Best of 2017 TV/Film--No. 9: An Ostrich Tries Out VR and Learns to Fly in Samsung's Spot for the Galaxy S8

Through New Year's, we'll be counting down the best work of the year in TV/Film/Branded Content, Print/Outdoor/Design and Interactive/Integrated (IX) as our picks of the day. At #9 in the TV/Film/Branded Content category is Samsung's "Ostrich," from the brand's "#DoWhatYouCan't" campaign. The multi-Cannes Lions-winning spot brought a fantastical twist to depicting how VR can transport you to other worlds. In this case, it allowed an ambitious ostrich to take flight and become more than he ever imagined. The film, set to the delightful soundtrack of Elton John's "Rocket Man," was created out of Leo Burnett Chicago and directed by MJZ's Matthijs Van Heijningen. Original story: Ostriches can't fly. But in this Samsung spot, introducing its new Galaxy S8 smartphone, they do -- with the help of VR. The spot, by Leo Burnett Chicago and directed by MJZ's Matthijis Van Heijningen, shows an ostrich stumbling off the African plain onto the porch of a house and coming across a Gear VR headset carelessly left on the breakfast table. Pecking some crumbs, the bird manages to put it on accidentally and is transported into a new world via a flight simulator. To the sounds of "Rocket Man" by Elton John, the bird suddenly sees what it is to fly, and ends up teaching his whole flock to achieve lift-off. "We make what can't be made, so you can do what can't be done," says the tagline, and the ad ends on the hashtag #DoWhatYouCan't, which is being used to promote the S8 and S8+. Samsung also emphasizes the theme of doing what you can't (or what other smartphones haven't been able to achieve before) in an Unboxing-style ad, in which it explains some more of the features of the phone, including its "infinity screen" (think infinity pool on your smartphone) and its intelligent interface Bixby. Read more about the Galaxy S8 over at AdAge.com.

Best of 2017 TV/Film--No. 9: An Ostrich Tries Out VR and Learns to Fly in Samsung's Spot for the Galaxy S8

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