Hail the conquering hero! At least that appears to be the theme when a small town in the Austrian Alps buzzes with excitement over the return of one of its own. The first to spot him—though we ourselves have yet to see the man—is his daughter, who’s playing in the countryside. The girl rushes back to the village to trumpet the good news. The church bell is rung and a marching band plays as the girl, her mother, her grandmother and the townsfolk gather excitedly at the edge of town to greet their loved one.
With eager anticipation, we await the sight of this man, almost expecting him to be decked out in a soldier’s uniform, finally coming home after heroically serving his country. Or perhaps there’s a different compelling back-story—a man who was thought to be lost forever has been rescued and returned. Whatever the case, this man—based on the villagers’ reactions—has clearly been gone a long time, and his return was in serious doubt.
Finally, he becomes visible to us, walking along the roadside. He’s a rather plain-looking guy who’s wearing a business suit and holding a briefcase. "Where have you been for so long?" his wife asks.
"At the office," he replies, looking bewildered about all the attention. His answer causes all the excitement to fade. The townspeople shake their head in disappointment and turn to head back to their village.
An explanation for the situation comes in the form of the sponsor’s pitch (translated from Austrian into English): "Weeks of overtime just for a new TV set? Don’t be stupid. Go to Media Markt."
The spot is one of two in a campaign that’s airing in Austria for electronics store Media Markt. The commercials were directed by Boris Damast of Mechaniks, Venice, Calif., for agency Demner Merlicek & Bergmann Werbegesellschaft, Vienna. The campaign was produced by Mechaniks—which is a satellite of Venice-based Cucoloris—and Munich, Germany-based GAP. "Return Home" was shot in Wamberg, Germany, by DP Gero Steffen.
Andrea Kikot served as executive producer/producer for Mechaniks. Ossie von Richthofen and Andreas Simon executive produced for GAP, with Tom Weibferdt producing.
The agency creative team consisted of creative director Joachim Glawion, copywriters Florian Ludwig and Claus Gigler, art director Francesco Bestagno and producer Maresi McNab.
The job was cut by Stuart Greenwald via Shalom Edit, Milan. Bertl Grabmaier and Alex Kahler of ARI Film & TV Services, Munich, served as colorist and online editor, respectively. Audio mixer was Klaus Lesoine of Exit Studios, Munich.
Lilly Forgath, Melina Borcherding, Martin Ziegelmeier, Anne-Lore Roelen were this spot’s principal actors. 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 emailed.
