Self-promo? Don’t mind if I do. I’m Dan Lasso (aka Dan Marvin), Ted’s imaginary brother from the same pretend mother. The ad world can be a pretty cynical place, so I thought I’d inject some Lasso-esque optimism on LinkedIn as Dan, Ted’s brother who works in advertising as a freelance creative director. The good people at Adweek even did a little writeup if you scroll to the bottom of their Wednesday Stir.
Guy Fieri teamed up with Chevy to make American dreams come true with the Apple Pie Hot Dog. And it got people talking...often with their mouths full.
Time has stood the test of baseball. This ode to America's pastime celebrates Chevy's long-standing partnership with Major League Baseball.
We didn't put the EV in Chevrolet, but we did find a way to highlight it. My partner and I were the CDs of EVs (electric vehicles) for Chevrolet and one of the coolest things we came up with is now used everywhere. We also oversaw some big broadcast work, from stylishly showcasing the upcoming Blazer EV to normalizing EVs in a fun way with the Bolt EUV.
It’s the Official Truck of Real People.
In a 24-hour long race, humans need fuel, too. The caffeinated kind. We engineered a supercharged blend called Corvette Coffee for Corvette Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Corvette Racing won the IMSA Championship in the first-ever mid-engine Corvette race car. To commemorate this dominant debut, we drained the race-used oil from the championship cars and used it as the base for the ink to print limited-edition posters.
We gave fans a way to be there for Jimmie Johnson during his final NASCAR season, because retiring during a pandemic year meant he wouldn’t get the farewell tour he deserved from his fanbase. We put out the call for #JimmieTributes on Instagram and Twitter, then created micrography art from those heartfelt words. The art made its way onto a full-page USA Today ad, a billboard, a video, multiple social executions and a NASCAR.com takeover. All of this work will be displayed soon.
The smaller the blocks, the better the detail. Nanoblock is the David to LEGO's Goliath in popularity. But they are 1/8th the size, which makes a huge difference when it comes to detail. This campaign made the Communication Arts Advertising Annual, won Best of Show at the D Show in Detroit and was runner-up in the USA Today $1,000,000 Print Challenge.
The strongest, most advanced Silverado ever was built to tow. This first-ever media placement in movie theaters ran just prior to the coming attractions on 14,878 screens in 2,346 theaters across the country.
Real people. Not actors. This campaign is part experiential, part experimental. It's also ranged from long-form cinema to 30-second spots, and from pre-roll to social videos and more. So far, surprising real people with fun scenarios and impressive Chevy vehicles has increased sales steadily since the campaign began.
The pasta isn't real, but the original thinking behind it is. This self-promo social campaign on LinkedIn and Facebook introduced me as a new freelancer to the Austin ad community in an appropriately quirky way. And it worked, resulting in new connections and a long-term gig right away. AgencySpy even wrote a tasteful article about it.
Shake It Up, America! When a senior advisor to a presidential candidate slipped up, we were there to catch the attention with an intelligent response campaign. Feeding the media frenzy resulted in coverage by every major news outlet for our clients, as well as a Silver EFFIE.
My partner Dave Muller and I went to Dubai to work on a pitch for GMC Yukon in the Middle East. With the help of the talented team at FP7 McCann, we came up with the two directions that went to clients, one of which won the account. Classical Arabic Poetry is an art form practiced by many in the Middle East. Many poets actually write about their vehicles. We found that GMC Yukon devotees had written many odes to its power and luxury. This inspired us to use that truth, those words, as the basis for our campaign idea. Below you'll find the pitch video that won the account followed by what it evolved into when the FP7 McCann team produced the launch spot.
We were asked to brand Chevy Sonic on a global level. This spot is running almost everywhere, including Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Argentina, Thailand, Colombia, Chile, Korea and a few other countries. Hence the lack of dialogue. Because while youthfulness translates easily, language doesn't always.
It's a supercar with super fans. The first mid-engine Corvette Z06 has a 670 hp flat-plane crank engine. Its fans absolutely devour info like that. We gave the people what they wanted with an entertaining series of long-form videos that will lengthen any attention span.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will go down as the most beloved athlete to his sport. More than Jordan, Gretzky or anyone else. That's not up for debate. He's been loyal to Chevy his entire racing career and deserved a fitting sendoff for taking us along for the ride.
