The catchy song Can you feel it in this new Coca Cola commercial ‘Walls’ was written by the band One Night Only. The song – that reminds us of the band Novastar – is as sweet as a bottle of Coke, but maybe that’s why it’s so hard not to like it. And since Coca Cola is all about opening ‘happiness’, Amsterdam agency Wieden+Kennedy has worked well on brief. According to the press release the commercial, that was produced by Biscuit Filmworks and CG’d by The Mill, is supposed to depict “the sacred teenage ritual of grabbing a Coke, cranking up the stereo and enjoying a moment of release through music at the end of their day”. You could ask yourself whether the target finds it ‘cool’ enough, but at least their parents will love it – and Coca Cola knows they always fill up the fridge. There’s also a very similar music video, which could spread the brand message more subtly if it becomes a hit – similar to what W+K tried to do with Heineken’s Entrance, we believe. Since “teenagers want to be part of the conversation” (press release talk), the campaign also allows them to film and upload their own footage on a dedicated website to be integrated in a crowdsourced videoclip. The whole thing made us think of the Hilltop commercial (“I’d like to teach the world to sing“) from 1971. And when comparing it to that hippie feeling, you could say that Coca Cola has evolved in a very consistent way.

Photo: Maurice Mikkers
The biggest winner last night at the ADCN (Dutch Art Director’s Club) awards was Lemz. All the ‘bulbs’ – of which one was a Grand Prix (the very best integrated work) – went to their Fireworks campaign. Our very favourite campaign of the year Domino’s Pizza Pepperoni by Indie won one Golden and two Silver bulbs (TV, internet and activation) – in our opinion it was at least as good as Lemz’ work. Wieden also won one Gold and two Silver for Heineken’s ‘The making of The Date’ (internet, TV, and activation). Selmore won Gold for Bavaria and Hugh Heffner – so we can be sure that Charlie Sheen will also win Gold next year. We were a bit surprised that N=5 won Gold for Telfort – not really our taste. Y&R won one Gold and two Silver for LG’s ‘smart thief‘ (internet, TV, and viral). A bit strange that alle these films are winning different prizes for the different channels through which they are broadcasted – does the channel matter? Another one of our favourites was Hema’s with a push-up bra in print, promoted by a male model, going viral big time – by Doom & Dickson. It won Gold and Silver. Note: Hema is one of the most down to earth department stores in the Netherlands. TBWA won Gold with its print campaign for DIY chain Gamma; free Lego – “Just like dad.” In Interactive Tribal DDB won Gold and Silver for ‘Obsessed with Sound’ for Philips. One of the most impactful commercials of the year by Publicis for ALS won Silver – “I have died by now.” Special bulbs went to Mischa Rozema (for directing OFFF), Christian Borstlap (art direction and illustration, for LV and Mr Porter), and Simon Warner (photgraphy, for Octopus).

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam has promoted Clay Mills to Managing Director. He follows up Lee Newman, who was appointed as MD in 2008. Newman will become president at O&M Chicago. Mills was hired by Wieden in 2010 as Group AD on Heineken. Since his hiring Heineken became one of Wieden’s more profitable and successful accounts, making the agency even lead this year’s Gunn report. Prior to W+K Amsterdam, Mills worked at JWT New York, and BBH in New York and London. ECD’s Mark Bernath and Eric Quennoy about Mills’ appointment: “Spending the last two years making the Heineken work with Clay has been one of the more enjoyable experiences of our careers. You have to work with people who make work feel more like having fun. That’s when the best stuff happens. Of course, you can’t have fun without being dead serious and smart about what you’re doing. A balance that Clay gets as good as anyone.”

Earlier this week we wrote about EA’s Grand Slam Tennis 2, today we’re writing about yet another EA game, called FIFA Street. Just like GST2 this one also shows some in-game footage – probably a client mandatory – but what is different about it, is that it’s all about real life swagger. A dude with a bowler hat, a DJ, a monkey, a girl with white sneakers and golden legging, and some old school TV’s being smashed by the ball. And some dinstinguished copy: “Welcome to the home of hustle…to the school of swagger. Abracadabra. This is the birthplace of every move you’ve ever seen.” It feels a bit wannabe cool, though we instantly admit that we might just be getting a little too old for this stuff – we’re more the FIFA ‘normal’ generation. In any case, if you want to ‘Free Your Game’ FIFA Street is clearly the way forward. Created by Wieden+Kennedy, directed by Paulo Gandra and Steve Hudson (Hungry Man).

In March EYE, or the Film Museum Amsterdam as they used to call it, is leaving the Vondelpark and moving to its new location on the north shore of the IJ river. This not only means Amsterdam welcomes an impressive and iconic new building, it also means the film museum now has four modern cinemas, a 1200 m2 exhibition space, educational facilities, offices, and the ‘Basement’ – which includes the digitized EYE collection and a café-restaurant. To celebrate the move to ‘Noord’ and the opening of the new building, EYE invites film lovers to submit a 20-second EYE-dent conveying the organization’s intention to be the gateway to the world of moving images. A selection will be awarded with 10 screenings, exposure on the website, and becoming part of the museum’s collection. Deadline is March 15 and you can upload your film here. The strangely amateur image – and museum’s visual identity, for that matter – was created by EYE’s ad agency Wieden+Kennedy.