This takeoff on MTV Cribs—a TV series in which rich and famous celebrities, usually in the music business, give us tours of their opulent homes—provides a poignant social perspective in that this time the homes being visited are those of impoverished street people in Los Angeles.
"Christopher" opens with a logo for the tongue-in-cheek series Kribs, and then transitions to an architectural schematic, which clearly shows that we’re not about to get an eyeful of luxurious digs. The specs alongside the blueprint read, "1 bedroom, no bath," "25 square feet" and "Downtown Los Angeles."
We are then taken to a street-side scene in which sheets, blankets and rags are draped over some cardboard and a fence to form a makeshift shelter for Christopher, who introduces himself as someone who’s been living in Downtown L.A. for 12 years. He then takes us through his residence, showing us the "refrigerator," which is a bucket that he keeps his food in, and his "bedroom" and "guest bedroom," which are sleeping bags on the ground.
Christopher then walks over to the other side of his abode. "This is the east wing," he notes. He refers to the area just outside his home as "the porch." He goes on to characterize his neighborhood as multi-racial—black, white and Hispanic. "Thank you for coming by and stop by again, you hear," he says in the end.
A super against a dark background then fills the screen, asking, "Who cares how the homeless live?" The spot gives way to an end tag for the Los Angeles Mission, accompanied by its slogan, "The Crossroads of Hope," a phone number (213-629-1227) and a Web site address (www.lamission.org).
"Christopher" is one of five similarly themed spots in the campaign in which real-life homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles show us where and how they live. In "Slim," for example, a man shows us his home, a pup tent that he wheels around in a shopping cart. Then there’s Mina, who lives in a makeshift shelter containing a beat-up old couch.
There’s also "Toilet Boy," which references a man who lives in a port-a-potty. He tells us that at night he puts a piece of cardboard over the toilet bowl seat and sleeps inside the cramped Andy Gump structure. He chose this as his home because he can lock the door, keeping him safe at night. At the end of his spot, the man looks into the camera and asks for help so that he can get a better place to stay. "I really want to get out of here," he says. All the public service spots conclude with the same question and end tag as seen in "Christopher."
The campaign was directed by Elliott Lester of Blueyed Pictures, a Los Angeles-headquartered company with offices in London and Tokyo. Jamee Natella executive produced for Blueyed, with Jordon Winter producing. DP was Hilton Goring.
To get the campaign some exposure, Blueyed bought some local TV time for the ads. The package was conceived by a team at Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), London, consisting of creative director William Gelner, copywriter Antony Goldstein, art director Gavin Lester and producer Mary Cheney.
Editor was Chris Wright of Sunset Editorial, Hollywood. Audio mixers were Los Angeles-based freelancers Maurice Sydnor and Tracy Mills. Sydnor also served as music composer.
Christopher Brown was the principal actor in this spot. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
