French design firm Dessault Systemes has created a unique promotional tool for the upcoming Luc Besson film, Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard. Dessault designs tools and software to create 3D images. For Besson’s film, the company created a 3D stereoscopic screen that turns a cereal box into what it calls a Next Gen 3D game console with a motion sensor. The promo is running on boxes of Nestle’s Chocopic cereal in Europe.
Watch it at Revolution {link no longer active}.
Ad Age charts the top 10 viral videos for week of October 12, with number of views for the week and percentage change in views for videos that stayed on the chart. The list is compiled by Visible Measures.
A notable entry into this week s chart isn t necessarily compelling viral content. A new video for a fitness device called the Shake Weight debuts at number four with 468,000 views. The new video seems to have driven traffic to an older one for the same product, enough to bring the original video back on Ad Age s chart. The older Shake Weight video sits at number five with 423,000 views. It reinforces the residual effect a follow-up to successful viral video can have, drawing new viewers for the original video that launched the campaign.
Microsoft’s Project Natal video is number 6 with more than 405,000 views for the week. It has now been on the chart for 20 weeks.
Check out the full list and watch the videos at Ad Age {link no longer active}.
A lot of iPhone app makers seem to default to mimicking Apple ads for promotional videos. Tapping into the familiarity iPhone users have with the often-aired TV spots, perhaps trying to draw some credibility for their products, makes the tactic understandable for independent apps. Yet as in the case of Pepsi’s Amp Up Before You Score, even branded apps have done it. Being the high-minded brand and design driven company that it is, Nike does not go there.
Nike has rolled out an iPhone app for its NIKEiD concept, where people can create custom color sneakers. It s a concept less aimed at turf jocks than fashion conscious youth, and Nike s spot promoting the app reflects that. It also shows just how nicely NIKEiD fits into an iPhone app, where not only can custom creations be shared with friends and ordered right through the phone but the iPhone camera can capture usable colors. The spot does an especially nifty job of getting the camera feature across.
Watch it at YouTube.
UK mobile phone carrier Phones4u is promoting a plan that rewards users of its service who have 50 friends. As its TV spot suggests, among segments probably not popular enough to qualify for the plan are those who dabble in live-action role-playing games.
Maybe Phones4u recognizes that some of the more talented cosplayers out there are probably pretty popular. The ad takes on LARPs of the homemade cardboard costume ilk.
Watch it at BrandRepublic {link no longer active}.
Artist Kutiman says in his YouTube entry that the response to his homemade art project Thru-You has been overwhelming. That s evident by the more than one million views on his videos. Kutiman has taken the music mash-up to another level. He’s created a funk album of sorts made up completely of spliced together clips of musicians he found on YouTube. What sounds simple in concept is skillfully executed by Kutiman. He doesn’t just edit together or overlay clips to get his funky sound, he manipulates clips the way a DJ scratches vinyl.
Kutiman has seven tracks totaling nearly 30 minutes of music recorded this way on his web site for Thru-You. The track labeled About is a brief walkthrough of his technique.
Watch his video Mother of All Funk Chords at YouTube.
Ad Age says Verizon’s mysterious ad for its iPhone killer Android smart phone misses the mark on both messaging and targeting. The copy-heavy ad starts by listing the iPhone s shortcomings, such as not having a keyboard nor being able to run applications simultaneously. The list is set to upbeat music. It then very suddenly segues into what looks and sounds like the opening sequence for a sci-fi movie to deliver only the product name, a November release date and a web site call to action.
The ad has been running during mainstream programming such as Major League Baseball playoff games. Ad Age says the messaging, which it sees as too techie and ambiguous to begin with, is completely off the mark for the audience. The iPhone Blog editor Rene Richie agrees, citing how an informal survey of her readers found most couldn t say what product the ads were pitching.
Watch it at Ad Age {link no longer active}.
The trailer for God of War Collection show off just what a feat Sony thinks it has pulled in re-mastering the PS2 games for PS3. Once the introduction is out of the way, the trailer’s complete focus is on in-game visuals. Sony even demonstrates some prescience in addressing specific areas that were visually impressive in standard definition but might not translate well to HD. The footage shows plenty of particle effects, fast scrolling environments and the game’s infamously giant bosses to highlight how little they break down in visual fidelity.
If re-mastering all the PS2 classics was as feasible as God of War, and could be as much a feast on the eyes, Sony could ditch its backwards compatibility woes.
Watch it at GameTrailers {link no longer active}.
Microsoft and Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane announced a sponsorship deal last week that involved commercial-free programming promoting Windows 7. Ad Age {link no longer active} reported that the planned program is an old-fashioned variety show starring McFarlane and fellow Family Guy voice actors.
The first clip released is an animated Family Guy sketch featured at BrandFreak. It s not exactly the subtle or satirical product placement you’d expect from McFarlane’s brand of humor. BrandFreak’ s T.L. Stanley hopes it s not a sign of what viewers can expect throughout the show, which he thinks might have people questioning the effect of ads bleeding into content in general.
Watch it at BrandFreak.
Ubisoft is promoting its upcoming sequel Assassin’s Creed Lineage with a series of short films covering the game’s pre-story. GameTrailers is featuring a video trailer for the shorts. The short film series is scheduled to launch on October 27 on the front page of YouTube in eight countries, eventually rolling out three shorts totaling about 38 minutes.
Talking to John Gaudiosi at VentureBeat, Ubisoft’s Yannis Mallat says the production value in the shorts is the same as what they would have pursued for a full length feature based on the franchise. The short films combine live actors with CG effects. Ubisoft has enlisted Hybride Technologies, the effects house responsible for the live action and heavy CG combination in the film 300. Mallat says the film shorts are part of Ubisoft exploring filmmaking, and it may someday position them to simultaneously create games and related films in-house. Gaudiosi writes that the company plans to grow their film division to 500 people by 2013.
Watch the video trailer for the shorts at GameTrailers {link no longer active}.
Read Gaudiosi s article at VentureBeat {link no longer active}.
Publisher 2K Games has taken a tongue-in-cheek tone in marketing Gearbox Software’s sci-fi shooter Borderlands before. They put out a video mimicking Christian Bale’s breakdown on the set of Terminator Salvation. The TV spot for the game continues that tone in messaging and presentation, one that fits both its futuristic western-comedy positioning and quirky art style. Even the spot’s marketing slates get the cheeky treatment, with one touting the game’s 87 bazillion guns.
One highlight in the spot is how it channels the opening credits in a Sergio Leone Western to stylishly present marketing bullet points while essentially forcing viewers to read them. Another is the treatment of the game’s box art at the end, adding motion to the character on the box. It really draws the eyes to the packaging.
Watch it at Shack News.
