“An Emmy nomination represents something different from what’s in the traditional advertising industry awards circle. The Emmy is based on entertainment value, it’s the mark of content creation, the mark of storytelling versus simple persuasion or anything else we do strategically,” observed Rob Schwartz, chief creative officer of TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, which earlier this month earned a primetime Emmy commercial nom on the strength of Nissan LEAF’s “Polar Bear” directed by Daniel Kleinman of Epoch Films and London-based Rattling Stick.
Also making the 2011 primetime commercial Emmy nomination special, said Schwartz, is that there are only six of them, far less than the field of spot nominees spanning multiple categories in other award competitions. In fact, six is more than the Emmy norm, which is five nominations for the commercials category. However a tie in the judging yielded a sixth finalist this year. “It’s pretty amazing company in a very select field,” related Schwartz.
This year’s field also consists of: McDonald’s “Baby” directed by Fredrik Bond of MJZ for TBWAChiatDay, New York; Chrysler’s “Born of Fire” directed by Samuel Bayer of Serial Pictures and Old Spice Body Wash’s “Questions” helmed by MJZ’s Tom Kuntz, both from Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.; American Express’ “Conan-Curtain” out of Ogilvy New York and directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man; and Subaru’s “Baby Driver” directed by Jake Scott of RSA for Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis.
Particularly gratifying about the Emmy nomination for Schwartz is that it rewards a breakthrough product, the electric LEAF automobile. “From the very beginning,” said Schwartz, “we had set the bar high because this is a car that’s going to change the world. Sometimes you see that kind of claim in a brief for salad dressing. But this time, the claim carried validity. And the ambition of the product had to be reflected in the advertising, which itself was quite ambitious.”
The LEAF spot centers on a polar bear whom we first see on a melting ice flow. The bear escapes her natural habitat to seek refuge in the big city. Adapting isn’t easy as she wanders aimlessly, seeking shelter, looking for sustenance. Outside of chance, brief encounters with a butterfly and a raccoon, our protagonist has no friend in sight–until she comes upon a man walking up his driveway to get into a Nissan LEAF. The bear hugs the man in a show of appreciation for his ecologically minded choice of vehicle.
“From the get-go,” recalled Schwartz, “we knew we had to connect on more than just a rational level–an electric vehicle meaning no dependence on foreign oil, a cleaner environment. We had to do much more than touch the head. We had to touch the heart. We had two teams presenting work and they came up with basically the same idea–nature is going to thank Nissan for creating this car. Ultimately a beautiful narrative arc emerged. The North American client loved it but we had to take it over the ocean to deal with the global client who had some concerns. They didn’t want the campaign to appear like ‘greenwashing’ [putting a deceptive environmental green PR spin or ‘whitewash’ on something]. Clearly this wasn’t ‘greenwashing’ but we had to be sensitive to that concern–the narrative had to be real and to feel real. Nissan’s CEO thankfully was inspired and tickled by the idea, and gave us the go ahead.”
As for the choice of director Kleinman, Schwartz related that assorted A-list directors were interested in the job. But he said that Kleinman had the best handle on it. “He wanted to shoot this in a natural way,” noted Schwartz. “He had some knowledge of the bear who is named Agee. He knew her abilities and wanted to do a combination of practical footage and stuff we’d create through CG. His priority was to do mostly practical and that really helped accomplish what we envisioned.”
“Baby”
Mark Figliulo, Schwartz’s chief creative officer counterpart at TBWAChiatDay, New York, very much values the Emmy nomination earned by McDonald’s “Baby.”
“An Emmy is different from ad industry awards,” observed Figliulo, who is also chairman of TBWAChiatDay, N.Y. “It’s a different group of people judging. We in the advertising business tend to be quite insular in judging ourselves. This [the Emmy competition] brings a bit more of an outside perspective. And for all the talk about digital, television still drives our industry. And it’s a short list of brands that gets nominated for the Emmy. We give hundreds of Lions, dozens of Pencils. But there are only six Emmy nominations this year.”
With the prime elements judged being storytelling and entertainment value, the Emmy noms reflect “a little bit more how consumers look at our work, which is quite different from the ad industry awards that look at innovation and breakthroughs,” continued Figliulo. “The Emmys kind of best represent whether you are breaking through to the average person watching television.”
“Baby” shows a man circling his car repeatedly through a McDonald’s drive-through in the early morning hours, in hushed tones giving his order piecemeal for breakfast, then in his last pass paying and picking up his Egg McMuffin and coffee–behavior explained by the fact that he doesn’t want to wake up his baby who’s in a car seat, lulled to slumber by the constantly moving automobile.
While a TBWAChiatDay ensemble teamed to write the spot, associate creative director/copywriter Erik Fahrenkopf was a driving force, noted Figliulo. “He had just had a baby right around that time and it was top of mind for him in terms of how he told the story. He was deeply into it. The commercial works because it is a nice, simple human story that also happens to get across key messages for McDonald’s–the drive-through, the friendly staff.”
Figliulo also credited, among others, director Bond “who did a great job of capturing this little story in a very human way. This didn’t scream ‘commercial’ in any way.”
“Baby” is quite a different spot than what earned TBWAChiatDay, New York, an Emmy nomination last year: Absolut’s “Anthem,” which takes viewers to far flung locations where different artists have created pieces of artwork that together spell out the Absolut mantra “Doing Things Differently Leads To Something Exceptional.”
“I like that about the Emmy judging–it’s inclusive of all kinds of different work,” observed Figliulo. “Absolut had a totally different vibe than McDonald’s yet both engaged the viewers. The judges aren’t looking for a trend or type. They’re just recognizing work that engages and entertains.”
Paid vs. earned media
Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, scored an Emmy nomination for the lauded two-minute Super Bowl commercial, Chrysler’s “Born of Fire.” Aaron Allen and Joe Staples of W+K were creative director and creative director/writer on the spot, respectively. They both see the Emmy nomination as representing another level of acknowledgement.
“The Emmy recognizes something different than our industry competitions,” said Allen. “It recognizes when something breaks out, becomes part of the populace and more mainstream. There’s an old saying that if your mom likes the ads you do–she always says she does but if she really and truly does–then you’re doing something right.”
Staples concurred, observing “When you start to see your work seep into popular culture, then you know you’ve succeeded. The Emmy kind of recognizes that dynamic, which transcends advertising.”
What’s ironic, continued Staples, is that “Born of Fire,” a two-minute spot on the Super Bowl, the most expensive media buy, generated even more invaluable earned media. “YouTube views, social chatter, email–the earned media just exploded. We sure seem a lot smarter in hindsight,” quipped Staples.
“Born of Fire” played as much as an anthem for Detroit as it did for Chrysler itself. In some respects the sought after economic comeback of the Motor City was intertwined with that of Chrysler as we see gritty urban images–some reflecting hard times–yet still feel an attitude of perseverance and survival in the face of adversity. Also captured are city landmarks, hustle and bustle, a sense of emergence, and a feeling of determination among people in Detroit. We also eventually see Eminem driving a Chrysler 200, with all the action playing to the strains of his music from 8 Mile.
“What does this city know about luxury, huh?” the narrator asks. “What does a town that’s been to hell and back know about the finer things in life? Well, I’ll tell you–more than most. You see, it’s the hottest fires that make the hardest steel.
“Because when it comes to luxury, it’s as much about where it’s from as who it’s for. Now, we’re from America, but this isn’t New York City or the Windy City or Sin City, and we’re certainly no one’s Emerald City.”
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive about the spot and its “Imported from Detroit” mantra/tagline.
“Every Super Bowl party we heard about, it seemed there was always someone around from Detroit who felt comfortable admitting they were from Detroit after seeing our commercial,” said Allen. “I regard that as high praise.”
Allen and Staples gave the ultimate credit to Chrysler. “Without a trusting and brave client, this wouldn’t have been possible,” affirmed Allen. “When you read them a spot, it seemed like they’d look at their arms to see if they had goosebumps. If they did, they gave us the green light. By being brave, Chrysler taught us you can trust your gut even if you can’t necessarily explain why you feel something is the right thing to do and the time is right to do it. I don’t think anyone expected the spot to get the kind of overwhelming positive response it got on the Super Bowl. But we felt we had something special when we were putting it all together.”
“Questions”
For the second straight year, an Old Spice commercial directed by Kuntz for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, copped an Emmy nomination. Last year, Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” not only was nominated for but also wound up winning the primetime Emmy.
“Questions” is a follow-up spot which asks ladies if their man should smell like an Old Spice man as we see “The Man,” played with plenty of bravado and humor by ex-football player Isaiah Mustafa, log rolling on a river, walking on water, baking a cake in a dream kitchen he built, and swan diving into a hot tub which has its walls give way to reveal him on a motorcycle.
For W+K’s Jason Bagley, a creative director on “Questions” and “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” and Craig Allen, a writer/art director on the two spots, this year’s Emmy nomination is special, as they were faced with the daunting task of creating a sequel to the universally lauded “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”
“That was such a challenge,” said Allen. To get a nomination for the second straight year, he noted, reflects that at least the creative team managed to stay on a high creative and entertainment plateau for Old Spice.
Bagley quipped that he and Allen plan to bring their Emmys from last year to this year’s show just in case they don’t win this time around. “We’ll be the guys carrying the Emmys with the black tape over the year.” He added that the Emmy ceremony is a hoot because “as completely non-famous people, we get to hang out with famous people.”
Allen said with tongue partially in cheek that the Emmy is “one of the more important awards because our parents know what it is. Our parents know it’s important and now think we’re really smart.”
In a more serious vein, Bagley described the Old Spice campaign as “the gift that keeps on giving–it’s led to us being recognized by our peers and in this case by Hollywood. This has just been an amazing ride for us.”
“Conan-Curtain”
“If you do something that manages to resonate with people in the industry as well as the general public, that’s very cool. And the Emmy underscores that you’ve done just that,” assessed Jon Wagner of Ogilvy New York who served as creative director/writer on American Express’ “Conan-Curtain.”
Ogilvy’s Dustin Duke, creative director/art director on the Emmy-nominated commercial, similarly noted, “Reaching beyond our colleagues and co-workers–getting them excited as well as regular everyday people– is the real measure of success.”
Helping to attain that success was some well-timed strategy. Ogilvy made the decision to launch “Conan-Curtain” on YouTube first, rewarding Conan O’Brien’s fan base–which is online savvy–with this fun two-minute commercial which was an event unto itself. They easily discovered the American Express work while trolling the web for the latest PR and news on O’Brien and his then about-to-premiere show on TBS. The online exposure helped to generate momentum and buzz for the spot, which later ran on TV during O’Brien’s late night show.
In the commercial, O’Brien sojourns to India to get the finest silk, weave it and then dye it in a river to create what turns out to be the best red curtain imaginable for his late night talk show. Indeed, the spot notes that “if you’re really serious about entertainment, every detail counts,” a mantra which segues to using an American Express card to “take charge of your entertainment.”
Duke and Wagner both cited director Buckley for making a key casting decision. “We started on the more traditional casting route of getting trained actors but they were quite Bollywood and over the top,” recalled Wagner. “Bryan felt strongly about casting real people and that was a really good call. You can see and feel these people in the commercial, and it adds to Conan’s adventure.”
The Emmy proceedings are hardly a new adventure, though, for Wagner, Duke, Buckley and American Express. Wagner and Duke were part of Ogilvy’s creative team on American Express’ “Animals” featuring Ellen DeGeneres. Directed by Buckley, “Animals” won the primetime commercial Emmy in 2007.
In-between “Animals” and “Conan-Curtain” chronologically was American Express’ “Airport Lounge” starring Martin Scorsese and Tina Fey. While Wagner and Duke didn’t work on “Airport Lounge,” the spot was directed by Buckley and earned an Emmy nomination in ’09.
“Baby Driver”
“You need awards to stay relevant, attract talent and attention,” related Randy Hughes, executive creative director at Carmichael Lynch. “The Emmy, though, has a little something extra special–even your mom knows what an Emmy Award is.”
Hughes worked on the Emmy-nominated Subaru spot “Baby Driver” as executive creative director/art director, teaming with Carmichael Lynch chief creative officer/writer Jim Nelson. Hughes said he’s honored to have “Baby Driver” included in such a creatively rich, high-profile field of Emmy nominees.
“Baby Driver” tugs at the heartstrings as we see a father giving his toddler girl instructions on how to drive–she’s sitting behind the steering wheel and isn’t tall enough to look out the windshield. The camera cuts away to him outside the car and then back to the girl–who’s now a teenager–in the driver’s seat. Clearly we’ve been seeing this teen as her father still sees her–as his little girl. As she backs the car out of the driveway, the dad’s voiceover informs us that he knew this day would come–that’s why he bought a Subaru.
“We had the idea of a teenager taking her maiden voyage in a car and thought about how we can make a parent talking to a teenage daughter more compelling,” recollected Hughes. “That’s when we came up with the universal truth of parents always seeing their kids as younger.”
While the idea fell into place nicely, the execution didn’t initially. “Trying to cast the family–a dad, his teenage daughter and her younger sister–was challenging,” said Hughes. “You need to find actors with a family resemblance of some sort and we weren’t coming up with what we needed. A talent agency on a whim suggested a real dad and his two daughters who lived around where we were shooting [in Southern California]. They all looked right, fit the specs but weren’t professional actors.”
Thankfully, continued Hughes, director Scott is adept at working with talent–both professionals and real people. “Jake was great. He got them together and threw the script away, asking the father what he would tell his daughter before sending her off on her first drive. The father spoke from the heart, the daughters were natural. We had it in five or six takes, probably the shortest shoot on record. The performances were simple and strong.”
The winner of the 2011 primetime commercial Emmy will be announced and honored during the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Sept. 10 in Los Angeles.
Look for more Emmy coverage in SHOOT’s August 19th print issue and >e.dition, including interviews with some notable commercial and entertainment award nominees.
