For any advertiser to win an award at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity is an amazing feat. It’s what creatives live for. Now imagine a single campaign taking home five Grand Prix, 18 Gold Lions, three Silver lions, and two Bronze Lions. That quite possibly could be the best campaign ever made. And that creative team is going to need to pay for some extra carry-ons on their flight home from France.

That creative team is from McCann Melbourne, and you probably know that the campaign is “Dumb Ways to Die.” The fully integrated campaign is highlighted by an adorable and humorous three-minute video promoting train safety for Metro Trains. It has also appeared in newspapers, radio, outdoor, on Tumblr and is an extremely addicting gaming app.

The video mentions a handful of dumb ways to die, some of which are quite farfetched. It concludes with standing on the edge of a train station platform, driving across the tracks when the safety bar is down, and walking across the tracks. These are considered “the dumbest ways to die.”

Obviously, the message of this campaign is real simple. There are some pretty dumb ways to die, but trains shouldn’t be one of them. Negligence and a lack of patience can be idiotic. But if you just show some caution, you’ll be completely safe.

Unfortunately, I do have a gripe with this video, and considering all the awards and the 50 million hits on YouTube, my bet is I'm in the minority on this one. From a creative point of view, the cute animation and ridiculous deaths are a great way to get attention. But I think people could get caught up in the cuteness and miss the message. The message is train safety. What do using you private parts as piranha bait, taking your helmet off in outer space, and dressing up like a moose during hunting season have to do with train safety. Absolutely nothing. Waiting nearly three-minutes to even mention trains may get people wrapped up in the humor of the dumb ways rather than comprehending the dumbest ways.

Like I said, I’m clearly in the minority on this one. It is a powerful campaign and it definitely has a strong message. For me, I had to watch it a few times to truly grasp it all, and I think it could’ve been more impactful if trains were mentioned earlier on.

Shortly after the Miami Heat won their second straight NBA Championship by defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game 7 last night, Nike launched a commercial encouraging fans to call LeBron James and leave a message.  It begins with a phone ringing and it clicking over to LeBron’s answering machine. Then it’s followed with a barrage of congratulatory messages from the likes of Spike Lee, Warren Buffet, Dr. Dre, Mike Krzyzewski, Phil Knight, Drake, and Bill Russell. 

When you dial (305) 767-2226, it actually rings, but just like the commercial, it goes “You’ve reached LeBron. Please leave a message.”

This is a neat feature from Nike. It’s participatory and gets consumers engaged. For the naïve folks, they might actually think that LeBron is going to get their message. If he gets mine, maybe he’ll stop making that stupid face when a call doesn’t go his way and won’t flop anymore.

Shortly before halftime of Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, a rather peculiar (and expensive) ad aired. It was a three-minute spot featuring rap star Jay-Z in his studio. It shows him working with his producers Rick Rubin, musician Pharrell Williams, and several others. They’re trying out beats, writing lyrics, and just chatting.

The spot ends with Jay-Z speaking about his new album “Magna Carta Holy Grail”, which he mentioned would be released on July 4th. Then “The Next Big Thing is Here” flashes on the screen. That’s Samsung’s tagline. Then the album’s website URL comes up. Lastly, it promotes Samsung Galaxy and #MagnaCarta.

You might be wondering what this has to do with Samsung? Well it has been discovered that the company has teamed up with Jay-Z and purchased one million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail, and they plan to give them to Galaxy users ahead of the July 4th release. The album will be distributed through a special music app the users will be receiving. Samsung paid $5 for each album.

This is pure genius on both sides. Jay-Z now has a great ad and $5 million dollars in sales before his album is even released. Samsung has another way for it to try and tackle Apple as I’m sure this will spark some intrigue about the Galaxy. All in all, both sides should see benefits from this partnership.

The spot also shows the importance that corporate sponsorships and advertising can have on the music industry. Music sales have been sinking over the past decade. But placements like this Jay-Z spot are ways that artists can attempt to overcome the decline and create a buzz about people buying their music. 

What’s your favorite way to enjoy Coca-Cola? Aluminum can? Plastic bottle? Straight from the iconic, glass bottle?

Regardless of the vessel it comes from, Coke says the best way to consume it “ice cold.” And to further cement this notion into the minds of consumers, the soda brand release an ad campaign in Colombia that features Coca-Cola Ice Bottles. These bottles are made entirely of ice, and the label is a rubber bracelet that keeps your hands warm.

This is a clever idea because not much is better than an ice cold Coke on a hot, summer day. It’s certainly eco-friendly, and as the ad says the soda is “fria hasta la ultima gota” (Spanish for “cold until the last drop”). These could be a hit worldwide, not just Colombia.

However, I see some issues. What happens when you don’t drink your soda fast enough and your bottle melts? How do you sell these so the ice stay sanitary, yet the soda doesn’t spill? I’m sure Coke is working out these kinks, but until then, you won’t find me drinking from an ice bottle.

After numerous inquiries about when Dollar Shave Club would produce a new promo video, the company has released a new video and a new product. Instead of promoting the online sale of their razors for just a dollar, this video is for butt wipes known as “One Wipe Charlies.”

The company claims that One Wipe Charlies are the fastest, cleanest, and manliest way to handle your business and you only have to wipe once. The wipes come in packs of 40 for $4 and are exclusively for Dollar Shave Club members.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Dollar Shave Club hammered it home with this one. Maybe I just hold them to a higher standard given the humor of the razor video. This video and product aren’t doing it for me.

The razors were successful because they solved a problem. Most men use razors. They want a razor that is going to give them a clean shave and not irritate their skin. They hate paying an arm and a leg for the razor and then for the replacement blades. So Dollar Shave Club gave them low-cost, quality razors and sent four or five replacement blades to them each month.

With the One Wipe Charlies, the company is asking men to alter the way they clean up after bowel movements. There really isn’t a consumer benefit because I’m sure there aren’t many men that have toilet paper issues, or who would at least admit it. And not to sound gross, but one wipe may not be too sanitary.

Wipes are wipes. They have tons of different uses. Promoting these strictly as toilet paper substitutes may not have been the best idea. It may have been more profitable to show the many benefits of wipes rather than singling out just one.

While the original Dollar Shave Club video was ridiculously funny and the razors were a hit, I think the wipes video was weak in comparison and don’t expect much in sales. Hopefully I’m wrong because I’d hate to see this company fail. And hopefully, video and product number three will return to the great quality of the first one. 

By now, you must've seen Kmart's "Ship My Pants" spot. If you haven't, please come back to Planet Earth.

Well anyways, Kmart and their creative agency, DraftFCB, are at it again. Their newest spot promotes "Big Gas Savings," as members of Kmart's Shop Your Way rewards program can save 30 cents per gallon at Kmart pumps. Just as in their previous spot, the talent strings together words in a way that it seems they're using an expletive. 

Some may find these spots to be childish and immature, but I think they do a great job at reaching the consumer. "Ship My Pants" had nearly 12 million YouTube views in its first week. "Big Gas Savings" has 4.5 million YouTube views in that same time span. People are talking about these ads and Kmart. I personally never thought I'd google "Kmart."

Here comes the big question: will these ads translate into sales increase or are people just using them for humor? I think people might overlook the true message and see these as funny videos instead of advertisements. The fun and humor of these spots may overpower the promotion. And after a few times, they get a little old. Kmart is going to need plenty more ads if they want to see long-term profits from this campaign. However, I'm not sure how many borderline vulgar puns you can make regarding a department store.