Bud Light’s “Swear Jar” won this year’s coveted primetime commercial Emmy during the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ (ATAS) Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Saturday (9/13) at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
“Swear Jar”–directed by David Shane for DDB Chicago–set a precedent in the commercials category, becoming the first Emmy-winning spot that didn’t run on television. “Swear Jar” debuted on Anheuser-Busch’s Bud.TV entertainment web channel and has since taken on a viral life of its own. Shane helmed the spot while with bicoastal/international Hungry Man. He has since moved over to oposi+ive, New York.
In years past, “Swear Jar” would not have been eligible for an Emmy. But as earlier reported in SHOOT (6/6), ATAS decided to recognize multiple platforms across its primetime Emmy competition categories, meaning that content which gains exposure through means other than broadcast can in certain circumstances qualify for Emmy consideration.
In the Bud Light spot, an office sets up a “swear jar” into which money will be put each time someone at work swears. The currency and coins collected will be used to buy Bud Light for the office, causing expletives to fly all over the workplace.
The DDB Chicago team included senior VP/group creative director Mark Gross, VP/creative director Dan Fietsam, writer Jason Karley, art director Galen Graham and executive producer Will St. Clair.
Editor was Matthew Wood of The Whitehouse, Chicago.
“Swear Jar” topped a field of Emmy-nominated spots that also consisted of Hallmark’s “Brother of the Bride” directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for Leo Burnett, Chicago, and three commercials produced by bicoastal/international MJZ: FedEx’s “Carrier Pigeons” directed by Tom Kuntz for BBDO New York with visual effects from Framestore, New York; Travelers’ “Delivery” directed by Rupert Sanders for Fallon, Minneapolis, with visual effects by Mass Market, bicoastal; and Coca-Cola’s “It’s Mine” helmed by Nicolai Fuglsig for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore, with effects done at The Mill, New York.
Platforms for change
The opening up of the Emmy competition to work across varied platforms should have a lasting impact on the commercials category. Earlier when “Swear Jar” was first nominated, Rick Fishbein, co-governor of ATAS’ Commercials Peer Group and executive producer of Santa Monica-based Green Dot Films, observed that “a significant precedent” had been set.
That precedent extends beyond the nomination and even ultimately the Emmy win. Fishbein noted that of all the entries up for consideration this year, around 25 percent came from outside the traditional broadcast space.
“We saw a much wider swath of work representing the changing nature of the business,” observed Fishbein. “Smaller agencies and clients, for example, with interesting regional spots that wouldn’t have qualified before–because they weren’t primetime and didn’t have national reach–now were eligible since they had gained exposure on the web. I think the entries overall represented a better reflection of what is going on in our industry.”
