Creative Briefs

THEN AND NOW Cotton's New Clothes

Coming off the success of the "Fabric of our lives" campaign, which broke in 1989, Cotton is trying on a jazzier new identity.

To combat the popularity of polyester, Cotton Incorporated began advertising in 1971. Efforts in the late '70s included live promotions by celebrities, including Barbara Walters (below). But now Ogilvy & Mather, New York, the company's ad agency of 28 years, has tapped the animators of MTV's Celebrity Death Match for a doll-centered campaign appearing in fashion industry magazines.

Conservatively dressed dolls point to cotton's possibilities for business-casual attire; more funky dolls (below) "inject a little sexiness," says art director Michael Paterson. The goal? "Even if you take all the words off the ads, you will still be able to tell it's Cotton," says copywriter Chris Skurat.

The dolls will appear in consumer pubs this fall and, if all goes well, in stop-animation TV ads next year.

LL Rhymes for Gatorade

Is that popular rap song you want to license well out of your budgetary reach? Go to another rap star and get him to score an original.

Art director Geoff Edwards and copywriter Colin Costello, creative directors at FCB in Chicago, had chosen a DMX song for a new Gatorade "Is it in you?" spot. Seeing the price tag, though, they turned to Hum Music + Sound Design's newly launched SubZero satellite. A division of the Santa Monica, Calif.-based music house, Sub Zero is dedicated to matching ad agencies and recording artists for original spot music projects.

In the ad, LL Cool J rhymes, "My game's hard core/ Leave it on the floor," as multiple freeze-framed images highlight the players' intensity and their signature Gatorade-colored sweat. The track was written and recorded in one 12-hour day at New York recording studio Hit Factory. "We were blown away," Costello says of the collaboration. According to the agency and music house creative team, the rap star penned the words to a track composed by his producer, Self, within an hour at the studio.



LL Rhymes for GatoradeDeep Freeze Tequila Shot People

Shooting its first commercial for sneaker maker And 1, the team from Fallon, New York, got a dose of what life is like for those at agency headquarters. But though the University of Minnesota shoot was long and cold—around 10 degrees—it was close to home for the Minnesota Timberwolves' Kevin Garnett, the new face of And 1. To wit, the night sky and Garnett's visible breath added to the spots' stylized, noirish look. In one ad, the NBA star forward describes his dream that players "will be measured in