Must be nice to have pummeled your audience with enough advertising that they think of your pitch as literally common knowledge.

That's the enviable position Geico finds itself in, as it launches yet another mini campaign through The Martin Agency. There is hardly a more famous line in advertising than "Fifteen minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance"—not because it's so special, but because it's so ubiquitous. The new ads play off that. They begin with someone reciting the line after spying it on billboards or in magazine ads. "Everybody knows that," someone else replies dismissively—prompting the first person, feeling lightly chastised, to offer other factoids that might be more surprising.

"Well, did you know that some owls aren't that wise?" a wife tells her husband in one of two launch spots, as the scene shifts to a pair of owls having a particularly dumb conversation.

"Well, did you know that Old MacDonald was a really bad speller?" one co-worker tells another in the other spot. That ad then shows a spelling bee, in which the farmer indeed proves his gross inadequacy at spelling the simplest barnyard words.

The campaign is classic Geico: a rigid, repeatable structure; goofy characters; quietly offbeat humor. It's also a great example of the marketer having its cake and eating it, too. The campaign is all about how the "Fifteen minutes" line is so familiar, it's barely worth saying—and yet each ad opens with exactly that. That's one way to subvert what might be actual consumer fatigue around the line, and give it yet another airing.

From setup to payoff, the "Did you know?" structure might be a little less smooth than some other Geico campaigns, like the rhetorical questions work or the "Happier than" stuff. But like most other Geico work, it affords the creatives an almost unlimited canvas for exploring amusing plot lines.

If "Owl" and "Old MacDonald" don't do it for you, maybe some others will. The campaign launches today, and more spots will roll out in the coming months.

CREDITS
Client: Geico
Vice President, Marketing: Ted Ward
Manager, Broadcast Production and Agency Relations: Amy Hooks
Marketing Planner: Amy Ruddell

Spots: "Owl," "Old MacDonald"

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
Vice President, Creative Director: Wade Alger
Senior Copywriter: Neel Williams
Vice President, Senior Art Director: Justin Harris
Vice President, Account Director: Brad Higdon
Account Supervisor: Parker Collins
Account Executive: Marisa Weber
Account Coordinator: Carter Crenshaw
Project Manager: Jason Ray
Vice President, Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter
Agency Producer: Nicole Hollis-Vitale
Agency Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Group Talent Director: Suzanne Wieringo
Senior Integrated Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz

Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Steve Miller
Director of Photography: Salvatore Totino
Executive Producer: Gregg Carlesimo
Line Producer: Barbara Benson

Editorial Company: Whitehouse Editorial
Editor: Matthew Wood
Assistant Editor: Caleb Hepler
Editorial Executive Producer: Dan Byrant
Editorial Producer: Dawn Guzowski

Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick

Animation, Visual Effects: The Mill
Visual Effects Producer: Colin Blaney

Audio Post Company: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus

Music: "Pyramids" licensed from APM

They say celebrity endorsements are a questionable investment, but as you can see below, they can be staggeringly successful—if the celebrity is Dikembe Mutombo and the target market is this particular baby. The Martin Agency will enjoy this. Wonder what the kid thinks of the "Hump Day" spot.

Fifty-five years is a good run for any corporate logo, but now Farmers Insurance is replacing its old mark with a new one—keeping several of the original design elements but giving it a sleeker, more contemporary look. The company's first logo, unveiled upon its founding in 1928, featured a sunrise to represent the optimism of a new day. Thirty years later, a shield was added to symbolize protection. That's the way it remained, until now. The new logo, designed in collaboration with Lippincott in New York, keeps the sun and shield—but otherwise has a whole new look. Farmers CMO Mike Linton tells Adweek that it's a "nice evolution." He maintains that a strong logo is critical in distinguishing oneself in today's saturated insurance marketplace. Farmers unveiled the new logo to its sales force at a big meeting in Chicago last week. Asked if logo debacles like Gap's gave Farmers pause in changing its logo, Linton replied, "We researched this to pieces." The company considered hundreds of options in a process that lasted several months, he added.

Call out the cat herders! A bunch of kitties stampede down the streets of Croydon, England, in Mother's new spot for MoneySuperMarket. "Bill here just saved £304 on his car insurance at MoneySuperMarket and now feels so good he thinks he can run with wolves,” the narrator explains, before noting almost apologetically, “There are no wolves in Croydon." So, the guy runs with the neighborhood cats instead. That's about it. The client tells The Drum it was seeking to maintain "a more British look and feel to the campaign," which certainly holds true for the visuals, though it makes the choice of music, the very American "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," from Oklahoma, feel out of place. The concept starts strong but doesn’t prove to be particularly memorable in its payoff, especially when there are so many feline-themed ads—and spots with swarming creatures of all sorts—it'd take nine lives just to watch them all. Credits after the jump.

CREDITS:

CLIENT:  Money Supermarket

AGENCY:  Mother London

CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Larry Seftel and David Day

TV PRODUCER: James Turnham

PRODUCTION CO & CITY:  Biscuit UK (London)

MD: Shawn Lacy

EXEC PRODUCER:  Orlando Wood, Colleen O’ Donnell

HEAD OF PRODUCTION: Rachel Glaub

PRODUCER: Kwok Man Yau

DIRECTOR: Jeff Low

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY:  Angus Hudson

EDITING COMPANY:  Final Cut

EDITOR (OFF LINE):  Ed Cheesman

POST PRODUCTION: The Mill

Recently, British insurance comparison service Confused.com and Publicis in London launched ads featuring a new mascot, Brian the Robot, who seems to have a knack for creating uncomfortable situations. Specifically, in one of the spots, he appears to interrupt a couple in mid-blow job. The brand has since denied this interpretation, with the director of marketing telling British advertising site Campaign, "Admittedly, the woman is somewhat startled by Brian appearing in the car window, having been tying her shoelace." The shoelace argument doesn't quite match with Confused's own write-up about the ad, which describes the setting as "a romantic spot overlooking a city at sunset" where "we see Brian approach a lone parked car and tap on one of the closed windows, interrupting a couple looking slightly flustered." According to several YouTube commenters, a newer version of the ad now shows the couple kissing, likely due to dozens of complaints to Britain's Advertising Standards Authority that the original version was inappropriate for children. Check out more of Brian's odd interactions after the jump.

Do you wish your wife were more like Flo, the ever-peppy, white-aproned saleswoman for Progressive Insurance? Do you wish your home were more like the Superstore, the white-walled setting of dozens of Progressive commercials, and regular habitat of Flo? Probably not. Still, this new spot from ad agency Arnold shows you what it would feel like anyway. It starts off with the sort of fairly routine "Have you heard about [Product X]?" discussion about which only marketers fantasize, and ends with a husband's whole world—including his spouse—being transformed into a scene from a light-filled insurance salesroom. According to Progressive, it's the first Superstore ad sans Flo—or at least, with Stephanie Courtney as Flo. She is approaching her 100th commercial for the brand, but also finds herself joined by a growing cast of characters and guest stars. Naysayers, don't get your hopes up, though—she's survived much worse than a little vacation.

DDB Chicago's latest Aaron Rodgers ad for State Farm begs a timely question: Are Cheeseheads more hard-core football fans than Brateaters?

Both camps appear in the ad, which takes place on a plane. Rodgers, the star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, finds himself awkwardly seated between "Bob" and "Carl," two characters from Saturday Night Live's "Da Bears" sketches from the 1990s. Reprising those respective roles are actor George Wendt and satirist Robert Smigel, right down to the fake mustaches, "Chee-cah-go" accents and fan apparel.

It's an inspired seating arrangement, given the start of the NFL season—and the SNL season, for that matter. (The show's 39th year begins on Sept. 28.) And Rodgers, now in his ninth ad for the insurance giant, proves, as usual, to be a good sport.

He takes the middle seat, even though his ticket is for the window seat. He endures needling about being the "discount double-check guy." He even puts up with the smell of brats wafting from tray-table grills that the Bears guys flip down. Only in advertising, right?

Well, at least Rodgers has the support of a loyal Cheesehead. In yet another return performance, the curly-haired fan with the yellow foam cheese wedge on his head appears at the end of the commercial—on the wing of the plane, no less. "Rodgers!" he yells, before aping the QB's seatbelt move. Sadly, he loses his wedge in the process.

Oh, well. No doubt these now-familiar State Farm players will be back soon. After all, it's a long season.

CREDITS
Client: State Farm 
Agency: DDB, Chicago
Group Creative Directors: Barry Burdiak, John Hayes
Associate Creatives Directors: Chad Broude, Brian Boord
Executive Producer: Scott Kemper
Production Manager: Scott Terry
Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Director: Matt Aselton
Editing Company: Cutters
Editor: Grant Gustafson
Finishing: Filmworkers Club

I just want to point out that these (largely excellent) new ads from Geico point up something that many critics have observed about advertising and media in general: The suburban housewives checking out the giant are surprisingly put-together and attractive, while the scuba divers inside the whale are surprisingly schlubby. Or rather, they're to be admired for their confidence in themselves. To quote somebody or other, "Men and women will never be equal until a fat, bald woman can walk through Times Square wearing nothing but sweatpants and know that she is beautiful."

Also, y'all know that whales have internal organs, right? Livers, kidneys, lungs, the works.

Geico has pretty good comedy creative across the board (thank God the gecko is nowhere to be found in these ads), but does anyone else think there's probably a funnier punch line for these spots than "I just saved 15 percent on my car insurance?" It seems like the brand's insistence on its service/tagline staying focal is maybe not the best thing for the creative. Not that this should just be a 30-second joke with no branding, but perhaps there actually are more creative ways to illustrate the joys of being insured.

Anyway, if there are, The Martin Agency seems like a prime candidate to provide them. These are funny spots, lame punch line or no lame punch line, especially the whale one—the gent floating in on the kayak at the end is priceless. In all of them but the giant spot, too, the proclamation of the silver lining—in the form of cheap insurance—kind of begs the question. Yes, but why is that good? You'll never see your car again, guys who are in the belly of a whale/spaceship/girl who probably won't be driving anytime soon.

The bad-magician spot is a lot of fun as well, especially since he actually seems to have uncontrollable superpowers, rather than butterfingers.

Casting, as always, is key here—the Close Encounters guys have a great buddy-comedy thing going, and the women sipping their coffee while looking out at the giant are smilingly oblivious in a very funny Stepford Wives kind of way.

Good job, Geico. Maybe now it's time for a new tagline.

CREDITS
Client: Geico
Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.

Geico's advertising from The Martin Agency is consistently funny, but the company rarely has a giant viral hit. That changed this summer, though—and the big winner wasn't a gecko, a caveman or a pig. It was a camel.

The insurer's "Hump Day" spot, which broke in May, has earned 15 million YouTube views, more than every other current video on Geico's YouTube channel combined. (The ad also has the obvious though still peculiar distinction of being shared on Wednesdays vastly more than any other day.)

Given the success, it's not surprising Geico and Martin are trotting out the motormouthed mammal once again, in one of two amusing new cinema spots urging people to silence their cellphones.

The camel—who is named Caleb, apparently—is in fine form as he patrols the aisles of a movie theater in the new 40-second spot, munching on people's popcorn and loudly looking for people who are talking on their phones. (In fact, Caleb is the most obnoxious creature in the room, but let's ignore that.) In the end, he spots co-worker Mike (aka, "Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike") from the original spot and convinces him to end his phone call, since the movie is starting.

The second of the two spots stars the gecko, the longtime Geico mascot, and plays off the vintage "Let's all go to the lobby" singing-concessions video from the 1950s. This is hardly the first parody of that old classic, but it's a good one, as the snacks all get on their phones when they're off camera—and get a light admonishment from the gecko as a result.

The new spots are part of a deal brokered by Horizon Media with NCM and Screenvision. It includes cinema-lobby advertising.

CREDITS
Client: Geico

—Spot: "Camel Cinema"

Client Credits: Geico
Vice President, Marketing: Ted Ward
Manager, Broadcast Production and Agency Relations: Amy Hooks
Marketing Planner: Amy Ruddell
Marketing Coordinators: Tom Perlozzo, Katherine Kalec

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
Vice President, Creative Director: Wade Alger
Senior Vice President, Art Director, Creative Director: Sean Riley
Senior Copywriter: Ken Marcus
Vice President, Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter
Agency Producer: Samantha Tucker
Agency Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Business Affairs Supervisor: Suzanne Wieringo
Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz
Vice President, Group Account Director: Brad Higdon
Account Supervisor Parker Collins
Account Coordinator: Allison Hensley
Project Manager: Emily Masters

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Director of Photography: Giles Dunning
Executive Producer, Managing Partner: Kevin Byrne
Executive Producer, Director of Sales: Dan Duffy
Executive Producer: Mino Jarjoura
Producer: Rachel Curl
Production Supervisor: Colette Findley

Editing Company: Makenzie Cutler
Editor: Dave Koza
Assistant Editor: Patrick Blumer
Editorial Producer: Evan Meeker

Visual Effects: The Mill
Executive Producer: Jared Yeater
Producer: Colin Blaney
Visual Effects Supervisor: John Leonti
2-D Lead Artist: Randy McEntee
3-D Lead Artist: Jeff Lopez
3-D Artists: Ajit Menon, Cody Chen, Justin Burton, Sam Crees, Sandor Toledo, Sean Curran
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Audio Post, Sound Design: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus

Media: Horizon Media

—Spot: "Lobby"

Client Credits: Geico
Vice President, Marketing: Ted Ward
Manager, Broadcast Production and Agency Relations: Amy Hooks
Marketing Planner: Amy Ruddell
Marketing Coordinators: Tom Perlozzo, Katherine Kalec

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
Vice President, Creative Director: Wade Alger
Senior Art Director: Adam Stockton
Senior Copywriter: Justin Bajan
Vice President, Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Souter
Agency Producer: Emily Taylor
Business Affairs Supervisor: Suzanne Wieringo
Senior Integrated Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz
Vice President, Group Account Director: Brad Higdon
Account Supervisor: Parker Collins
Account Coordinator: Allison Hensley
Senior Project Manager: Emily Masters

Production Company: Framestore
Director: David Hulin
Head of Production: Jonathan Shipman
Executive Producer: James Razzall
Senior Producer: Graham Dunglinson
Junior Producer: Antonio Teixeira
Producer: Paul Middlemiss
Visual Effects Supervisor: Seth Gollub

Editing Company: Whitehouse
Editor: Trish Fuller
Assistant Editor: Matt Schaff
Executive Producer: Lauren Hertzberg
Producer: Alejandra Alarcon

Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Tom Poole

Original "Lobby" Animation, Trailer: Filmack Studios

Music: Beacon Street Studios

Animation, Visual Effects: Framestore
Visual Effects Creative Director, Supervisor: David Hulin
Executive Producer: James Razzall
Visual Effects Producer: Antonio Teixeira

Audio Mix Company: Sound Lounge
Engineer: Rob Sayers
Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro

Audio Recording Studio: Rainmaker Studios
Sound Engineer: Jeff McManus

Media: Horizon Media

Two very different kinds of out-of-home advertising stunts have been gaining traction lately—first, the sudden appearance of a spectacular, oversized prop designed to delight passersby; and second, an intricately choreographed sequence of fake pandemonium designed to terrify them. Examples of the former: UKTV's giant Mr. Darcy emerging from the British pond, and the giant Games of Thrones dragon skull washed up on the British beach. (The British love this stuff.) Examples of the latter: TNT's dramatic stunt on a quiet town square, as well as its sequel.

Now, M&C Saatchi has combined the two approaches with a larger-than-life stunt in Milan, Italy. As part of a campaign for an insurance company, the agency built a giant prop of a submarine and made it look like it was emerging from the ground. A Smart car nearby appeared to have been damaged by the sub—a potent reminder that it's good to have insurance in case all-but-impossible events occur. Many agencies would have stopped here. But M&C Saatchi then staged an elaborate early-morning event at the scene—having actors dressed as sailors and scuba divers emerge from the submarine in a daze, and the driver of the car exit his car angry and confused. Fake hospital workers and emergency personnel even descended on the scene to treat the wounded.

Check out footage from the event below. Your move, TNT.

Via Design Boom.

State Farm's neighborhood-destroying alien robot is back after a successful run in 2011's "Chaos in Your Town" campaign from DDB, and this time it's coming right for you.

Using the GPS in your smartphone, a new iAd from State Farm lets you create a custom video of the robot stomping around your current location. As you can see in the video below, the resulting Chaos clip uses Google Streetview images instead of real-time augmented reality, so it's not quite as dramatic as it theoretically could be. But for something that's created through an ad rather than an app, it's a pretty impressive demonstration of what mobile ads are capable of these days. 

It's no surprise the insurer is bringing back "Chaos in Your Town," which racked up some pretty impressive numbers in terms of consumer engagement. After the jump, check out the interactive campaign's key stats provided by DDB.

In the first 10 weeks of the 2011 "Chaos in Your Town" effort, with a digital media spend around $700,000, the campaign:
• Garnered more than 900 blog mentions
• Saw more than 1 million user-generated films created
• Resulted in more than 200 million user-generated impressions
 
In the following 20 months, without any paid media support, the campaign went on to generate:
• More than 6 million additional user-generated videos, bringing the total to about 7 million films 
• More than 800 million user-generated impressions

You can still make a State of Chaos video for yourself on the campaign microsite.

Chaos in Your Town Mobile iAd Credits:

Agency: DDB, Chicago
Chief Creative Officer: Ewan Patterson
Executive Creative Director: Joe Cianciotto
Group Creative Directors: Barry Burdiak, John Hayes
Creative Directors: Bob Davies, Matt Christiansen
Art Director: Megan Sheehan
Copywriter: Melissa McCarthy
Director of Digital Production: Paul Sundue
Executive Producer, Digital: Carly Ferguson
Executive Producer: Scott Kemper
Account Director: Gladys Jeffrey
Account Supervisor: Heidi Frank

Production Company: B-Reel

Many State Farm commercials were animated back in the '50s and '60s, but the insurance company returns to cartoons this week for the first time in decades—in a spot from Translation starring Scooby-Doo and the gang.

The ad, which broke this weekend during Saturday Night Live, shows the meddling kids getting in an accident on a road after the Creeper jumps out in front of them. Using the magic "Like a good neighbor" jingle, they summon a State Farm agent, who helps them out—and reveals the real identity of the Creeper (who, alas, turns out not to be Flo from the Progressive commercials).

The spot was created with Warner Brothers and uses the official character graphics, voices and music tracks from the cartoon. The animated agent is based on a real person, too—State Farm agent Lucy Rodas, who "helps her customers get to a groovier state in Norwalk, Calif.," according to the company.

"State Farm has been 'like a good neighbor' for customers since 1922, allowing them to help many different people across the decades," says Translation creative director, Emily Sander. "Pairing with Warner Bros.' Scooby-Doo allowed us to demonstrate that heritage of help in a unique way, showing just how far it extends—even to the animated, mystery-solving Scooby Gang of friends from 1969."

"Just as the Scooby Gang solves a mystery and saves the day, like a good neighbor, State Farm is there to save the insurance day," adds State Farm assistant vice president of marketing communications Tim Van Hoof.

Credits below.

CREDITS
Brand/Client: State Farm
Spot: "Scooby"

Agency: Translation
Founder/CEO: Steve Stoute
Group Creative Director: Chris Valencius
Creative Director: Emily Sander
Associate Creative Director, Art Direction: Paul Roberts
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Nate Virnig
Director of Content Production: Miriam Franklin
Director of Business Management: Debra Horvath
SVP Group Account Director: Ben Gladstone
Account Director: Susanna Swartley
Account Supervisor: Sara Daino
Account Executive: Verena Zannantoni
Partner, Strategy: John McBride

Animation Company: Warner Brothers Animation
Executive Producer: Sam Register
Production Supervision: Bobbie Page
Supervising Producer: Tony Cervone
Line Producer: Wade Wisinski

Media Buy: Handled by OMD

End Tag Animation: The Mill LA
VFX Animator: Jonny Sidlo
VFX Designers: Sharai Corral, Clarice Chin
VFX Executive Producer: Stephen Venning
VFX Producer: Elizabeth Newman

Audio Post: ADVANTAGE Post Sound Services
Mixer: Ray Leonard
Sound Designer: Robert Duran
Foley Artist: John Lampinen
Foley Mixer: Aran Tanchum

Music: Robert J Kral
Composer: Robert J Kral

IDEA: Attack of the 50-foot baby! Sorry, false alarm: It's a Nationwide Insurance commercial.

Ad agency McKinney came up with the eye-catching spot, one of Nationwide's cutest and most popular to date, from the most basic of insights. "People have massive passion for their cars, and think of them as their babies. It was that simple," said agency group creative director Liz Paradise. "And what could be more fun than making a baby car-size?"

That's just what they did in the spot, which shows a man lovingly washing, protecting and otherwise caring for his "baby," depicted mostly as an actual giant infant—a metaphor, it turns out, for a killer Ford Mustang.

"The strategic challenge is, how do you break through the clutter?" said Nationwide CMO Matt Jauchius. "Some of our competitors walk up to the edge of mean-spirited humor, and it's really a hard yuk and a quote. We strike a far more empathetic and authentic tone and manner. … People love their cars. We're saying, we get it, and we'll take care of it if something happens to your baby."

COPYWRITING: The scripting process involved picking fun scenes in which to show the baby—getting washed in a driveway; playing peekaboo behind a garage door; almost getting hit by a cart in a grocery-store parking lot; and in the saddest moment, bumping into a fire hydrant. (It's then that we first glimpse the Mustang.)

The visuals are just part of the story. "The baby is a metaphor, and it captures your attention, and who doesn't like babies?" said Jauchius. "But you'd better have something right after that. The copy they came up with was, 'What's precious to you is precious to us,' which really pays it off."

The full voiceover copy is: "In the Nation, we know how you feel about your car. So when coverage really counts, count on Nationwide Insurance. Because what's precious to you is precious to us. Just another way we put members first because we don't have shareholders. Join the Nation."

The final shot shows the logo, phone number and URL as a female voice sings the longtime "Nationwide is on your side" slogan.

FILMING/ART DIRECTION: Directors Jonathan and Josh Baker, aka TWiN, shot the exterior scenes first, around Los Angeles, and then filmed the baby—actually, twin baby boys—on a green screen. Then they blended the footage.

Visually, the look is meant to be relatable, from the casting to the lighting and house selection. "We're trying to put a little warmth in insurance," said Paradise. "To you, these aren't just things. There's a lot of emotion tied into them."

TALENT: Julia Roberts does the voiceover. The actor who plays the father is an everyman type. "He has a sweet, loving face and was able to give off that 'I'm in love' vibe," said Paradise. The agency looked for twins who seemed naturally good-natured. "When these fellows came in, they were just happy, happy, happy," Paradise said.

They shot the crying scene toward the end of the day when the babies were a bit tired. "It didn't take much. And then we all wanted to go and give him a big hug and a cuddle. And his mom was right there with him, so it was fine."

SOUND: The music is the 1956 track "Love Is Strange" by Mickey & Sylvia. "It just puts one more layer of fun playfulness into it," said Paradise. "And that feel-good, old-time vibe is something everybody can appreciate."

The sound design is minimal—just some ambient sound.

MEDIA: The spot has been airing nationally, and given its success, will stay on the air at least through the NFL playoffs and the Winter Olympics, said Jauchius.

THE SPOT:

CREDITS
Client: Nationwide Insurance
Campaign: Join the Nation
Spot: "Baby"

Agency: McKinney, Durham, N.C.
Chief Creative Officer: Jonathan Cude
Group Creative Director: Liz Paradise
Art Director: Owen Tingle
Copywriter: Liz Paradise, Will Chambliss
Agency Executive Producer: Naomi Newman

Production Studio: Rabbit Content
Directors: TWiN (Jonathan and Josh Baker)
Editor: Andre Betz, Bug Editorial

Esurance is doing a fun little stunt tonight that should get some attention.

The online insurance company has bought the first commercial slot after the the final whistle of the Super Bowl. The company says that cost $1.5 million less than running an in-game execution—and it's using the ad to announce a Twitter sweepstakes in which it will give that money away to a lucky viewer who tweets the hashtag #EsuranceSave30.

To keep as many viewers' attention from drifting as possible, Esurance has gotten The Office star John Krasinski, its voiceover talent since 2012, to appear on camera for the first time in this spot, created by Leo Burnett.

After the ad airs, you will have 36 hours to tweet #EsuranceSave30 for a chance to win. Krasinski will unveil the winner on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday.

Progressive spokeswoman Flo sat out the Super Bowl—"We're not trying to make the noise even noisier," the company's CMO, Jeff Charney, said late last week—but she's all over the whole Facebook Look Back thing.

Below, check out Flo's "Look Back" video, which is apparently a parody, unless Facebook approved the unicorn image at the end instead of the Like sign. In fact, Flo's whole video is about unicorns, which she's been associated with ever since a 2010 ad, when she exclaimed that homeowners and auto insurance, bundled together, is like "unicorns and glitter."

There's also whole Unicorns & Glitter tab on her Facebook page, where you can get more intimately acquainted with all things Flo.

Geico and M&M's, the peanut butter and chocolate of comic advertising, have teamed up for this tasty peanut-butter cup of a commercial, in which Ms. Brown seeks to get insurance—much to the dismay of Geico's gecko, who has clearly read the company handbook on providing coverage to candy. (The edible are not eligible.)

There's a cameo by a third character, too, well timed for this midweek release.

M&M's agency BBDO New York led the creative, with input from The Martin Agency, which handles Geico. A social-media campaign on Facebook and Twitter will tell the larger story of Ms. Brown's efforts to secure insurance.

Lots of people claim to dislike advertising. But just as brand-on-brand Twitter banter is quite entertaining, the odd little feeling of delight you get while watching Ms. Brown and the gecko proves yet again that, try as you might, you actually can't resist brands at all.

CREDITS
Client: Mars/M&M's and Geico
Spot: "15 Minutes"
Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer, Worldwide: David Lubars
Senior Vice Presidents, Executive Creative Directors: Tim Bayne, Lauren Connolly
Senior Art Director: Eduardo Petersen
Senior Copywriter: Christopher Cannon
Senior Producer: Regina Iannuzzi
Producer: Sofia Doktori
Executive Music Producer: Melissa Chester
Executive Vice President, Senior Account Director: Susannah Keller
Vice President, Account Director: Carrie Lipper
Account Manager: Tani Nelson
Account Executive: Alyce Regan
Production Company: Traktor
Director: Traktor
Head of Production: Rani Melendez
Visual Effects House: Framestore
Visual Effects Supervisor: David Hulin
Executive Producer: James Razzall
Senior Producer: Graham Dunglinson
Computer Graphics Supervisor: James Dick
Lighting Lead: John Montefusco
Animation Lead: Jim Hundertmark
Animation: Shayne Ryan
Compositing Lead: Sharon Marcussen
Producer: Raven Sia
Visual Effects (the Camel): The Mill
Producer: Colin Blaney
Editing House: PS260
Editors: Maury Loeb, Ned Borgman
Assistant Editors: Matt Posey, Colin Edelman
Senior Producer: Laura Patterson
Final Mix, Sound Design: Frank Venderosa, Nutmeg

Sports sponsorships rarely equate to more than some choice ad placement and logo saturation. But Allstate and its agency, Leo Burnett, are definitely making the most of the company's partnership with March Madness.

In a campaign called March Mayhem, the official NCAA tournament sponsor is trotting out its likably loathsome ad character to Twitter, Facebook and Vine, where he delights in the millions of brackets broken by unexpected wins like No. 10-seeded Stanford defeating No. 2 Kansas and 12th-seeded North Dakota State winning big over No. 5 Oklahoma.

Read more about the effort in our Q&A with Pam Hollander, Allstate's senior director of integrated marketing communications, and check out some of Mayhem's better Vine installments below.

Please note: Firefox seems to have trouble playing Vine embeds, so we recommend using Chrome, Safari or another browser.

They've done it again.

Thai Life Insurance has unveiled another masterful mini-film by Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok, the latest in a string of tear-jerking, wait-to-watch-it-at-home-so-you-don't-openly-bawl-in-your-cubicle ads that make you think about what's important in life and why your own life is important.

"Unsung Hero," which clocks in at just over three minutes, will make you want to give of yourself to reap the rewards of the soul. It's not a charity campaign, but I'm off to give more to my favorite charity anyway.

If you want to keep on crying, have a look back at the company's 2011 ad, "Silence of Love."

Look out, Flo. There's a new babe in town.

Actually, make that baby. Progressive Insurance is changing things up with a new campaign from Arnold featuring a wise-cracking man-child character and a new delivery platform—Facebook Premium Video Ads.

The "Baby Man" campaign features just that—a grown man who acts like a baby. He's carried around his office in a baby carrier, slugs juice from a sippy cup and cracks jokes at his colleagues' expense. All of the ads end with a punching sound as the screen slams to white and a gruff voice announces: "Act your age! Dump your parents' insurance company."

"Save @ Progressive.com" then appears on screen.

The humor isn't exactly subtle. One of the 15-second spots opens with the Baby Man farting, then blaming it on a co-worker. Another ends with him spitting up on his mom. It's all part of a strategy of broad, visually arresting comedy that Progressive hopes grabs millennials' attention when the spots autoplay (users must click for sound) on Facebook.

"This creative is different than anything people have seen from us before, and was designed for the [Facebook] placement," Jonathan Beamer, Progressive's marketing strategy and innovation business leader, tells Adweek.

"Our goal is to break through the clutter of the newsfeed and to inspire people to evaluate their own insurance choices. Nobody should blindly accept his or her parents' choice—if young adults haven't reevaluated their insurance choices, they are probably not getting the value they deserve."

Baby Man is a significant new initiative for Progressive, and he also has his own section on the Progressive website. But longtime spokeswoman character Flo isn't going anywhere, the company added.

Indeed, she might want to join this campaign and whip the Baby Man into shape.

CREDITS
Client: Progressive Insurance
Agency: Arnold Worldwide
Executive Creative Directors: Pete Johnson, Wade Devers
Group Creative Director: Sean McBride 
Art Director: Alyssa Wilson Georg
Copywriter: Joshua Kahn
Producers: Jaime Guild, Kathy McMann
Assistant Producer: Lauren Landry
Business Affairs: Kim Stevens, Lisa Mercier
Planner: Milla Stolte
Marketing Producers: Elliott Seaborn, Val Bettini, Caitlin Moran, Kelley Stenberg, Dorothy Johnson
Social Media: Matt Karolian, Brandon Schug, Cristin Barth
Production Company: 3rd Street Mining Company
Production Company Executive Producer: John LaChapelle
Production Company Line Producer: Barry Heaps
Director: Ben Hurst, Dave Thomas
Cinematographer: Munn Powell
Editorial Company: Editbar
Editor: Reuter
Audio Mix: Brian Heidebrecht, Soundtrack Boston
Color, Conform, Clean Up, Rig Removal: Zero VFX

One of the lovably misguided characters from "Dumb Ways to Die" sold both his kidneys on the Internet. Now, the client behind the beloved campaign has made a similarly greedy deal with the devil.

Through a licensing deal, Metro Trains has sold the creative product pretty much wholesale to Empire Life Insurance Co., which is cutting its own ads from it. Three 30-second spots posted online play snippets from the original musical cartoon, before a female voice pipes in and says: "What's the dumbest way of all to die? Having no life insurance." Empire has also done some digital ads with the characters and plans "a robust merchandise program … for multiple territories worldwide," according to the Globe and Mail.

Ugh.

Talk about dumb. As the Ethical Adman points out, it just seems lazy and greedy—plus, the viral potential of the work has already been tapped worldwide, so what's the point? On the eve of the 2014 Cannes Lions festival, it's also a depressing slap in the face to the ad business to see the most decorated campaign in Cannes history bastardized like this—a PSA cynically turned into a for-profit campaign.

You can understand Metro Trains wanting to make a buck off the work. But stick to making plush toys, not selling the whole cartoon to some huckster.

McCann, whose Melbourne office created "Dumb Ways to Die," declined to comment on the Empire ads and referred inquiries to Metro Trains. We left messages with Metro and will update when we hear back.