In the process, I ended up realizing how much I had wished for that same guidance when I was a teen. I remembered how much of a roller coaster ride it was to get comfortable in my own skin. Now, as an openly gay man in the ad business, I’ve come full circle and have been given the opportunity to give back in my own way.

The Live Out Loud logo before

The rebranded logo

When we unveiled the new brand logo I designed to our client, Leo, it was one of the few moments I have ever witnessed him speechless. It became the very first step in our journey together. I still remember one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had: watching Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter of Milk, as he spoke to students at his old high school, and up front and center on the podium was the new Live Out Loud logo.

Dustin Lance Black: Watch Dustin Lance Black’s Homecoming Project

Live Out Loud soon started receiving the attention it deserved: growing support in the community, increased traction through events, and involvement of celebrities and public figures. I witnessed first hand the growth of the organization, while at Deutsch I was simultaneously maturing, expanding my portfolio, skillset, and being promoted. Progress was something we both shared as we came into our own.

Live Out Loud through the years

In 2012 we created an ad campaign for The Homecoming Project, which developed the idea about passing on valuable life lessons to a future generation. When we presented Gay It Forward, everyone fell in love with it, client and agency alike. It was a massive undertaking for the agency, but with a lot of ingenuity we made it happen.

As we were finding lessons to put in the campaign, I realized I had learned a few valuable lessons myself, in my professional and personal life. I hung onto one the chalkboards from the shoot as a reminder of why I am the person I am today. It reads simply, “I Learned to Shine Without Permission”.

Homecoming Project Video: Watch The Homecoming Project TV spot

The Homecoming Project Campaign

When I first started working on Live Out Loud, it was not an easily recognizable name. Live Out Loud has grown so much in the past few years, connecting countless more students with role models, and helping to instill a sense of hope and pride in LGBT teens that I only wish I could’ve had. Through Deutsch, I have the privilege to work on Live Out Loud each year. I continue to do so because I see a bit of me in the work they do, and what they stand for.

Knowing that the organization has come such a long way, and I may have had something to do with it, makes me reflect on my own growth. And I look forward to both of our futures because I know the journey we’ve started together has only just begun.

Read more about the Target Dollhouse.

Click on the image above to view a slideshow of the Dollhouse.

Once upon a time, there was a dollhouse. It was beautiful and inspired everyone who peeked inside its windows. Then, one bright morning, it opened its doors and invited everyone inside…

Grand Central Station is a busy place. Every day, more than 750,000 people (all in a New York rush) hurriedly pass through its hallowed halls.

Now, they have a reason to stop.

This week, Target and our Deutsch LA team have added a touch of magic to Grand Central and its chandelier-decked Vanderbilt Hall. The majestic space, which began its life as a waiting room for first class passengers, is now home to a life-size dollhouse that this week is promoting Target’s Threshold home décor line.

The team and their contractors built the two-story, 1,600-square foot installation in just 54 hours and designed it to showcase roughly 3,500 products –everything from sheets, to throw pillows, picture frames to lamps.

The house is packed with interactive features that draw visitors to the installation and connect them with Target’s “design for all” ethos. These include: a photo station where guests can capture and share their dollhouse experience through social media; a makeover artist in the bathroom; and digital photo frames that will feature photos taken by guests.

As Daniel Chu, our executive VP-experiential creative director explained to Adage: “Target is about the balance of the thrill of expecting more, and the reality of paying less.” With the dollhouse installation, we think Target has exceeded these expectations. We hope everyone in New York had a chance to drop by, but here in LA, we’ll be watching, longingly, from afar.

See the Target Dollhouse come to life in this time-lapsed video and read about the Twitter reactions from spectators.

Do you remember your first kiss? It was probably as awkward as it was memorable. That’s the feeling we tried to convey in our new Taco Bell commercial, “First Kiss.”

The spot shows how Taco Bell’s Live Mas tagline works in small, believable ways, with people taking leaps they wouldn’t normally take. A teenage couple on their first date in front of a Taco Bell is reminiscent of a John Hughes’ movie — equal parts awkward and sweet. The song, “All Eyes on You” by St. Lucia, has an 80s synth vibe that gives the ad even more of a Hughes feel.

“For us, the ad captures one of those moments where you first felt really alive, where you borrow your parent’s car, hang out with your friends in a Taco Bell parking lot, and (possibly) steal your first kiss,” says Senior Copywriter Melissa Langston-Wood.

Director Zach Math, who also shot our other recent spots for Taco Bell, “Hola” and “The Most Obvious Idea in the World,” worked to create actual tension between the boy and the girl.

“He wouldn’t let them talk to each other until the actual shooting began,” says Senior Art Director Sara Oakley. “Then he ripped a 100-dollar bill in half, and said afterward they could tape it together if they went out on a date.” And in answer to your question, we’re not sure if they did or not!

Here’s to those small moments — and Cool Ranch Dorito Taco breath for your next kiss

Check out it out as AdWeek’s ad of the day.

It’s not easy to capture the dual nature of the Taco Bell slogan Live Mas. Deutsch LA creatives Gordy Sang and Brian Siedband decided to do it in song.

“The tagline is half-English, half-Spanish and Taco Bell represents this kind of American version of Mexican food so we wanted to celebrate that,” says Gordy, a senior art director. He and his partner Brian, a senior copywriter, decided to translate popular songs into a Spanish near-equivalent version. And we mean near-equivalent. They used Google Translate, notorious for its garbled translations, because they wanted Spanish listeners to notice something was different.

After initial ideas that included translating the National Anthem, Gordy and Brian landed on the notion that crazy fun nights are often capped off with a trip to Taco Bell. And what better song for that than “We Are Young,” the megahit by fun.?

“We wanted to tell the story of an epic night among friends, but flip it,” Brian says of their choice to cast senior citizens in the “Viva Young” Super Bowl spot, which currently has about 2.9 million views on Youtube.

The translation fun continued with the pre-game spot “Grande Papi,” which features a dad “living mas” while out on the town with a Grande Steak burrito and his baby in tow. The duo chose Notorious B.I.G’s “Big Poppa,” but had to translate it more carefully, partly because Spanish tends to use more words than English, and partly because of the content. “It was slightly more risque, we had to choose words more consciously,” Brian says.

Lionel Ritchie’s classic “Hello” provided the hook for the “Hola teaser spot” for the new Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Taco.  “We picked this song because there was huge anticipation for the new taco—it was the taco they were looking for.” Brian says. “It’s a hilariously great song that’s sad and then turns glorious in the chorus, fitting the story of the sad guy in the rain. And (of course) it sounded glorious en español.”

We look forward to what Gordy and Brian will come up with next—and to hearing more of our favorite songs getting the Live Mas treatment.

When Deutsch LA set out to depict The Manliest Low-Calorie Soda in the History of Mankind or—as you may call it—Dr Pepper TEN, it went all the way back to a time when men were men, or at least wore non-ironic beards: the 1970s.

“Mountain Man” continues the tongue-in-cheek, hyper-manly advertising that launched the low-calorie soft drink launched in late 2011. But rather than looking at action movies for inspiration, as our original “Not for Women” spot did, our creatives were inspired by 70s beer commercials and TV shows like “Grizzly Adams.”

“That’s when man advertising really started, and it was a little more earnest than now,” says Ryan Lehr, associate creative director. “They were like, ‘Hey guys, let’s go camping this weekend and while we’re out there, let’s shoot a beer commercial.’”

One of the most influential ads was a 1974 Hamm’s Beer commercial, which is basically a minute of a guy driving a live bear around in a Jeep and drinking at least two beers while talking to loggers. Not to be outdone, the bear in our commercial paddles the canoe!

Part of the appeal of “Mountain Man” was going back to a time before tablet computers and power steering, when life seemed (to us today, anyway) a little simpler. And the spot recalls that simplicity by borrowing from the rougher look of the 70s commercials.

“There’s no slickness to the old commercials. It’s almost as if they shot one take and said, ‘That’s a wrap,’” says associate creative director Erick Mangali.

The look and feel was further shaped by director Stacy Wall, a veteran chronicler of manhood through LeBron James Nike commercials. He pushed Deutsch LA to include an old-fashioned jingle, going so far as to sing a line one off the top of his head in the initial director’s call.

The jingle—which starts out with what is destined to be an immortal line, “No land is a no man’s land to me”—was inspired by Grizzly Adams, itself a TV series about a guy who is friends with bears. The Grizzly Adams theme, “Maybe,” was played throughout auditions.

That was because they wanted someone who could pull off a modern-day Grizzly Adams. They found one in actor Blake Gibbons, whose gravelly voice exactly matched the fake one Ryan used when pitching the ad. “We wanted someone who could play it straight,” Ryan says. “We didn’t want it to seem like a parody.”

What would you do if you saw Justin Timberlake in person? If I did, there’d be some serious freaking out, with some embarrassing gushing and requests for an ‘NSYNC reunion.

Luckily, the 20 superfans we surprised with a personal JT appearance in Target’s latest ad, “Justin Timberlake Superfans,” were a lot more composed.

When I was a teenybopper back in the 90s, Justin Timberlake was just about one of THE BEST things in a tween girl’s life. JT has maintained a dedicated fan base throughout the years who love everything from his Ramen-noodle haired NSYNC days to his smooth vocals when he brought “sexy back.”

Our latest work for Target to launch his comeback album, the 20/20 Experience, was a gift for those superfans. You can watch the experience on our making-of video below, or read on for more details.

The Idea

Target’s and Justin Timberlake’s collaboration stems out of the idea that Target offers the fans more, being the only place that you can get two extra tracks on JT’s new album. Our creative team thought, what better way to further that idea than to give fans even more and give them the opportunity to meet Justin Timberlake in person? “We really wanted to give fans something they would truly cherish but also make something interesting to watch,” says Melissa Langston-Wood, the senior copywriter behind the campaign.

The Fans

It’s not hard to find Justin Timberlake fans, but in this case, we wanted the “biggest” fans. The Target team held an open casting call, and saw a ton of people, but the ones who stood out were the ones who told personal stories where Justin Timberlake had really made an impact in their lives.

The fans ranged from former 90s teenyboppers to aspiring singers who have been inspired by Justin. We even found a girl who was the president of the Ukranian JT Fan Club.

The Shoot

The fans were asked to sing Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” off of his new album for a Target commercial. They had no idea that he was going to come on stage in the middle of the song and surprise them.

To keep it a secret, the team separated the fans into groups of five individuals and after each surprise, the fans had to wait outside so they wouldn’t spoil it for the others going after. For each group of individuals, there were three takes. After two practice takes, JT quietly waited backstage and came out during the third one.

Deutsch, Target and JT’s team were watching it all go down via monitors, and with each surprise, they were all on the edge of their seats in case something went wrong. “Superfans meeting their biggest icon—a very good-looking icon?” Melissa explains. “I was worried someone would have to go to the hospital—or worse, say something inappropriate to JT that shut down the whole thing.” (Editor’s note: Melissa was joking about the hospital thing. We think.)

JT wanted to change up his surprise with each group of fans, improvising as he went along. He clapped for some, sang with some and laughed a lot. Everyone could tell he loved it as much as the fans did. At the end of the shoot, he said, “This is the best commercial I’ve ever done.” Coming from JT, that means a lot!

Fun Facts:

For the last Target and JT commercial that Deutsch did for the Grammy’s, it was super top secret and therefore required a code name for Justin Timberlake. He was called “Diablo” for Dick-in-the-box + LO.

They — are former classmates.

Former roommates.

Former BFFs.

Now bitter rivals.

HINES vs. HARRISON

HOVER ROYALE 2013

The battle for hovercraft supremacy is on in this latest spot for Microsoft’s new email service, Outlook.com, and part of its larger campaign launch.

Watch as Justin The Master Harrison takes on his former protégé, Patrick Little Grasshopper Hines.

The two will trade hundreds of photos and videos in a single email, each one documenting the building of a do-it-himself hovercraft, from start to finish. Who has home field advantage? Technically, they both do.

It will be battle of biblical proportions.

A clash of two tinkering titans.

Gods of the Garage.

Heroes of the Hovercraft.

MB’s upon MB’s of file uploads will tell the tale

of whose craft …out-hovers the other’s.

Hovercrafts will be born. Legends will be made.

The gloves are coming off. Because you can’t build hovercrafts with them on.

Don’t miss it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFHTm9ntNLE

Click above to see a slideshow of Target’s space at TED

“How do you impress the world’s biggest thinkers?” That’s the challenge Deutsch LA experiential creative director Daniel Chu and his team had to overcome when they conceived and built a social space for Target and TED in just three months. The result was “A Mind for Design,” an installation that captivated TED attendees from Al Gore to Google’s Sergey Brin.

The day before Thanksgiving, our experiential team got the kind of brief that experiential teams live for: grabbing the attention of TED attendees and speakers with a TED social space for Target. It also had to tie into TED’s theme, “The young. The wise. The undiscovered.”

Everything about A Mind for Design was intended to get people thinking and talking. Instead of furniture, undulating “waves” made of plywood and cushion let attendees sit or lie any way they wanted. On their backs, they could watch projections of the TED talks on the ceiling.

As people started discovering the space, they found brain teasers, devices that measured their brainwaves, and Target food stowed in drawers.  Visitors donned a brain helmet and competed to see who could focus and lift a cube with a Target logo. (Spoiler: Sergey competed but didn’t win.) The room measured brainwaves and tweets about the space, and the lighting changed according to brain and tweet activity.

“Design is a matter of perspective,” a sign says on the wall. “We remind you to lift your head from the devices to discover something new.”

The space was a success in part because of its design but also because it got people to look away from their phones and start exploring and talking. “It did what it was designed to do,” Daniel says, “which was to get people to engage with each other.”

Al Gore at Target x Ted

 

What do The Matrix and the new VW Beetle site have in common?

They both use bullet time to show a constructed reality that slows down time so the audience can see everything as clearly as possible!

Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the world of automotive advertising, the digital VW team delivered the Spin-O-Scope, an entirely new consumer experience for Volkswagen’s new Beetle site. Blurring the lines of reality and digital, this latest feature for the new Beetle models gives the consumer the opportunity to see the car in live action in a digital space.

The car spins in front of the user, then freezes for user control of the car in that moment of time. The feature is set to a simple yet narrative background and the whole experience provides the humanity and excitement that other online car experiences lack.

This was a collaborative effort across numerous departments at Deutsch; the teams worked together to pull off mixing TV elements with modern technology in a digital space. In order to pull this off, we needed a team to do location scouting, casting and bidding for directors, all things that our digital folks are not generally familiar with. The team also incorporated special effects, such as using a water cannon to fake waves crashing at the beach, and shooting seagulls and leaves against a blue screen. This production used a capture rig consisting of 36 still cameras shooting at three frames per second and seven RED motion cameras at 60 frames per second, mounted on a steep pipe bent to a 25-foot radius, the largest radius that Real Effects had! Once this was all completed, our digital team then had to integrate and build it into the VW site to make it an interactive experience with the audience.

In addition to the Spin-O-Scope, the new Beetle site, which includes coupe, convertible, fender, 50s, 60s and 70s editions of the model, provides consumers with an experience that is animated and fun. Each model has a gallery that enhances the user experience with full-screen viewing and downloadable assets. The Volkswagen site has seen almost a two-fold increase in the amount of time consumers spend on it since the new features. Check it out here:
• Beetle Coupe
• Beetle Convertible
• Beetle Fender