By KATHY DeSALVO
Vince and Larry, the plastic crash-test dummies of past seat belt PSA efforts, have taken a backseat to live actors in the latest campaign for the Transportation Dept. and the Ad Council out of Leo Burnett Co., Chicago. The new PSA takes a realistic tack to pound home its message that seat belts save lives.
Contrary to some reports, Vince and Larry haven’t outlived their usefulness, according to Michael Rafayko, a VP/executive producer and managing director of production of one of Leo Burnett’s business units. In fact, he added, the long-running crash-test dummies campaign has resulted in dramatically increased seat belt usage. "But what we found in our research," said Rafayko, "is that there was still a hard-core group who was still not using their seat belts; Vince and Larry weren’t reaching them. The best way to reach those people was to have something a little more hard-hitting."
Directed by Buddy Cone of Los Angeles-based Palomar Pictures, the :30 "Ice Cream" is compelling for the graphicness and abruptness of the crash in the spot’s final moments. In fact, the PSA (as well as the other :30, "Cruising") is specifically intended to lull viewers into be-lieving they’re watching a warm and fuzzy adthe better to illustrate how unexpectedly accidents occur.
"Ice Cream" opens on a scene in which a pregnant wife asks her husband to get her ice cream for her late-night craving; the homespun feeling is complemented by a guitar-laden music track recalling the show thirtysomething, composed by Jon Klok of CHKW, Santa Monica. "Ice cream … yep," he mumbles groggily. He gets out of bed and surveys the freezer, which apparently has no ice cream. "Some things you just can’t do without," drawls a folksy-sounding voiceover.
The husband puts on his coat and pauses at the doorway of his soon-to-be occupied nursery. This heartland setting is capped as he grabs his keys and wallet. "It happens every night, all across America," the VO continues. An outdoor shot reveals the peaceful moonlit night as the guy, grinning bemusedly, gets in his car parked in the driveway. While the setup to this point leads us to expect a pitch for an all-night convenience store, the true horrifying nature of the ad is suddenly revealed as the guy begins backing out of the driveway.
At that juncture, from a backseat POV, the camera looks out the front windshield, showing an oncoming car speeding around the corner toward the husband-driven automobile. In a split second, we realize that the driver of the oncoming car is probably under the influence of drugs or alcohol; his vehicle is speeding on the wrong side of the road, knocking over curbside garbage cans.
Meanwhile, the original car has backed out of the driveway and finds itself facing the oncoming car. After a close-up of the husband’s terrified reaction, the spot cuts to a wide shot of the impact. The brutal force propels the husband’s car backwards, smashing it into a neighbor’s parked car. The entire accident has occurred over a four-second span. Cut to a black screen with the words, "Didn’t see that coming? No one ever does. Buckle up."
Cone noted the idea was to go as far into the spot as they could without tipping off what it was for. The spot was shot on location in the Melrose Hill neighborhood in Hollywood; the location was chosen to represent "anywhere USA," said Cone, adding that they also used 16mm to create a feeling of immediacy and realism. "If nothing else, it helped us because it was so much easier to get a 16mm camera inside that small house. We tried to make [viewers] get to know these characters rather than feel like observers. And we tried to light the house and keep it as real as possible."
There were several considerations in making the PSA, related Rafayko. First, it had to be readily apparent to viewers that the victim had broken no traffic laws or been at fault; his only failing was not belting up. (This also applied to "Cruising," in which two teen boys in a sedan, who come to a complete stop at a light, are hit from behind by a van). "What we tried to communicate was that it has nothing to do with how good of a driver you are," said Rafayko. "In this spot, what happens is totally beyond his control."
The whole issue of the crash itself was another challenge. "It was very important that we portray the crash to be violent," said Rafayko. "At the same time, there was a very fine line we had to walk because the viewer needs to see these commercials and walk away knowing the people could have survived. It’s important that their reaction isn’t "A seat belt wouldn’t have saved them anyway.’ " To that end, a good deal of prep time was devoted to conversations with the Dept. of Transportation about the physics of realistic car crashes.
In staging the crash, a dummy was used in place of the husband for the actual impact shot. Cone explained they hit the car quite hardharder than they’d want a stunt driver to be hit. He added they had to do the preceding shot of the oncoming car over and over again-with stunt drivers in both vehicles-until they got the timing right. (During these runs, the oncoming automobile swerved away before actual impact).
The spot went through multiple edits before it earned approval. Cone related they’d shot the crash from several angles and they experimented with how much to show. "Depending on how it was edited," said Cone, "it could either look a lot worse or not as bad."
Many have seen the PSAs on news programs, several of which have aired them in their entirety. The publicity is gratifying to everyone who worked on the project, says Rafayko. "You don’t usually associate advertising as being in a position to save lives."
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More