A man decked out in pants, a dress shirt and necktie leads a business meeting in a conference room. He has matters well in hand—literally, as he’s clutching his trousers in the crotch area. His colleagues look away in embarrassment as the session leader proceeds with business as usual.
"There are no bad ideas here, so be constructive and have some fun," the man says, as everyone around the conference table continues to avoid eye contact.
Next, a female worker runs into the same guy in an office corridor. She reaches out to shake his hand, happy to see him, but when he extends his left hand, she realizes that his right hand is otherwise preoccupied. She takes off down the hallway.
Later, the man gets up from his workstation and successfully shifts his crotch-grabbing to his left hand, freeing his right hand to insert through a jacket sleeve. We then see him walking out of the office building, still holding onto his nether region.
Having one hand glued to his privates doesn’t stop the intrepid guy from being helpful. While walking through the park, an errant soccer ball comes his way. He kicks it back from while clinging onto his crotch.
Finally, the man arrives home, and we get an explanation for his peculiar behavior. He sacks out on the couch, turns on the radio, and pops a beer can open with one hand. A super explains that by not going to the loo (bathroom) all day, the man has saved 15 minutes. Another super advises us to look for other time-saving measures: "Make time for digital radio. 5 new stations from the BBC."
Titled "Loo," this :30 is part of a campaign directed by Jim Jenkins of bicoastal/international Hungry Man. Hungry Man loaned the director out to the BBC’s production company, BBC Broadcast, which produced the job for agency Fallon, London.
The other spots in the campaign are along the same lines as "Loo." For example, "Not Talking" shows a man who simply won’t talk—he doesn’t answer his ringing office phone, he ignores a woman co-worker who’s in tears, and he won’t return a "good morning" greeting from a male business colleague. This silent treatment has saved him an hour and a half, which he can devote to BBC Digital Radio.
The Fallon creative team consisted of creative director/art director Richard Flintham, creative director/copywriter Andy McLeod and producer Kirsty Burns.
John Golley served as line producer for BBC Broadcast. Tim Maurice Jones was the DP.
Andrea MacArthur of Peep Show, London, edited the spots. (She is repped stateside via bicoastal Cosmo Street). Aleks Ugarow and Ben Murray of Clear, London, served as Smoke artist and Flame artist, respectively. Colorist was Tareq Kubaisi of VTR, London. Audio mixer was Raja Seghal of Grand Central Sound, London.
