When Gatorade asks “Is It In You?” … the answer’s as plain as the sweat on your face.

The PepsiCo brand revived its famous ad campaign during this week’s NBA Western Conference Finals, with one of the game’s living legends providing narration.

Michael Jordan voiced fresh installments of “Is It In You?” from TBWAChiatDay. No. 23 starred in the original spots, which drove hard into the cultural zeitgeist during the 1990s and 2000s.

Those intense commercials connected Gatorade with elite athletes’ obsessive desire to win. The reboot’s similar, but rocks more diversity and a decidedly Gen-Z flavor.

Josh Allen, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Jayson Tatum, A’ja Wilson and D.J. Lagway appear.

Their efforts pack considerable punch, and the deeper roster—with a focus on competitors overcoming life’s challenges on their paths to glory—feels like a natural evolution.

“As the brand that has been on the sidelines fueling athletes for decades, we’re committed to not only helping them stay in the game but also celebrating their unique ‘it’ (the quality that helps them persevere),” says Gatorade brand chief Anuj Bhasin.

“The return of ‘Is It In You?’ is about acknowledging how much the sports landscape has changed, while reminding athletes that one thing hasn’t—the inner drive that fuels you—and that’s what matters most.”

What if your world was a diamond-dappled playground, bathed in blue hues and decorated with ginormous gift boxes from Tiffany & Co.?

You’d be living inside the brand’s latest ad campaign, that’s what.

TBWAChiatDay L.A., director Dan Tobin Smith and Tiffany’s internal team developed the initiative. It pays homage to Gene Moore, who created iconic window displays for the store.

They achieved the dreamy-pricey vibe almost entirely in camera through a mix of detailed miniatures (all the rage these days), oversized mock-ups, animated projections and tricks of perspective.

For some shots, a smoke machine was used to create clouds. Set designer Rachel Thomas contributed to the effort. Its theme, “With Love, Since 1837,” reflects the brand’s heritage.

Ads “tell the origin story of each collection, highlighting the Lock bracelet, Jean Schlumberger Sixteen Stone ring and HardWear jewelry, among others.

Breaking today, the hero :30 will run across digital platforms, with print elements in the mix.

Dude was born to play Big Brother. He’s not even acting!

“To find the Jack in the Box haters, we reached out to fast-food fans through a third party under the guise of market research and elicited comments about brands they do and don’t love, encouraging them to be specific,” agency creative director Jeff O’Keefe tells Muse. “We made sure to cover our tracks, keeping the brand and our intentions secret the entire time.”

“When the first hater walked in, we were all huddled in the control room holding our breath—even Jack,” recalls senior art director Jake Roberts. “It was a huge relief when she took the first bite and loved the burger. Silent cheers all around. That really set the tone for the rest of the shoot.”

The participants’ reactions are priceless, too. They’re like: Oh s**t, it’s Jack! 

Damn straight. Now, you want fries with that?

TBWACD worked with DOMO director Jonathan Klein and Small Girls PR on the launch, which includes edits of the hero film, plus OOH, radio and social outreach.

Look out below! Pigeons are dropping brand propositions from the sky.

A few weeks back, animated versions of such birds talked up insurance for Progressive. Now, TBWAChiatDay L.A. casts Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler as New Yakky CGI spokes-squabs for DirecTV.

They’re miffed because rooftop satellite-dishes have begun to vanish as consumers opt for DTV’s internet-based option.

The approach stems from research that shows 75 percent of people think they need a dish to watch DTV.

As for the casting picks, “Steve and Henry are icons who have earned their place in entertainment culture over many decades. Their distinct voices have burrowed deep into the American psyche—and we expect plenty of viewers to lean in and think, ‘Hey, I know those guys!'” TBWACD creative director Ryan Buckley tells Muse.

“That said, we casted first and foremost on the merits,” he adds. “Steve and Henry, both native New Yorkers, perfectly captured the ‘charming curmudgeon’ vibe we were after.”

Hey, youse boids! Keep away from my car!

Director Jeff Low’s penchant for delivering strong sales messages through quirky comedy comes to the fore.

“We wanted to contrast the absurdity of two talking pigeons with a serious, sober, gritty cinematic gravitas—Mean Streets with birds. Jeff and his cinematographer captured the realistic, specific vibe we were after,” Buckley says.

He also credits the VFX team at Untold Studios for “creating pigeon characters that feel at once expressive but completely believable. They studied bird anatomy and movement down to the tiniest detail and filtered that behavior through these scenarios.”

“The closer you look, the more you notice how rich and nuanced these birds’ performances are,” Buckley says. “They’re informed by actual recordings of Steve and Henry delivering their lines in the sound booth.”

The work breaks across TV and digital platforms beginning today. Some of the media buys and creative content emphasize baseball, as DTV carries most MLB games.

Long the stuff of nightmares, Jack in the Box’s freaky mascot stars in a Halloween-themed campaign from TBWAChiatDay L.A. that includes eerie ads and a horror shot. The work hypes Monster Tacos, a seasonal fave, and the spicy Angry Monster menu option.

Oddly, perhaps, Jack Box isn’t cast as the menace in this particular project. In fact, he seems downright unnerved, followed around town by a creepy taco truck in the first spot below. Who’s driving? It’s not Ryan Reynolds.

Relax. That’s just hot sauce, not blood.

The van returns in “Feeding Time,” a seven-minute video slated to launch on Oct. 13.

So, scary tacos. Brand have gone similar routes before. Most notably Liquid Death, which reimagined its aluminum cans as vicious villains in a funny, fear-soaked flick a few years back.

At some point, Jack does meet a gruesome fate. Right? Kidding. If he’s down with Luke Skywalker, that bobble-brain’s okey-dokes by me.

“Central to all of our work on Jack in the Box is the idea that fictional CEO Jack Box always delivers for his fans—whether that means egg rolls and churros at 3 a.m. or truly scary content around Halloween,” TBWACD creative director Jeff O’Keefe tells Muse. “He knows what people want. Halloween happens to be a time of year when the regular rules don’t apply. So it’s a sweet spot for this brand, which always operates a bit outside the mainstream in terms of its menu and messaging.”

You know who gets Jack munchies around 3? Snoop Dogg! Can’t imagine why.

“Jack’s customer base has always been a little unruly,” says agency senior strategist Aaron Rivera. “No matter where they’re at in their lives, they’re rebellious, funny, outspoken people—and they can’t be lured by cheesy, basic Halloween campaigns. For them, Halloween is about immersing yourself in creepy, ghoulish fun.”

With that in mind, the brand collaborated with ace horror talent to deliver the branded chills.

“Marcus Dunstan, our director, is a true, scrappy horror filmmaker who is also a scholar and an uber-fan of the genre,” says O’Keefe. “To have him bring that same passion and energy and resourcefulness to our production was invaluable. It leveled everything up.”

Shooting in a rugged, wooded location almost sent the taco truck to its grave.  

“There was a moment where we thought we might have killed it,” O’Keefe says. “The engine was literally smoking. Luckily, it was revived, and we got everything we needed.”

Here’s a screamy trailer:

A week marked by trips down memory lane ends on a high note thanks to Gatorade. Eminem serves as emcee, and his 2010 track “Won’t Back Down” bubbles up, too. But the rapper’s participation is just one nostalgic element of a :30 from the PepsiCo brand.

We’re also treated to way-back commercial footage of Michael Jordan—with the “Be Like Mike” jingle reverberating from more than 30 years ago to rock our brainpans.

Titled “The Way to Be Great,” and developed with TBWAChiatDay L.A., the spot serves as a bridge between generations, a merging of past, present and future. Clips of sports legends in their prime segue into footage of contemporary athletes. Along with M.J., Serena Williams and Lionel Messi appear, plus Jayson Tatum, Elena Delle Donne, Sydney McLaughlin and more.

It’s basically a clip show, but done so right. A cultural continuum spanning decades unfolds—like some river of commerce, flowing to the sea, carrying us along for the ride. (Way to twist an obscure metaphor! Still, it fits.)

“We know our brand has everything athletes need to fuel Greatness,” says Anuj Bhasin, chief brand officer at Gatorade. “We have fueled the greatest athletes of all time over the last 60 years, and ‘The Way to Be Great’ is an anthemic campaign meant to bring to life what greatness has been, and what greatness looks like in the future.”

The work breaks today during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. it and will also run during the league’s draft, as well as in WNBA games and during College Baseball World Series coverage.

For more nostalgic moves (all from recent days!), check out Muse’s takes on AAA Insurance (with boy band vets), Sprite (they remixed “Rapper’s Delight”), Jack in the Box (Snoop Dogg’s in the house with a classic hit), Goldfish (updating Lisa Loeb’s “Stay”), and non-musical throwbacks from Burger King and McDonald’s.

CREDITS

CLIENT – GATORADE
Chief Brand Officer: Anuj Bhasin
Head of Consumer Engagement: Brandi Ray
Consumer Engagement Director: Oliver Schrickel
Brand Campaign Senior Marketing Manager: Sydney Melville Brand 
Campaign Marketing Associate Manager: Alex Podges 
Gatorade Sports Marketing Director: Kyle Grote
Gatorade Sports Marketing Senior Manager: Keri Lockett 
Gatorade Sports Marketing Senior Manager: Natalie Jones 
Gatorade Sports Marketing Manager: Rachel Condelli
Gatorade Sports Marketing Manager: Megan Koehnemann 
Gatorade Sports Marketing Associate Manager: Connor Wudrick 
APR Cost Consultants: Sharon Groh, Sheila Flaherty

AGENCY – TBWACHIATDAY L.A.
Executive Creative Director: Desmond Marzette 
Group Creative Director: Mark Peters
Associate Creative Director – Art: Johnross 
Post Associate Creative Director – Copy: Max Schein 
Chief Design Officer: Bruno Regalo
Associate Creative Director Design: Thiago Matsunaga
Senior Project Manager: Alice Pavlisko
Director of Content Production: Anh-Thu Le
Sr. Producer: Alyson Buoncristiani
Design Production Manager: Alessandra Horn 
Brand Director, Design: Monica Gelbecke 
Director of Business Affairs: Robin Rossi 
Associate BA Director: Jennifer Anaya
Jr. BA Manager: Annabel Turrado
Talent Payment Manager: Vanessa Contreras 
Director of Traffic Operations: Dessiah Davis 
Sr. Traffic Operations Manager: Judy Brill
Sr. Brand Director: Robyn Morris
Account Director: Gabriela Marino 
Management Supervisor: Audrey Sigel
Sr. Account Executive: Javier Hernandez
Executive Strategy Director: Scott MacMaster 
Group Strategy Director: Martin Ramos 
Associate Strategy Director: Ryan Hagen 
Strategist: Trés Jones
Head of Connections Planning: Stephanie Ehui
Connections Strategy Director: David Heiser

PRODUCTION – 1st Ave Machine
Director: Sebastian Rodrigo Sanz
Director: Hernan Aragunde
Partner & Executive Producer: Sam Penfield 
Executive Producer: Ella Nuortila
Head of Production: Mariajose Garica London 
Line Producer: Elizabeth Collins

POST PRODUCTION – 1st Ave Machine Bueno Aires
Director: Diego Berakha
Executive Producer: Sabrina Elizondo 
Post EP BA: Alejandro Sparano
Line Producer: Michelle Wejcman 
Coordinator: Nicolas Meiorin
Coordinator: Diego Atencio 
Coordinator: Romina Vanney 
Coordinator: Martin Camji Pfeiffer
Editor: Mauro Caporossi 
Editor: Lucas D’alo
Designer: Diego Berakha 
Designer: Sebastián Sarmiento 
Designer: Adolfo Correa 
Designer: Carlos Fernandez
2D Animation: Diego Berakha
2D Animation: Sebastián Sarmiento 
2D Animation: Adolfo Correa
2D Animation: Carlos Fernandez 
2D Animation: Matias Petroli
Composition: PIMBA! VFX
Conform: Andres Montero 
Bustamante Conform: MAWI
VFX Supervisor: Diego Gambarotta
VFX On Set Supervisor: Ernesto Cespedes

COLOR
Colorist: David Castañón Pesquera

SOUND DESIGN / MIX
Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan 
Mixer / Sound Design: Zac Fisher 
Assistant Mixer: Klaudia Bennett

Jack Box feat. Snoop Dogg. This jam had to happen!

Everyone’s fave rapper/marketing maestro gets the late-night munchies. Can’t imagine why. Anyhoo, Jack in the Box and its freaky mascot are on hand with a new menu, including “Snoop’s Munchie Meal.”

Fresh off his Mint Mobile collab with Ryan Reynolds, Jack hangs with Snoop in fresh spots from TBWAChiatDay L.A. These check all the righteous boxes. We get the artist’s trademark drawl, rap-culture humor, an aura of getting nicely toasted (like bread?), plus some Easter eggs.

At one point, SD dons Box’s big plastic head. That’s worth the price of admission!

It’s a campaign made to order, with all the stuff fans crave. Except maybe Dogg bestie Martha Stewart. (Though it’s probably best to keep her far away from kitchen prep these days).

“Snoop’s no stranger to late-night food cravings,” Jeff O’Keefe, TBWACD creative director, tells Muse. “But that’s not the only reason he made sense as a partner here. He’s an iconic personality, with a sense of integrity and a sense of humor. He’s totally comfortable in his own skin and naturally associated with late night and hanging out.”

Put another way: “Everything about him matches well with the way the brand behaves. He also has an authentic connection to Jack in the Box, having grown up with it as a kid.”

Turns out Martha may have good reason to be jealous.

“In between shots, Snoop and Jack just kept talking in this laid-back way,” O’Keefe recalls. “We kept the camera rolling and got some great footage of them goofing around, reminiscing, digging on each other, etc. They were like a couple of A-listers making a movie. It wasn’t Snoop and an actor but Snoop and Jack.”

As for the soundtrack. “It was really important to us that we use a classic Snoop song across all the elements of the campaign, to tie it together and deepen that sense of familiarity,” he says. 

“‘Who Am I (What’s My Name)?’ from his classic album Doggystyle fit the bill perfectly. In a nice little bit of serendipity—Doggystyle is about to have its 30th anniversary.”

Hip-hop itself turns 50 this year, with Sprite, Wendy’s, Pepsi x Apple Music and more inviting rappers like Nas, T-Pain and Bad Bunny to the brand-boosting celebration.

CREDITS

Client: Jack in the Box
Chief Marketing Officer: Ryan Ostrom
VP of Marketing + Communications: Sheena Dougher 
Senior Manager, Brand Marketing: Jessica Deprizio 
Associate Brand Communications Manager: Ashley Rhorer 
Director, Social Media & PR: Morgan Higgins
Social Media Manager: Ciara Austin
Associate Public Relations Manager: Casey Middleton 
Social Media Coordinator: Makenzie Abuyen-Nuestro 
Head of Media: Daniel MacDonald
Media Manager: Jason Climaco 

Agency: TBWAChiatDay
Chief Creative Officer: Renato Fernandez 
Chief Design Officer: Bruno Regalo
Executive Creative Director: Jason Karley 
Creative Director: Bert Marissen
Creative Director: Jeff O’Keefe
Art Director: Bern Dalla
Copywriter: Jon Ollom
Designer: Andrea Nazario
Executive Producer: KimLara King
Producer: Aubrey Larson
Associate Producer: Linnea Goodman
Art Producer: Ted Copeland
Activation Producer: Amanda Azoroh 
Production Coordinator: Daysi Centeno
 Business Lead: Alison Kaplan
Brand Director: Alexandra Arroliga 
Management Supervisor: Simran Devidasani 
Account Executive: Chase Munroe
Account Executive: Marcela Carbajal
Group Operations Director: Claire Lynch 
Project Manager: Shubha Chakravarty
Project Manager: Scharlotte Storey
Group Strategy Director: Jeremy Davis 

Strategy Director: Corey Kindberg
Senior Strategist: Hannah Schweitzer
Head of Connections Strategy: Stephanie Ehui 
Director of Business Affairs: Robin Rossi 
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Allison Fasano 
Talent Manager: Adele Orsen
Director of Traffic Operations: Dessiah Davis
Traffic Manager: Julia Sen 
Client Finance Budget Manager: Ashleigh Millette 
Budget Manager: Marcus Tom 

Production Company (Live Action): O-Positive 
Director: Brian Billow
Director of Photography: Sebastian Pfaffenbichler 
Line Producer: Grayson Bithell 

Production Company (Food): Camp Lucky 
Director / DP: Tom Ryan
CEO / Partner: Tammie Kleinmann 
Executive Producer: Brandon Tapp 
Producer: Chelsea Sevadjian 
Producer: Evan Murphy 

Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Editor 2: Fernando Raigoza
Assistant Editor: Paulo Miramontes 
Producer: Wendy Umanzor
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone 
Head of Production: Megan Dahlman 

VFX: Timber
Flame Lead: Brian
Flame support: Chris de Cristo 
Flame Assist: Adam
Nuke Comping: Aryel Melek-Shalom 
After Effects: Gabe
Head Of Production: Ryan Dahlman 
Producer: Wendy Umanzor 

Color: CO3
Senior Colorist: Stefan Sonnefeld 
Senior Producer, Color: Blake Rice 

Sound Design + Mix: LIME Studios 
Mix Engineer: Sam Casas 
Assistant Mix Engineer: Collin Thomas 
Assistant Mix Engineer: Meg Ochs 
Associate Producer: Cassie Underwood 
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan 

Music (TVC + OLV):
Track: “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)”
Artist/Composer: Snoop Dogg 
Track: “Early Word”
Composers: Beacon Street Studios 
Adrea Lavezzoli – Executive Producer 

Dogg in the Box Activation 
Production Partner: BeCore Executive 
Producer: Preeya Patel
Producer: Hannah Reeder
Producer: Casey Mitchell

In her work as associate strategy director and multicultural practice lead, this week’s guest, Krystal Hawkins Hooks, is patiently but diligently guiding brands toward more inclusive work. Hear about her patient approach to progress, whether it’s zero-to-ten, or zero-to-two. Plus, she did it, y’all. She worked with Beyoncé. Find out what campaign Krystal worked on that we are all very jealous of.

Then, we exchange tea on what we learned about ourselves upon becoming a mom. We keep it real about the difficulty of that journey, and how to give yourself grace when operating at 100 percent is not possible. (Shout out to post-partum therapists.) Enjoy this candid, vulnerable, and insightful conversation.

See more episodes of Black Tea at https://musebycl.io/blacktea.

Before imploding spectacularly, the year started off so well for cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which enticed Larry David to star in his very first TV ad—on the Super Bowl no less. The spot, from DentsuMB, was well received during the game, though ironically, Larry’s reluctance in the ad to embrace FTX actually proved to be prescient.

Read more here.

9️⃣

Adidas Tweets Bare Breasts To Promote Its Inclusive Line of Sports Bras

In one of the year’s most provocative campaigns, Adidas hoped to normalize bare breasts of all shapes and sizes with #SupportIsEverything, a campaign that began with a tweet showing dozens of naked breasts to promote an upcoming line of sports bras that includes 43 styles and 72 sizes. In May, the U.K. Advertising Standards Agency decided the campaign—created by TBWANeboko—would “likely cause widespread offense” and it was banned.

Read more here.

8️⃣

Louis Vuitton’s Messi/Ronaldo Ad Is Even More Brilliant Than It Looks

The Qatar World Cup gave us plenty of great—and not-so-great—marketing moments, but none were as instantly iconic as Louis Vuitton’s print ad featuring Lionel Messi of Argentina, the eventual champion, playing Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo at chess. The positioning of the pieces—replicating a board from a 2017 match between grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura—was an all-time great easter egg as well.

Read more here.

7️⃣

Pringles Will Pay You $25,000 to Work as an NPC in a Video Game

We saw a bunch of engaging gaming campaigns this year, but this effort from Pringles U.K. and Grey London stood out by offering player a chance to work in a video game as an NPC (non-player character), refilling Pringles vending machines in Train Sim World. The idea emerged from the overarching campaign theme, “Stay in the game,” due to Pringles being less messy than other snacks and easier to eat while gaming.

Read more here.

6️⃣

British Airways’ New Ads Will Make You Love Copywriting Again

Uncommon in London created one of our favorite print/OOH campaigns of 2022, crafting an impressive 500 unique executions—with no visuals whatsoever, just simple and evocative copy lines. The ads were modeled after the forms you fill out upon arrival in a new destination—though in addition to “business” or “leisure,” each execution added a third option, exploring the variety of reasons so many of us travel.

Read more here.

5️⃣

The Story Behind Nike’s Amazing 3-D Air Max Billboard in Japan

For the 35th anniversary of Nike Air Max Day, Nike Japan pulled out all the stops, working with creative collective CEKAI to make a eye-catching 3-D billboard outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. We saw a number of 3-D billboards like this in 2022, but this was one of the best.

Read more here.

4️⃣

DirecTV Lampoons Ghostbusters With Help From 4 Baseball Greats

DirecTV and TBWAChiatDay L.A. stuffed this spot full of retired baseball greats—Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson—who teamed up as the “GOATbusters” (Ghostbusters: Afterlife had just arrived on DirecTV) to battle a giant version of Cincinnati Reds mascot Mr. Redlegs. 

Read more here.

3️⃣

Coinbase and Its QR Code Win the Super Clio as Super Bowl’s Best Ad

The Super Bowl is always full of spectacle: celebs, special effects, Puppy Monkey Babies. But this year, the Super Clio—bestowed by a jury of top industry creatives—was awarded to the most captivatingly lo-fi spot of the game. Accenture Interactive’s ad for crypto brand Coinbase featured 60 seconds of a QR code bouncing around a screen, one of the most audacious direct-marketing ploys in history.

Read more here.

2️⃣

What’s Up With Prime Video’s Freakishly Elongated Football?

Prime Video took over coverage of Thursday Night Football this fall, and its marketing for the broadcasts included this completely bogus story about an elongated football that quarterbacks could throw further—more than the length of a football field, supposedly. Wilson created 33 of the balls for real, and even though everyone knew it was a prank, the campaign, from agency Atlantic New York, was all over mainstream media.

Read more here.

1️⃣

Bud Light’s ‘Real Men of Genius.’ The Making of a Radio Classic

Season 2 of our Tagline podcast rolled out back in the spring, and it was the fourth episode, about the making of Bud Light’s “Real Men of Genius” campaign, that got the most listens. We revisited the campaign’s greatest hits with folks on the agency, client and production sides—to see how a the idea blossomed into a decade-long entertainment franchise that spawned 200 radio spots, as well as TV ads, compilation CDs and even live events.

Read more here.