New Travel Portland Ads Reveal Yet More of the City’s Quirks

While Portlandia pushed Portland’s weirdness into the public perception, the city isn’t all doughnuts, beer and naked bike rides—although those are things that the city is known for. Many aspects of Portlandia are obviously exaggerated, but one thing Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein absolutely nailed were the city's ubiquitous thrift shops. While the most recognizable streets in many cities are filled with luxury brands, Portland’s Mississippi Avenue and Belmont Street are lined with thrift shops selling a wide array of styles. Those retailers are the perfect setting for one of Wieden + Kennedy’s latest Travel Portland ads. [kickout id="1"] With a reimagined take on the cloth-buying process and a goofy art style, W+K captured the ethos of Portland in a way that only a Portland-based agency could. While five different art styles are used across the various spots, each of them is flowing, lighthearted and, well, weird. Giant trees ham it up with hikers in one, a Portlander becomes a noodle-fueled vacuum (the cuisine is a hot commodity here now) in another. [kickout id="2"] [kickout id="3"] With little jokes weaved in (pause on the tap names during the beer ad), W+K’s Travel Portland continues to be one of the more quirky series coming out of an agency and tourism marketing in general. [kickout id="4"] While many Portlanders have pushed back against Portlandia’s portrayal, many others have embraced its status as the weirdest city in the U.S. Sorry, Austin—even though you came up with “Keep Austin Weird” first, Portland appears to have taken the title. [kickout id="5"] For people who like beer, noodles, nature and giant anthropomorphic fuzzy coats, Portland is the place to be. While that last one is unlikely, don’t rule out the possibility when walking down one of the city’s many quirky streets. CREDITS: Wieden+Kennedy, Portland Executive Creative Directors: Eric Balwin, Jason Bagley Creative Directors: Jarrod Higgins, Lawrence Melilli Art Director: Laura Wood, Nick Stokes, Jesica Marquez Copywriter: Mike Egan, Andy Laugenour, Gus Solis Executive Producer: Heather Smith Harvey Producer: Bob Guerrero, Cole Davenport, Amy Carleton Brand Management: Jesse Johnson, Aparna Battoo, Spencer Crain Strategy: Britton Taylor, Andrew Clayton Media: Emily Dalton, Annamaria Grinis, Sami Elkan Business Affairs Managers: Brian Cook, Tim Bell Creative Operations Manager: Lauren Walker Executive Design Producer: Alicia Kuna Design Producer: Victoria Tengblad-Kreft, Edgar Morales Designer: Karen Koch, Cathy Ormerod, Danielle McCoy, Fazel Sayeh, Taylor Geick Studio Specialist: Beth Schuenemann, Rob Mumford, Vicki Liu Copyediting: Erica Nikolaidis, Brie Spicer, James Yu, Lisa Kadous Digital Retoucher: Amy Ellars Print and Fabrication Producer: Denise Hangii Production Production Company: Strange Beast Director(s): Alexandre Louvenez, Joseph Meluish, Laura Hodkin, Brendan Conroy Executive Producer: Kitty Turley Line Producer: Becky Perryman Illustrations Production Company: Strange Beast Artists: Parallel Teeth, Laura Jayne Hodkin, Eva Cremers, Guy Field, Sebaldo, Alex Jenkins, Brendan Conroy, Nick Stokes Editorial Editorial Company: WK Motion Editor: Jeff Ackley Post Producer: Jeff Ackley VFX VFX Company: WK Motion Executive Producer: Jeff Ackley 3D Artists: Jeff Ackley, Steve Smith, Neil Hilken, David Mellor, Chris Huang 2D Artists: Nick Stokes, Jimmy Simpson, Chris Huang Mix Mix House: Joint Editorial Post Producer: Jen Milano, Aubree Vandercar Audio Engineer: Noah Woodburn, Natalie Huizenga

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W+K’s New Travel Portland Ads Reveal More of the City’s Quirks

It’s all about thrift shops, hiking and noodles

Mitch Reames

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Mitch Reames