Creative Briefs

Don't Say a Word The gulps of Coca-Cola? The all-envel oping music? Whatever it is, hipsters don't say much in Coke's new ads.Cliff Freeman and Partners broke its first youth-targeted ads for the soft drink this month. In one, teens lounge on a rooftop at sunrise, surrounded by echoing acoustic guitar; in another, they dance frenetically to electronica in the woods. Arthur Bijur, agency ECD, describes the ads as "philosophical, introspective." Compare these to an energetic 1993 Creative Artists Agency spot —one of the first "Always" ads—that had cast members of Stomp tap-dancing and beating drumsticks on ice blocks the size of small cars. In that ad, too, no one says a word. New Attitude Tonight, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Awards, the show run by the Advertising Women of New York, will again cheer and jeer ads for their portrayal of women. Now in its fourth year, GBU is bucking for change. In an attempt to encourage more advertising that effectively appeals to women, the event co-chairs are trying to attract more creatives. "We wanted to raise the show to the aspirational status of other awards schemes," says GBU co-chair Cindy Gallop, president of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York. The judging panel has been adjusted accordingly, with several creatives now on board. Two of them—John Hegarty of BBH and Jamie Barrett of Fallon in New York—are the first men to judge the GBUs. To boost attendance, AWNY is also spicing up the entertainment. The format has been changed from a luncheon, hosted last year by Debra Norville, to an evening blowout emceed by Sarah Jones, an up-and-coming actor whose one-woman show, Surface Transit, recently opened in Los Angeles. The evening will also feature a humorous lecture on the psychological and cerebral differences between the sexes, given by Dr. JoAnn Deak, author of How Girls Thrive, an Essential Guide for Educators. To boot, cocktails will come in three strengths—"good, bad and ugly, depending on how smashed you want to get," says Gallop. The post-party, featuring young country singer Greta Gaines, is designed to get attendees to stick around and debate the judging decisions. It could get ugly. New Attitude HotlineAll Tied UpThe Athena Awards, presented by the Newspaper Association of America and honoring creativity in newspaper advertising, joins soccer on the list of contests that can end in a draw. Ogilvy & Mather and Fallon shared top honors at last Thursday's event, and the two New York agencies will split the $100,000 grand prize. Fallon won for an ad for the United States Tennis Association honoring Andre Agassi. The ad featured a tournament bracket showing Agassi going up against others' criticisms of him, such as "Can't win the big ones," until he emerges as the winner. Ogilvy's winner was a 32-page insert for IBM, with each page profiling an IBM e-business. One features a shot of a small boy with pointy ears. The title reads "e-vulcan" and includes the Web address www.startrek.com. Over 1,000 entries competed in 20 categories for 37 awards. The Art Center College of Design in Pasa dena, Calif., won the $5,000 prize in the student category for its "Hungry" ad for Trader Joes. The Right IdeaBest Buy comes to New York with a campaign that goes for the Midwestern soft sell. For the ads, which broke this month, the Eden Prairie, Minn., electronics retailer sent a human "Idea Box" to ask New Yorkers what they think of shopping in electronics stores. Not surprisingly, he heard complaints—about overeager salespeople and high prices. Nobody, however, batted an eye at what he was wearing: an unwieldy foam costume with blue tights and yellow high-top shoes. Joe Michaelson, associate creative director of broadcast at Best Buy Advertising, the client's in-house agency, says the shop wanted the character to act normal despite his outfit. "He's like a regular guy. That's how New Yorkers treated him," Michaelson says. When the Idea Box asked people to name their favorite films, he and a taxi driver ended up engaging in dueling imitations of Robert DeNiro's "You talkin' to me?" CrosscutsRadio Disney targets youth in promoting its new AM radio station, which will soon be available in the top 40 U.S. markets. In a 30-second ad, teens who tune in to Radio Disney get sucked into their radios to the songs of Britney Spears, N' Sync and Smash Mouth. In the virtual world, they dance, surf on CDs and play Frisbee. The spot ends with a radio burping. The work is from AMS Productions in Dallas. ... Well in advance of the winter, Publicis in New York has launched a $20 million New York-centric campaign for Club Med tagged "Re-new." Outdoor and transit ads show vibrant, sunny photos of vacationers. One features a pristine beach dotted with palm trees. Text reads, "Freezing wind. Itchy wool. What are you, a masochist?" A national push comes later in the fall with outdoor ads in Miami and Los Angeles, print ads in national publications and TV ads breaking Oct. 1.

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