I have a confession - I didn't watch the SuperBowl this year. And I haven't seen the commercials. I haven't even sought them out online. I'm kind of over the whole SuperBowl ad thing. A stupid amount of money for generally lacklustre creative. Meh.
But then, a silver lining to my SuperBowl ad cloud. I got an email from AdHack that they partnered with Giant Ant Media to create an ad for a yet-to-be-determined product. They released part 1 during the SuperBowl on Sunday and they want you to write the script for the second half.
(If you're not familiar with AdHack - it's a cool startup by James Sherret here in Vancouver that connects ad buyers directly to ad creators. Like an ebay for ads.)
This latest program from AdHack is called "Show Us Your Balls". They've written and filmed the first half of the commercial. And they want the second half of the script to come from one of us (One of Us. One of Us.)
The ad itself is pretty cute. Giant Ant does a great job with video! (Check out their other awesome work).
One way that AdHack is promoting the commercial is through themed avatars. They've created a template for a tennis avatar and written a great tutorial on how to make your own using Pixlr (essentially, an online PhotoShop). You can see Emmy Lou, our junkyard sharpei, here as a tennis star.
Custom avatars is a pretty hot trend right now. I've seen these balls ones all over Twitter. Plus Twitter collectively went through a manga my avatar phase a few months ago. Want to get your message out? Make something that people want to avatarize. Another case in point - Simpsonize Me.
So, check out the whole "Show Us Your Balls" program. They've got the soundtrack up for remixing as well. And if you're feeling inspired, write a script for the second half. Ad Hack and Giant Ant Media will film the best one.