W+K PORTLAND

Moustaches on the Mind Today

Evan Dumas sent each office a couple of tubs of his famed 'Man's Face Stuff Moustache Wax' to drum up some excitement for the Global WK Mustache Competition.

Evan aka E.E. Dumas and his friend BT Livermore's brainstormed the business this past summer.

We were both fan of moustaches, but we sadly realized there was a limit to how awesome a moustache could be in this town, what with the rain and poor availability of upperlip hairstyling products. The first ever wax made was a Spearmint Moustache Wax made for BT, it had a strong hold, water-resistance (invaluable when biking in PDX), and smelled just like spearmint gum. After that we took a year to perfect the formula, trying out all manner of waxes, oils, and exotic substances. We lived dangerously and used our very own moustaches as test subjects. Eventually the time for experimenting was over, and the wax we sell today is the culmination of hard work and pure love for moustaches the whole world over. 

Our landmark scent "Gin & Tonic" (true to the drink) has got a few others to contend with these days. "All Nighter" has the essences of pipe-tobacco, coffee, and Frankincense (for that feeling of staying up late getting good work done), and "Seasoned Greetings" is a limited edition run of a holiday-scented wax using Peru Balsam, Clove, and ground cinnamon.  Go to www.mansfacestuff.com to keep abreast of future moustache-wax developments, as we're always busy researching better ways to help you wax it up and wear it well."

Follow E. E. Dumas online (twitter, facebook, etc.): eedumas

Eat lots of pie this long weekend.

TARGET 2-DAY SALE

Last week, W+K launched a campaign for Target's 2-Day Sale featuring two sisters: one is an overachieving overachiever who can't wait for 5am, and the other is a frazzled every mom who'll get there when she can. Both sisters are played by comedian Maria Bamford and the campaign includes 9 TV spots, 8 radio spots, an interactive experience on Target.com and banner ads galore.

When we cast Maria as the sisters, we knew she was funny: she’s a regular on the stand-up circuit and on Comedy Central. But we were surprised at how much she added to the campaign, ad-libbing hilarious bits on camera, collaborating on jokes off-camera, and almost never breaking character. 

Watch the ads below. More importantly, go to Target on Friday at 5AM. No, seriously. Get to that fucking sale. GO!

CREDITS

Creative Directors: Monica Taylor, Rob Thompson

Copywriter: Jason Kreher, Karl Lieberman 

Art Director: Eric Baldwin, Rob Kendall

Account Management: Bryan Tilson, Elisa Silva

Agency Producers: Hayley Goggin, Melanie Fedunok

Interactive Producers: Kris Hanson, Victoria Krueger

Production Company: Epoch Films

Director: Matt Aselton

Editorial: Joint

Special Thanks to all that work to make it possible: Amber Lavender, Victoria Krueger, Rachel Parker, Brett Corrick, Tom Blessington, Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman, John Jay, Brian Mork, Jon Carlaw, John Rowan, Suzy Mattay, Alison Bonner, Brooke-Lynn Luat, Aaron Allen, Amy Carleton, Jennifer Hundis, Ben Grylewicz, Lisa Reinhardt, Tracy Gallagher, Sam Tudyk, Sarah Hollowood, Amy Corcoran, Jen Cogliantry, Katie McGinley, Erin Sorenson, Christina Piluso, Sean O'Brien, Kris Hanson, Jason Strand, Kiem Vu, Laurie Brown, Trent Johnson, Josh Perez, Adam Sirkin, David Potter, David Ewald, Mirtho Prepont, Rodney Curl, Michelle Childs, Kelly Merrill, Sef McCullough, Frazer Goodbody, Amy Wanninger, Connery Wilson, WK5, 12.5, Wei Wei, Ian Fairbrother, Mike Warzin, Robin Rosenberg, Pete O'Brien, Joani Wardwell, Christin Spagnoli, Amber Case, Jane Monaghan, Shari Eiesland, Maggie Entwistle, Brie Spicer, Liz Upchurch, Rachel Miller, Angela Wootan, Colleen Baker, Betsy Fleming, Ed Foreman, Krystin Baker, Patty Brebner, Tommy Harden, Katie Turinski, Justin Lowe, David Jahns, Mary Zuleger, Terra Cloyes, Charlie Keating, and Jessica Baclesse.  

It's Pie Time and It's Pumpkin

With just over 60 pies entered in the 2009 Annual W+K Pie contest, the competition was stiff and the judging even stiffer. The apple pie categories saw less than normal numbers as debate over whether apple really IS Dan's favorite or not continued. Yet last year's winner- the Cheesecake only saw two entries and were deemed not worthy of even making it to the final table.

But when it came to the ultimate judge of all things pie- Dan called it unanimous- the pumpkin pie was the winner.

 
Mary Alberque running down in her gold shoes to receive her prize- a trip to San Francisco. 

   
The largest entry came all the way from the New York Office an Apple Paella!
 
One tough judge. 

  
This table agreed with Dan on the winner.

Champions of the categories were as follows: 

Grand Prize Pumpkin/Nut: Mary Alberque
Berry/Fruit: Mira Kaddoura   

Chocolate: Erik Weeman  

Cream/Meringue: Dawn Weeman  

Straight-Up Apple: Melanie Fedunok 
 
Specialty Apple: Casey Hall 
 
Cheesecake: Two pies and none was chosen for first- harsh!

Thank you pie makers.

Thank you judges.

Thank you Mary, Danny Sheniak and Ademar for their help.

Happy Holidays!

Smells of Butter and Brown sugar this morning

Pie contest is today at 3:30. Who will have the quality pie?

jump over to our studio's blog to purchase a shirt. 

Front desk Pam

So beautiful and so sweet, who knew she had a dark side? Obviously, trained by Gwen.

Turning Flour into Gold

Last night in the sixth floor kitchen facility, Robin Rosenberg held a bowl of pie crust up to her ear and whispered its secrets for a lucky few. 

Those who enrolled in Food Academy: Pie Workshop Edition walked in as raw shafts of wheat, but emerged as golden seed pods, ready to be ground and bagged. To the entrants in the upcoming W+K Pie Competition: be prepared to get crust fucked. 

Yes, Robin introduced us to a rich world of pie humor, some of it base. If you’re offended take your pie pan and go elsewhere.

In the class, we worked with our heads and hearts, but mostly with our ten organs of sensation, those phalanges that we use every day to do our work, but do we ever really feel with them?

That’s the secret, if you must know. It’s not lard or the buttermilk-to-water ratio. It’s certainly not about putting something crazy in it like cream cheese. It’s how to feel. And that’s something I am proud to say I learned in Robin’s Food Academy.

How do you say 2010?

Do you say twenty-ten or two-thousand-ten? Listen to what W+K Art Director, Jimm Lasser, has to say about it on NPR’s All Things Considered with Robert Segal.

Jimm makes his debut at time code 3:00.

A THANK YOU FROM LAIKA

 

This original piece of art was created by Kingman Cruxent Gallagher and presented by our client Laika to W+K as a thank you for the hard work and success of the movie Coraline. It measures 8' x 8' and is a three dimensional representation of the button eye Bobinski character. It's so cool. We love it. Thank you, Laika.

Heavy Metal Artist David Kennedy

Our very own David Kennedy is a man of many talents and tales.
Hang around him for just a bit and you will be treated to many
 surprises. Sure he has proven his abilities in the art of advertising, (he is in fact in the Advertising Hall Of Fame) but he is also skilled in the finer arts- as a sculptor. David is a modest man and it took some coaxing but we were fortunate to convince him to share with us his passion for working with metal. The opening night was a splendid affair and many people got their first small glimpse at just what Kennedy is up to in his many daily doings. The show will be up for the month of November, viewing times are M-F from 9a-5p.