Lewis Williams

In this holiday spot, we highlight the brotherhood, fatherhood and husband hood of Black men. While showcasing the fresh quality of Walmart foods, we showcase the bonds and unity of black male friendship and family. This celebration of holiday, men and family is punctuated with the classic song, Whatta Man.

Why Wouldn't Ya?

To introduce the New Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, it was discovered that even though hybrid technology has been around for quite some time, many consumers are still confused about how it actually works. All of this lead to myths and misconceptions that are barriers to purchase.

In launching the RAV4 Hybrid, the direction was to educate the consumer by debunking those misconceptions head on. We recruited actor/comedian Keegan-Michael Key as Professor RaValle Forman, a retired Drivers Ed Instructor and RAV4 enthusiast, to come out of retirement to teach classes on Hybrid Learning.

The top myths/misconceptions were addressed in 6 online videos. The cross-platform campaign was rounded out with three Instagram videos, print, memes, social posts, TV and radio.

“Unplug and Connect” asks consumers to unplug from technology and connect with the ones they love. The spot hopes to show how magical it can be when people who care about each other actually pay attention to one another without the distractions of technology. It reminds us that human experiences, in real life, are more fascinating than any TV show, movie, or social media. We want to show how special it is to simply share familiar and unexpected moments with each other.

What do you say to a new 100% fresh beef Quarter Pounder that’s hotter and juicier than ever?  Nothing. Cause you’re so caught up in the delicious flavor, you need a celebrity to do the talking for you. In this star-studded campaign, Charles Barkley speaks for Susan, while she enjoys the incredible taste of McDonald’s new Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

The rise in violence in the Black community is well documented in both the news and social media. The sheer volume of stories runs the risk of leaving listeners of all races numb to the humanity of the victims. This is especially true for the children who grow up in the midst of traumatic, warlike situations. This violence is their “normal," not just a nightly news story that they can choose to ignore.
 
We felt it was our duty to make sure that the violence didn’t drown out the voices of the people affected by it. So we went into schools and met with African-American boys. Our goal was to show those caught in the crossfire, not as victims but as loveable kids with hopes and dreams; to help all of America see these young boys as someone’s son and not just another statistic.  And to inspire all of us to come together to protect our future.
 
The target audience was broader than just the community facing the violence: we wanted to touch the hearts of every American who loves – and wants to protect – young boys.
 
Young Black men are dying at an alarming rate.
A review of statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, Bureau of Justice and the FBI revealed that 85% of Black victims of homicide were male and 51% were between the ages of 17 and 29. Of particular concern was the high death rate of young Black boys: in 2012 alone, 65% of the boys ages 19 and younger who were murdered were African American.
 
Never captured in the headlines was the impact of those deaths beyond the Black community. These deaths were the demise of future lawyers, executives, teachers, policemen, entertainers, doctors and scientists – maybe even the one who would have found a cure for cancer. That’s more than just a Black problem; that’s an American tragedy.
 
To inspire change, we knew we needed to move beyond assigning blame to creating stories that provoked empathy -and outrage- among both Black and non-Black viewers by showing Black boys as humans, not statistics, with the same hopes and aspirations any boy would have. And one aspiration many boys don’t have to consider: the desire to live long enough to even achieve adulthood.
 
* The “Our Black Boys” video series reached over 132,647 people in its first two days via Youtube.
* Surprisingly, one of the most desired future careers of Black boys was to grow up to be a Policeman: “To protect their family and others.”

To introduce new “clean label” Chicken McNuggets, McDonald’s targeted African-American parents of young kids.  The concept was created from the insight that AA parents want to instill life lessons to prepare their children for the road ahead.

The spot featured a real-life boxing coach and his daughter as he literally put her through the paces.  With the message that, “better doesn’t happen overnight,” he passed on not only life lessons, but good eating habits.  As a parallel, McDonald’s took their classic Chicken McNuggets to the next level by taking out artificial flavors, colors and preservatives.  In addition to :30 TV and radio spots, a :60 version ran on YouTube.  The spot also aired on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio in the midst of #blackgirlmagic.