fun creative

So Friday was an all-employee retreat at my ad agency. Fun stuff mixed with valuable, up-lifting information with a little competition to keep things interesting. Two weeks ago the agency was divided into 4 groups and we were all tasked to "pitch" a new campaign for either one of our existing clients or a non-profit. We were split into teams and went to work. I won't get into details, but I have to say that interagency competition is one of the best things a company can do to -- 1. bring their employees together -- and 2. come up with kickass ideas. It was a good time.

So while we were brainstorming for our own campaign, we did a little research on other ad campaigns -- some that were ridiculously extreme in their messaging, but still related to selling the product while providing humor along the way. One in particular was Gainomax -- an energy drink for after workouts.

What's so amazingly simple is that when they were trying to come up with their selling point, they realized they were up against one huge competitor: bananas. Everyone knows if you eat bananas after working out you reduce muscle soreness. So why would I switch to drinking Gainomax instead? Well... if I have a heart, I would want to save the monkeys -- therefore, I'd stop eating their bananas. Love it. Check out the first one. The title says it all.

Bananageddon


The cute monkey


The spots direct you to their website. And while you have to wait until the world explodes, due to no more bananas, it's worth seeing. Simple and fun and it got my attention. I love campaigns like this -- where the team was allowed to have fun with the product, but still came up with a compelling (and viral) message.