While Alaska and Oregon aren’t exactly similar, the differences aren’t stopping two enterprising marketers—who need to justify Alaska Airlines as an official sponsor of Portland Trailblazers basketball—from trying to concoct common bonds between the two states.
Our pair of "shrewd" marketing executives is first seen on an empty basketball court, with one telling the other of his stroke of genius. "This is it," he brags. "The perfect melding of Alaska and the Trailblazers—traditional Alaskan Blazer uniforms."
Next, we see three Blazers—Arvydas Sabonis, Antonio Davis and Zach Randolph—decked out in furry head-to-toe parka sweat suits, complete with hoods and mittens.
In this restrictive garb, the players practice passing the ball, lay-ups, jump shots and slam-dunks. It’s an exercise in futility, as not a single shot is made. The frustration builds and we hear the players mutter, "Impossible," and "You can’t play with furry outfits on." Finally, the players give up and shed their furry suits. As they leave, one guy concludes in disgust, "This whacks."
The spot cuts to an Alaska Airlines logo, captioned by "Proud Sponsor Of The Blazers," and we hear the banter of the two marketing executives, who are in denial about their experiment gone awry.
"’Whack.’ Is that good?" asks one marketer.
"Very," his colleague assures him.
"Traditional Uniforms" is one of five spots in the TV campaign conceived by agency WongDoody, Seattle. The package includes another ad in which salmon are shot out of a rocket launcher and into the stands of the Rose Garden Arena, home of the Blazers. The outlandish takeoff on prize giveaways is another feeble attempt on the part of our marketing heroes.
The commercials were directed by Jack Barrett via Euro RSCG Tyee MCM, Portland. (Euro RSCG Worldwide acquired production house The Tyee Group a couple of years ago.) Deborah Ginnes and Kirk Steppe served as executive producer and line producer, respectively, for Tyee. The DP was Todd McClelland.
The WongDoody creative ensemble consisted of creative director Tracy Wong, associate creative director/copywriter John Schofield, art director Jason Black and producer Brian O’Rourke.
Kelly Vander Linda of Slice Editorial, Seattle, edited the campaign. Online editor was Kevin Adams of Modern Digital, Seattle. Colorist was Jim Barrett of Downstream digital, Portland. Audio mixer/sound designer was Vince Werner of Clatter & Din, Seattle.
