Following MINI + Vice to All the Wrong Places

The first MINI campaign I fell in love with was Profero London's "White Rabbit" execution in 2006. For me, it first positioned the iconic car as a symbol of whimsical pursuit. While Louis Vuitton positions travel as a single moment of static luxury, MINI is all about the spirit of the move, with chase starring both as adventure and game.

BSUR Amsterdam gave this approach an exciting new angle with ROCKETMAN, tying MINI back to its roots while imbibing us with a strong whiff of nostalgia -- not the stuffy kind, something more akin to patriocy. It also wed MINI's past to our future.

I talked to ECD Jason Schragger a few months ago about where MINI's headed and what it takes to build a MINI idea. He provided a vague sketch of what came next: they wanted to take the idea of exploring to cities around the world. Not cities everybody knows (New York, London, Paris), but places nobody thinks about. Then, instead of using the resulting ads to talk to those places, the ads about those places will be used to talk to us living in New York, London and Paris.

In short, work that makes people living in dream travel destinations dream of traveling again.

Those are the roots of the "All the Wrong Places" campaign, whose video manifesto you see above. Like MINI on Facebook for the chance to become a co-pilot. Here are the uncut TV executions:

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AdVerve Episode 78: The Rapture

Play the show now.

Wait, that’s the end of the world, innit. WELL IT’S NOT. We have more AdVervial goodness for you people and that other stuff will just have to wait. Pick a topic because like a potluck from hell, it’s in here. Movies to watch, commercials to avoid, and politicians to vote for. But wait, there’s more: Other podcasts of note and blog projects to read. I even dish on why Egypt is a swell place to visit and why the lira is was an even sweller currency. But we digress. Which is why you listen.

The Linkage You Need:

- Vintage Palmolive ad: "Most man ask 'is she pretty?', not 'Is she clever?'"
- Mohr Stories
- This Week With Larry Miller
- Big Lebowski
- Sarah Palin’s Grizzly spot
- The 3six5 Project
- The 3six5 Project, Chicago edition


(Image.)

I Am Going Away! Far Away.

One of the nice things about moving to France is learning the importance of vacation time. It's even kind of imposed upon you because everybody basically peaces out in August, leaving you with nothing to do but ruminate over all those closed restaurants and ponder WHY YOU'RE NOT ON VACATION.

And one really nice thing about being expatriated is having suddenly-accessible friends all over the world. So about a week ago, I decided I'd shove off to Egypt and crash at my friend Candace's* swank-ass Heliopolis pad with all its Bedouin rugs. As a plus, I'll finally be able to hang with Sandmonkey.

My taxi arrives in about a half-hour.** I'll catch you guys in about 10 days.

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*Fun fact: Candace is from Minnesota and we never physically met before she moved to Egypt and I moved to Paris. We have been friends for 8 years.

**Fun fact #2: as evidence of my general traveling wackness, I actually thought my flight departed at 13h30 today. It doesn't. It leaves at 06h45. And I found out because Candace checked my docs for me AT TWO IN THE GODDAMN MORNING. So also, I've had no sleep and way too many cigarettes.

The Gods Are Waiting to Delight in You. Or Something.

Co-opting the powerful poetry of Bukowski, Levi's releases this ad-cum-manifesto in the wake of global strikes and riots. It's apt to see it now, given what's happening in London, but it would have risen more readily to its Grand Youth Anthem! potential if the agency resisted the urge to toss in that kissing-in-the-swimming-pool potshot that all indie ads need to include under penalty of death.

You could have been braver, Levi's. Kids are dying out there, protecting one another, painting their faces, camping out all hours and wielding makeshift torches. This is the one instance in which they didn't need to be depicted as whimsical and romantic; you could have just focused on the strength, gritty unity and insane heedlessness that animates the conviction of youth.

Scrape Scraperteeth: Artgames Recognised as Gameification Seizes Our Souls

Scrape Scraperteeth is a new artgame by my friend Jason Nelson, who, with it, has received some much-deserved recognition (at long last!).

In his words:

The game was commissioned by the San Francisco Gallery of Modern Art for a series on interactive works. Hopefully this is a sign that, as the recent Supreme Court ruling stated, that games (even simple/odd ones like mine) should be seen/created as artworks first and galleries are recognizing the artistic potential of the game engine and playscapes.

What I love about Jason's games is that the rules aren't obvious. You have to learn and relearn them in the landscape provided -- a landscape so loaded with cultural cues that they're an exercise in themselves. Let me know what you think. (Jeff Kwiatek has already responded to me with, "Oh my god what is this? It's overwhelming ... the stress.")

Here are other games of Jason's that I've covered, over the years. I have always found that with him I don't just play, I linger.

Old Spice Mano a Mano: The Concession Nobody Actually Should've Received

I think this was done because people freaked out at the (ludicrous!) idea of Fabio replacing Isaiah Mustafa as Old Spice guy, so kudos to W+K for the lightning-fast responsiveness it's demonstrated throughout this campaign. It's what's made it a living part of the culture.

But this still sort of hurts me to watch. It's kind of like, "Okay, here's what you want on a silver platter, and while we're at it let's make fun of Fabio's acting skillz and general incoherence."

Never mind the piles of Harlequin novels he punted with just a swish of his hair and a ripped-open vest. Wasn't he great at selling butter? I still want butter when I watch this guy. Credit where it's due, right...? Come on, guys, you're gonna ruin Isaiah for me.*

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