BBDO's "Senator" Raises Questions.
By SANDRA GARCIA
‘Tis the season for muckraking, but are the political watchdogs getting a little paranoid? It would seem that way, based on recent accusations in the media that claim a Pizza Hut ad called "Senator," created by BBDO New York, was the result of a link between New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s Senate campaign and Kenneth Langone, a board member of Tricon Global Restaurants, Pizza Hut’s parent company.
The ad, which was shot by bicoastal Coppos Films director Mike Bigelow, featured a woman bearing a slight resemblance to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsing Pizza Hut’s Big New Yorker Pizza. Speaking in a bad southern accent, she claims she knows so much about New York pizza because she wants to be New York’s next senator. At the end of the spot, a policeman with a thick New York accent comments on the pizza’s bargain price: "$9.99? Do they think this is Arkansas?"
Although "Senator" was slated to break in January 2000, BBDO decided to air the spot during the first game of the World Series match-up between the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves on October 23, thus taking advantage of a captive New York audience. The ad has since run on other programs and plans call for it to air in January as originally scheduled.
The debut’s ensuing buzz suggested that "Senator" might be selling more than pizza. It has been widely publicized that Mrs. Clinton and Giuliani will most likely run against each other in the upcoming U.S. Senate race in New York. When word of the commercial’s content got out, the media jumped on the fact that Langone was a political backer of Giuliani.
According to Time Warner Cable’s NY1 News, Langone had raised over $100,000 for Giuliani’s ’97 re-election campaign, and Langone and his wife each donated $7,700, the maximum campaign contribution permitted. Tricon’s political action committee also contributed $2,500 to the mayor’s Senate campaign in May of this year.
BBDO New York senior executive creative director Charlie Miesmer told SHOOT that the media was reading way too much into the ad. "This is a commercial, not a political manifesto," asserted Miesmer, who claimed the spot was a continuation of a branding campaign that started when the Big New Yorker Pizza was introduced in January ’99 during the Super Bowl.
Earlier spots featured quintessential, larger-than-life New Yorkers like Donald Trump, Fran Drescher and Spike Lee promoting the Big New Yorker Pizza. "’Senator’ takes that concept one step further and links the product with a timely New York issue," said Miesmer. According to Miesmer, the spot was crudely shot to ensure that viewers would understand it was poking fun at the senatorial race. "The look-alike doesn’t talk anything like Hillary. … We wanted to clearly hint to folks that we were having fun with a concept," said Miesmer.
Both Miesmer and Pizza Hut director of public relations Jay Allison said they had no knowledge of Langone’s political contributions when BBDO pitched the idea to Pizza Hut. "The first we ever heard of [Langone’s contributions] was when the media called us," said Allison, who added that board members rarely have anything to do with the company’s advertising.
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPTยฎ, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia รvila, regional director for Latin America, รgora, Sรฃo Paulo
--Radio... Read More