Ad Digger 23.6.15 – E3 special
Today’s lineup of top ad sync ranges from frenetic game madness to gentle British quirkiness, steered by golden oldies, iconic hard rock and prim classical polkas.
We hope those of you in the Anglophone world enjoyed the assorted heartfelt Father’s Day, and those of you with gaming tendencies dug into the flurry of E3 announcements and trailers – we’ve picked out some of our favourite uses of music from this year’s batch of shiny teasers and cinematics below. The composer behind one of our favourite score pieces – IO Interactive’s Hitman remains under wraps, with the likeliest fingers pointing to fellow Danes Jesper Kyd or Bjarke Niemann.
Fallout 4
Continuing the Fallout tradition of bittersweet juxtaposition of painfully chipper 1950s imagery and post-nuclear horror, with bright-eyed goldies oldies key to the contrast. After a seven-year wait since the last series installment, this trailer follows a slightly different rhythm, intercutting between the bright pastels of the past and grimy doom of the future to the tune of the Inkspots’ mournful ‘It’s All Over But the Crying’.
Song: It’s All Over But The Crying
Artist: The Inkspots
Developer: Bethesda
Mad Max
Though it’s hardly a deep cut, the mad-eyed Aussie rock is at least a geographically fitting, lyrically apt complement to the unhinged antipodean’s antics and to the berserk world in general. Though it occupies an uncomfortable tie-in-not-a-tie-in niche, could Mad Max, like the Batman: Arkham series before it, help buck the unhappy reputation of movie-related games (about as troubled as game-based movies?) It remains to be seen.
Song: Hell’s Bells
Artist: AC/DC
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Forza Motorsport 6
If Mad Max has whetted your appetite for all things shiny and chrome, look no further. The spot conveys the sense of wondering, worshipful near-lust of a dedicated car nut, as well as hurtling speed – you best believe the engine revs have been left in. Teen singer songwriter Elias and his powerful pipes add sweep and tenderness.
Song: Revolution
Artist: Elias
Developer: Turn 10 Studios
Mass Effect: Andromeda
One of the most divisive unveilings at E3, Andromeda’s trailer left many disconcerted at the distinctly different direction it suggested. It’s certainly a departure from the space opera tone of its main Mass Effect predecessors, but we can’t help but enjoy the trailer in its own right. The Western twang of Johnny Cash’s ‘Riders in the Sky’ is tempered with an ethereal hint, and creates a rather more irreverent, Guardians of the Galaxy aura full of pioneering spirit.
Song: Riders in the Sky
Artist: Johnny Cash
Developer: BioWare
The AA – We’ve Seen It All
The AA are a iconic yellow-vanned institution across the British Isles, and their first major television ad since 2007 years plays up quintessential Britishness with gusto. The assorted automobile crises – an ice cream man stuck on the beach with a rising tide, two members of a naturist troupe at the mercy of their lack of pockets, a historical reenactment group with a stalled tank – are apparently all based on real call-outs. The fastidious strings of Strauss’ Pizzicato Polka, picking their way through the chaos, back up the gentle absurdity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wx75aV8JqU
Song: Pizzicato Polka
Artist: Johann Strauss
Agency: Adam & eve DDB
Production: Outsider
HSBC – Stories From the Lift
To license a piece with strong existing associations – in the case of Yann Tiersen’s ‘Comptine d’un autre été: L’après-midi’, the charming Parisian smash Amélie – you have to be sure your work is strong enough to stand on its own two feet. Happily, Gary Freedman’s spot for HSBC is plentifully so, built on a simple premise: the moments that take place in an office lift throughout the life of a new business. It maintains a subtle Gallic flair, capturing moments of flirtation, celebration and despair as well as the irresistible pull of time, utilising the piece’s emotional potential to its full potential.
Song: Comptine d’un autre été: L’après-midi
Artist: Yann Tiersen
Agency: Grey London
Fitbit – Know your heart
A man’s journey from slob to strapping with that classic motivating factor – a pretty and far fitter fellow jogger – Is documented by his Fitbit. The soulful backing track works to wryly document both his gradual journey to cardiovascular vigor, and the gentle process of his courting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpW_9lvoTw4
Song: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Artist: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Agency: Argonaut
Finlandia Vodka – 1000 Years
The age of various extraordinary protagonists – that of Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, AKA Game of Thrones’ The Mountain and Iceland’s Strongest Man, is a bit of a shocker – adds up to 1,000 in this declaration of vodka-based individuality. The casting is the true strength here, but the rumble of Donnie Daydream’s “Undeniable” fits the ferocious mood.
Song: Undeniable
Artist: Donnie Daydream feat. Richie Sosa
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy London
