA
Director: Simon Ratigan
Editor: Bruce Townend at The Quarry
Post-production: MPC
Audio post-production: Wave
Media Agency: OMD
Media Strategist: Rupert Holroyd
Exposure: TV

Dem Haters And Juan Cabral

There’s been fast and furious rumors regarding the pay of Fallon London’s superstar creative, Juan Cabral. Apparently, the young buck takes home a million pounds. Heavens. Didn’t know that anyone in the business who wasn’t a Managing Director of a Death Star still made that kind of cash.

BBH blogger Scamp had this to say:

“We need Juan to be earning a million pounds a year, if we want to retain our status. You wouldn’t want to work in a third-tier glamour profession, would you?”

I would have to agree. Bully to Juan for taking home the big bucks. How much has he made for Fallon or his clients for that matter? The old adage of paying for what you get still holds true.

Naturally, people are going to be green with envy if this is 100% true. Juan and everyone else doing there thing should just put their head down, keep rolling and listen to Rihanna:

“They keep evil thoughts in their hearts (what you dont know)
You can’t let them knock your hustle
Not letting them know how much you struggle
They turn green with envy when your on top
And dem heart is full with strife
Their by gonna try to take your life”

Another brick in the Wall…

Michael Wall, co-founder & past President of Fallon London, has re-emerged as the CEO of BBDO Portugal where he officially started yesterday.

Let’s go to the official press release:

“Speaking about the appointment Joao Wengorovius (Chairman and CEO of the BBDO group in Portugal) said:

“This is an important hire for us, which will further enhance our local and international creative reputation. BBDO Portugal has won Agency of the Year in five out of the last six years and punches well above its weight in The Gunn Report. The addition of Michael is part of an ongoing programme to recruit the very best talent and ensure we serve our local and international clients to the highest level possible.”

William Eccleshare, Chairman and CEO of BBDO EMEA, said:

“Michael’s appointment is further evidence of BBDO’s commitment to recruit the very best talent at every BBDO agency.”

Michael Wall said:

“I’m delighted with this role. High calibre partners, a very strong agency, and in BBDO a brand and business that truly believes in the power of great work.”

Wall left Fallon last May after 9 years when he relocated his family to Portugal in what was termed a “need for a change in lifestyle.” He helped put Fallon London on the international map during his time there with award-winning work from Sony, as well as adding Orange and a roster spot on the Cadbury account.

Personally, I have met and talked to him on several occasions in my travels and he is a cool cat & great guy — glad he has found his place at a good networked agency and will no doubt in time be as successful in Portugal as he was in London.

And yeah…so that happened..

The follow-up effort from Fallon hit the airwaves in the UK on Saturday…and predictably it has not been as well-received as the Gorilla.

Apparently most are not seeing the point of the entire effort — are you supposed to be cheering for the smallest vehicle to win? What is the connection to the brand? (not that the Gorilla had one either.) What is the freakin’ point of the entire 90 seconds?

Seems that Fallon laid a bit of a turd on this one — but it was bound to happen. Have Pearl Jam ever gotten near to the crest of their career that was “Ten”? If Jerry Seinfeld ever did another sitcom — you’d think it would be as popular as his first effort?

Sometimes when you start out of the gate huge — well there is only one place to go… and fairly/unfairly — seems Juan Cabral is screwed either way.

If gorillas could fly…

Ok…so it doesn’t have the same ring as the classic “If Assholes Could Fly, This Place Would Be An Airport“…but in the better news of advertising… the sequel to Cadbury’s “Gorilla Ad” is coming this Saturday…

Of course, it is not a sequel — no gorilla this time — but it is created by Fallon’s Juan Cabral – the same dude who did the original Gorilla ad that took the internets by storm and won a whole slew of awards in the UK.

“Dubbed “Airport Trucks” — here is a description (courtesy of Brand Republic):

“The new ad, which like “gorilla” has been created by Fallon, is described as a “magical airport truck race” in which a small one-man vehicle plays the role of an underdog in a midnight race against an assortment of bigger and faster trucks, such as a baggage transporter and motorised stairs.

The ad is light-hearted and fun in line with its predecessor, but unlike “gorilla” it will not feature a Phil Collins track.

Instead, “airport trucks” will feature an unnamed soft rock track from the late 1970s or early 1980s, which is in the process of being chosen for the soundtrack….

“All the trucks have ‘pimped’ themselves to show their unique character, ready for the race of their lives. Phil Collins fans will be disappointed to hear that we haven’t plumped for another of his tracks but we can say it’s another great retro anthem.”

The “gorilla” ad, which featured a man in a gorilla suit playing drums to Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight’, quickly became a cult hit last year.

Cadbury partly attributed a 5% sales lift during 2007 to its popularity, while Sky reported that 58,000 households watched an extended version of the ad through the red button during the space of a fortnight.”

Not many times — other maybe outside the Super Bowl — do you see such madness created for a commercial. It better be awesome — or the backlash is going to be (as they said during my time in Boston – sans Southie accent) “wicked hard.”

No pressure, Juan, no pressure at all!

All hail the new leader of Fallon North America

Cribbed from a press release from this afternoon:

“Chris Foster has been named CEO, Fallon North America. Mr. Foster will have operational responsibility for Fallon’s headquarter operations based in Minneapolis. He begins the new gig on April 1.

Chris is joining Fallon from Saatchi & Saatchi NY where has been the Executive Vice President, Global Equity Director heading up the global business for P&G’s laundry and home care business. Previously he was CEO for Saatchi & Saatchi’s offices in Japan and Hong Kong. He is a Canadian and started is career in Toronto working for Bozell Worldwide, Leo Burnett, and FCB.”

Now we all know that Fallon Minneapolis has had multiple issues in regard to a variety of problems over the past few months — losing out on the Microsoft gig (that went to CP+B); the client departures — including BMW of North America, Lee Jeans and Citi, representing more than $250 million in billings; the hirings (and quick firings) of ECDs Paul Silburn from TWBA London & Kerry Feuerman from Leo Burnett –both who lasted less than a year in the post each time.

The best/worst contrast is the growth and development of Fallon’s London location — which is kicking major ass these days with the Cadbury “Gorilla” ads, the Sony Bravia & Walkman campaigns and the Skoda “Cake” work. Billings are up 150% and they are on fire…

Seems Chris has a bit of work to live up to the other locations… good luck to him!

Crispin Wins Microsoft And It’s A New World Order

Crispin has won Microsoft. We repeat. Crispin has won Microsoft. Pick your jaw up off the floor. You better recognize. The $300M brand (Pretty. Fucking. Sweet.) has selected the upstart, the rebel, the defy the odds and take prisoners agency of the day. They took JWT and McCann – two agencies that have been around the block and back. Fallon, the runner-up, has got to be shocked.

This is where you must sit back and consider. You’ve seen the Mac vs. PCs ads. Microsoft is a stalwart. A heavy machine that is the pillar of the economy, of the American way. This is no little brand. This isn’t a burger chain looking to be hip. This is Microsoft. The software titan has bypassed the death stars, the agencies with all the resources and international locations, hundreds of workers to select Crispin. The game has changed and permanently. The Rebel Alliance has won.

Fallon Made Us Chuckle

We hear, as do many an ad blog, that Fallon Minneapolis is looking good to take home the Microsoft win over Crispin. That would be huge and Fallon’s bumpy road aside, the shop deserves it. You know they do.

We also like the new Holiday Inn Express spots from the agency. Fallon performed some research, which showed that nearly half of business travelers surveyed say they’ve been picked up or hit on in the morning. We vouch for this weird bit of humor behavior and maybe that’s why we found the spots quite tickling.

The designated driver spot that has been running for a bit doesn’t grab us, but this one above titled “Ladies Night” gives us a chuckle. Have you ever been hit on at the breakfast buffet? It’s totally insane, hard to endure with a hangover and smeared mascara.

Juan Cabral And His Inspiration For The Cadbury Gorilla

Awhile ago, we speculated that Juan Cabral and Fallon UK might have been inspired by The Mighty Boosh when creating that drumming Cadbury gorilla. No big deal. We forgot all about it. Recently, other folks have been saying he was way more than inspired from a commercial on YouTube (see the video above).

Scamp broke the story: “Jury gossip reveals he originally

Fallon Vs. Crispin

We asked you who would win the much coveted Microsoft account – Crispin or Fallon. With 95 votes tallied, it seems you guys are calling Fallon as the winner (67% to 33%). If you haven’t placed your bets, do so here.

Some comments from our original blog entry included:

Ex-Fallonite said: “God I hope Fallon wins it. If not, people there will need to be put on suicide watch. Some heartbreaking losses and struggles over the last few years. I think they might do it this time. But who knows?”

Trevor said: “Crispin, no question. What the heck happened to Fallon anyway? Just a few short years ago, they breathed the same rarified air as Goodby and Weiden. Now their very survival is being called into question. Damn shame. When the results of the poll be revealed?”

We’ll keep you posted on further poll results.