Making millions of dollars a year to play a boys’ game sounds like nirvana. What’s not to like? But Major League Baseball isn’t all a bed of roses—as "Counselor," a :30 conceived by Seattle ad agency Copacino, humorously attests.
The spot opens on a counselor, who’s addressing an unseen patient, or patients. "In ’95, you were friends," she says. "Then you were enemies. Now you’re friends again. That’s hard, because feelings cannot be turned on and off like a faucet."
The beneficiaries of her sympathetic, understanding pep talk are then revealed: outfielder Jay Buhner and pitcher Jeff Nelson, both of the Seattle Mariners. The two players sit at opposite ends of a long couch, each looking straight forward, clearly alienated from each other. They were Mariner teammates earlier in their careers. But when Nelson was traded to the Yankees several years ago, the two men became enemies on the baseball diamond. Now Nelson has returned and the reunion has been rocky.
The counselor tries to mend fences, asking Buhner and Nelson to get in touch with their feelings. "Jay, why don’t you try to explore how Jeff felt when he faced you?" she suggests. Both players are nervous, fidgety, and reluctant to communicate. But a conscientious therapist isn’t deterred. In the next scene, Buhner and Nelson, still seated on the couch, have inched a bit closer together. Now they face each other, and each man wears a furry puppet on his hand, using the prop to convey his emotions.
"Sometimes, it’s hard for me," confesses Buhner via hand puppet to the counselor, who directs him, "Don’t tell me. Tell Jeff."
Slowly, trust starts to build between the two ballplayers. In another exercise, the men stand, and Nelson falls backwards into Buhner’s waiting arms.
Buhner continues his therapy by writing entries in a journal. His voiceover explains, "I’m not only learning about my relationship with Jeff. I’m learning about my relationship with me."
Back on the couch, the two patients hug. As the logo and ticket info appear in a super, an announcer’s voiceover savors the end-tag slogan: "Mariners Baseball. Sodo Mojo."
"Sodo Mojo" became the battle cry of the Mariners last season. "Sodo" refers to the south-of-downtown Seattle area, where the Mariners’ stadium, Safeco Field, is located. Mojo refers to the good karma, fun and excitement of Mariners’ baseball.
"Counselor" is part of a seven-spot campaign directed by Ron Gross of Blue Goose Productions, Los Angeles. The Copacino team consisted of creative director/writer Jim Copacino, writer Ben Steele, art directors Jerry Kopec and Sherelle Sinko, and producer Sue Mowrer.
The overall Mariners’ TV campaign features 18 players, several coaches and team manager Lou Piniella. The common denominator of the spots is performance-based humor. In "First Names," for example, the Mariners’ newest player, Ichiro Suzuki, is introduced. A huge star in Japan, Suzuki simply wears his first name on the back of his uniform: "Ichiro." Mariners’ teammates decide to emulate their popular import, though problems ensue when first baseman John Olerud and pitcher John Halama realize they share a first name.
Bill Hoare served as executive producer/producer for Blue Goose. Petr Litomisky was the DP.
The campaign was cut by Johnna Turiano of Slice Editorial, Seattle. Online editor was Steve Harris of Flying Spot, Seattle. Bruce Bolden of Modern Digital, Seattle, was the colorist. Audio mixer/sound designer was Vince Werner of Seattle-based Clatter & Din.
