San Francisco ad agency Red Ball Tiger is seeking public and corporate support for a gun control spot entitled "If Not Now, When?" But in order to influence public sentiment, corporate backing is needed to ensure that the ad gains exposure. Toward that end, Red Ball Tiger managing director Bob Ravasio is pursuing two items on his wish list: finding a corporation willing to spend $5 million for national airtime; or assembling a self-coined "Group of Five"—five corporations that would put up $1 million each to fund a major TV/ cable buy (see "spot.com. mentary," p. 4).
Directed and shot by Leslie Dektor of Hollywood-based Dektor Film, the black-and-white :30 is a disturbing piece that feels like a documentary. It opens to a pair of hands handcuffed behind a young man’s back. The spot then cuts to a cordoned-off crime scene in what appears to be a school hallway. A woman asks, "When does it all stop?" We see a gun on the floor and part of a sheet that is presumably covering a dead body.
Suddenly the spot cuts to a couple of teenage boys who are talking to a young man whose back is to the camera. "What are you guys looking for, exactly?" asks the man. The taller teen responds, "We don’t know." The frame freezes on the boy’s face as we hear the detective from the crime scene say, "His name is Jason Kirk, fifteen." Now we’re back at the crime scene and it’s clear that Jason is the corpse, though all we see is a hand beneath the sheet.
Another quick cut has us return to Jason and his friend talking to the man. They’re negotiating the sale of a gun. "So you think it’d look cool," says the man. "Yeah, sort of," responds Jason.
Again, we’re back at the crime scene. "From whiffle balls to semi-automatics. What the hell’s happening? says the woman, who is apparently the high school principal. A detective answers in a tone tinged with sarcasm and a sense of helplessness, "It’s called progress, I guess."
The spot then cuts to the gun buy. "A Mack 11 quickly converts to semi-automatic," boasts the gun dealer. Then the word "If" appears on screen against a black background before returning to the gun transaction in progress. The man gets his claws into the youngsters, describing the gun as giving them "power, respect; you’ll look like real players." "Yeah," responds Jason.
The words "not now" are then supered against a black backdrop. But in a split second, we see the corpse’s face—it’s Jason. The sheet is pulled over his head. The word "when?" fills the screen.
Again, we’re back to where the gun deal is going down. The other young boy is hesitant to buy the weapon. "I don’t know, Jason," he says. The seller applies pressure: "What are you, scared?"
A quick cut gives us another glimpse of the earlier-seen handcuffed hands. The gun dealer pushes harder. "A little something for your locker," says the man, handing the gun to the boy who expressed misgivings. "C’mon take it." The boy shakes his head no, still unsure.
Once again, we’re whisked back to the school hallway where the woman asks, "Who’s that?" A detective responds, "His name’s Roger. He says it was an accident."
We then see the accident: Jason tells Roger, "You bought it," and hands him the gun. The gun goes off and Jason falls to the floor.
Eerily, we return to the consummation of the gun sale. Jason asks, "What about licenses and stuff?" The dealer retorts almost self-righteously, "You got rights. The Second Amendment. What do they teach you kids in school, anyway?" The teens buy the gun and the man dashes up a flight of stairs, carrying a suitcase full of firearms that will probably end up in the hands of other kids.
Then the spot cuts to black, at which point the supered words are joined together to form the query, "If not now, when?"
If Ravasio is successful, the public service message will then be tagged with the name of the corporate sponsor or sponsors who fund the media buy. In its current form, the tag reads, "A question from the Group of Five."
Dektor lensed the public service spot on location in Los Angeles. He was backed by a Dektor Film support team that included executive producer Faith Dektor and producer Mark Siegel.
The spot was conceived by Red Ball Tiger creative director Greg Wilson.
"If Not Now, When?" was edited by Rye Dahlman of Rye Films, Hollywood, who teamed with Rye Film’s Kevin Moore on sound design. Moore also designed graphics. Rye Films’ Betty Meadows executive produced the spot.
Joel Ashman and Milt Alvarez of post/effects house Planet Blue, Santa Monica, were Flame artist and executive producer, respectively. Audio mixer was John Bolen of Eleven, Santa Monica. Music was composed by Jean-Frederic Juster of Dektor Film.
