Many adjectives could be used to describe John Van Osdol’s job at D’Arcy Detroit, Troy, Mich., but "boring" isn’t one of them.
"I liken it to a firestorm," remarks Van Osdol, who joined D’Arcy as senior VP/director of broadcast production in June 2001. "It’s basically putting out the blazes that flare brightest. I’m keeping a keen eye on the work, trying to put processes in place, and I’m trying to acclimate myself to the agency. But first and foremost, we have two launches going on right now."
One of the launches—actually a re-launch of the venerable Cadillac brand—debuted at this year’s Super Bowl with the spots "Highway," "Crossing," "Glow" and "Parking Space." Scott Hicks, a noted feature film director (Shine, Hearts in Atlantis), helmed "Highway" and "Crossing," while "Glow" and "Parking Space" were directed by Bruce Dowad of Bruce Dowad Associates, Los Angeles. The ads, which feature music by Led Zeppelin, are big hits with the client. "We were down in New Orleans for a Cadillac dealer convention, and I got hugged by a dealer," Van Osdol marvels. "That was the first time that ever happened to me."
It’s easy to see why. Simple and straightforward, with minimal special effects, the classic automotive spots focus on the product. "In a lot of commercials, you’re trying to do things around the car—make the car a player in the act," he explains. "But in these ads, the car is definitely the star. We tried not to be too gimmicky or over stylized. We just wanted to turn back the page to honest communication about what the brand’s all about."
As with most of his projects, Van Osdol had quite a bit of input in creating that concept. "I like to think the producer is part of the creative team," says Van Osdol, who has enjoyed a long working relationship with Gary Topolewski, D’Arcy’s executive VP/chief creative officer. "Gary and I have a partnership that dates back ten years. I won’t say we finish each other’s sentences, but we come pretty close. After he gets ads in from the creatives, he’ll sit down and work through them. Then he might come to me and say, ‘What do you think?’ And I’ll put my two cents in. It’s a very collaborative process up front. It helps me get a feeling for what might be coming down, and whether it’s going to be within budget."
"Highway" features a classic red Cadillac convertible, driving out of a black-and-white, 1950s scene and into the present day, where it passes the Escalade, a sport utility vehicle, and the CTS, a four-door sedan, before finally morphing into an ’02 model. "Glow" depicts a silver CTS glowing orange as it cruises down the highway. In "Parking Space," a tiny car shares a space with the roomy Escalade by fitting inside it. The commercials end with the tag, "Break Through."
Led Zeppelin’s "Rock and Roll," off the album Led Zeppelin 4, that begins, "Been a long time since I rock and rolled," accompanies the action in all the commercials. "You can read into it," Van Osdol notes. "It has been a long time since Cadillac has really strutted its stuff. We felt, for the brand, the song said a lot."
So too felt the former members of Led Zeppelin, who allowed the song to be used in an ad campaign for the first time. "Robert Plant is actually a huge Cadillac fan," Van Osdol notes. "[The band] wanted to sell some of their catalogue for advertising, and we stepped through that crack in the door. They were very receptive. The deal was done in about a week."
Director Scott Hicks—like "Rock and Roll"—was an easy choice for Van Osdol. "It was primarily the quality of his film," he says of Hicks, who is represented for spots by Independent Media, Santa Monica. "The campaign idea was based on simplicity. Looking at his movies, and the straightforward way he communicates emotions, it was a perfect fit."
Van Osdol says he appreciated the "feature sensibility" that Hicks brought to the shoot." Noted feature DP Robert Richardson, who won an Oscar for cinematography for his work on JFK, was the DP on the ads. Richardson recently signed with bicoastal Tool of North America for representation as a spot director; previously he had been with bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ). "[Robert Richardson] was incredibly fast and nimble with the set-ups, which was good, because we were doing like forty set-ups a day," notes Van Osdol. "Both the director and the DP were very flexible throughout the course of the schedule."
Hicks "essentially engineered the ending to ‘Highway,’ " reports Van Osdol, who welcomed that input. A former film major at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., Van Osdol prefers directors who take a collaborative approach. "I view the whole production process as an evolution," he says. "You start with a creative concept, you might board that out, make up some shots and sell it to the client. But it’s not like, ‘Okay, that’s it, we’re done.’ You’re getting a [production company] involved, you’re getting a director involved, and you’re paying these people a pretty good sum of money, ultimately for their input into your product. So we definitely solicit that input."
Despite his film training, Van Osdol has spent his entire career on the agency side of the business. "Right out of college, a junior producer position opened up at Ross Roy [Advertising, Detroit]," he recalls. "I jumped at that opportunity and stayed with it ever since."
Van Osdol later moved on to Campbell Mithun Esty, which later became Bozell Detroit. FCB Detroit is the former Detroit office of Bozell. While at FCB, he eventually oversaw a staff of 35 producers and accounts like Jeep, Chrysler, Hush Puppies and Little Caesars. Working closely with creative director Topolewski, Van Osdol helped earn many awards for the agency, including Cannes Lions, Clios, Emmys and Andys. In ’94, their "Snow Covered" spot for Jeep won the Grand Prix at The Cannes International Advertising Festival.
Last year, Van Osdol was at PentaMark Worldwide, Troy, working as a senior VP/executive producer, when he was offered the position at D’Arcy: "The main reason I came to D’Arcy was [the Cadillac re-launch], quite frankly," he states. "I saw that Cadillac was moving in the right direction, and there was a great opportunity to be part of something very exciting."
Van Osdol’s first major project at D’Arcy was for another GM launch: a new campaign for Pontiac. "The ‘Pass It On’ campaign started off as a small discussion that Gary and I had," recalls Van Osdol. "He said, ‘Hey, there’s this idea out here about this sort of reality TV-based thing. What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, that could be interesting.’ Within two weeks that had grown into this full-blown campaign, which the client took a chance on."
Initially slated to debut during the Emmy Awards broadcast, but rescheduled after the events of Sept. 11, the "Pass It On" campaign features documentary-style footage of real people admiring a Pontiac. In "Street" and "Chromed Out," directed by Adam Cohen of Real TV, Santa Monica, passers-by take a close look at a parked Pontiac Vibe. In "Superbowl," also helmed by Cohen, four men take a Grand Prix for a spin at Daytona Beach with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. "It was an enormous undertaking," Van Osdol says of the package. "We literally had to turn the whole thing around within a couple of weeks. We were putting the finishing touches on the spots when Sept. 11 happened."
At D’Arcy, Van Osdol says, "there are currently nine producers. I include myself in that number." While he’s always taken a hands-on approach, "it’s a delicate balance. I will get a producer assigned to a job, and I’ll be involved in terms of supporting that producer. But I’m not going to breathe down his neck. If I’m telling him to set sail from Boston to Marseilles, I’m not going say, ‘Go around this island and take this tack.’ It’s more like, ‘Figure out how to get there. Just make sure you get to Marseilles. And do it on time and on budget.’ "
Currently, Van Osdol is as busy as ever. He recently completed the Cadillac ads "Test Track" and "Guardrail," directed by Nico Beyer of bicoastal Neue Sentimental Film USA, and "Windshield," helmed by Richardson, through his previous roost MJZ. "Race Car," also directed by Richardson, is in the final phase of postproduction.
Naturally, the new spots feature the Zeppelin song. "No copywriting can really match the wail of Robert Plant," says Van Osdol with a smile. "And the cool thing is, it’s unexpected. You don’t think of Cadillac when you’re listening to a Led Zeppelin tune."
