Mad Men was all the Emmy rage when nominations were announced at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences headquarters in North Hollywood this morning. After all, the series tied with American Horror Story for the most noms, 17, and is looking for its fifth best drama series Emmy to become the most honored such show in television history (currently tied with Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law and West Wing with four best drama series statuettes). Yet hovering far below the radar and the rarefied air of Mad Men is the fact that the real-world ad industry has its own Emmy dynamo, Wieden+Kennedy, which scored three of this year’s five primetime nominations for best commercial. Furthermore, W+K will be going for its fourth straight spot Emmy win, having earned the honor last year for Chrysler’s “Born of Fire” after seeing its “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” for Old Spice Body Wash win in 2010 and Coca-Cola’s “Heist” cop the award in ’09.
This time around, W+K scored nominations for: the Super Bowl sequel to “Born of Fire,” the stirring “It’s Halftime in America,” directed by David Gordon Green of Chelsea; Target’s “Color Changes Everything” helmed by Filip Engstrom of Smuggler; and Best Job, the Procter & Gamble film launching its “Thank you, Mom” campaign for the upcoming Summer Olympics in London. Best Job was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu of Anonymous Content (see separate Olympics Ad Preview story for more insights into the P&G campaign).
W+K will be facing some stiff competition for this year’s Emmy, courtesy of Deutsch LA which garnered the remaining two primetime commercial nominations for: Volkswagen’s “The Dog Strikes Back,” its Super Bowl follow-up to “The Force” in 2011 (both were directed and shot by Lance Acord of Park Pictures); and “The Bark Side,” the teaser VW spot designed to generate buzz and audience anticipation for “The Dog Strikes Back.” Keith Schofield of Caviar directed “The Bark Side” which features dogs barking in chorus, crooning a canine rendition of “The Imperial March,” otherwise known as “Darth Vader’s Theme.” Scoring the spot was music/sound house Endless Noise.
“The Bark Side” was a deft teaser/promo for “The Dog Strikes Back” in which a dog needs to slim down so he can get through his doggy door and chase the new VW Beetle in the great outdoors. A nod to the prior year’s hit VW Super Bowl commercial “The Force” comes at the end when patrons at the Star Wars cantina bar give the new spot a thumbs up–with a little prodding from Darth Vader.
Matt Ian, a Deutsch LA group creative director who worked on both VW spots, observed that the Emmy nominations represent a special acknowledgement. “What I love about the advertising industry award shows is that they recognize a good idea, a good solve. A PSA done for a tiny bit of money but brilliant in its creative solution can win a Grand Prix. But the Emmy is about the entertainment value, what’s impacting popular culture, which is so important as we try to engage audiences. We do a lot of navel gazing in the ad industry. It’s great to see what others are saying about us, what’s getting noticed. Plus, it’s cool to be nominated for an Emmy since it’s an award that my mom knows.”
Having both a Super Bowl broadcast spot and a teaser/promo, which played primarily online, gain Emmy noms, is quite telling, added Ian. “It underscores how the Super Bowl is evolving. What used to be a huge one-day media event is extending, growing and getting better. You can tell a story leading up to the Super Bowl and even after it. We could one day see an entire series of content that runs over an extended period with the Super Bowl being a centerpiece. I don’t know if we are ever going to be judging a single commercial on its own merits for the Super Bowl again.”
If Ian attends this year’s Creative Arts Emmy Awards, it will be quite a different experience from his first and thus far only time in an Emmy audience–back during his college days when he served as a seat filler for the primetime network ceremony. “I was seated near Bill Maher of Politically Incorrect and it was one of the early seasons of ER,” recalled Ian. “That was pretty cool but being nominated is something else.”
Two-minute warning
It doesn’t seem all that long ago when a significant number of creatives were bemoaning the death of the storytelling spot as :30s were starting to give way to :15s, and increasingly truncated formats seemed inevitable in our short attention span society. But with online helping to ease time constraints, and even broadcast ads looking to break through the clutter, ads have selectively gone long as underscored by two of Wieden’s Emmy-nominated spots, each of a two-minute duration.
For the second consecutive year on the Super Bowl, Chrysler managed with a two-minute spot to weave itself into the fabric of America, paralleling the comeback of the automotive industry to that of Detroit and the entire country. It started during last year’s Big Game with “Born of Fire” which played as much as an anthem for the Motor City and the U.S. as it did for Chrysler, linking the brand to perseverance, survival and heart in the face of adversity, the commercial unfolding to the strains of Eminem’s music from 8 Mile.
Fast forward to Super Sunday 2012 and Clint Eastwood became our country’s voice with a spot which appeared during halftime of the game, a time when both teams are trying to figure out what it will take to win in the second half.
In the commercial, Eastwood notes that the U.S. is at halftime, except this is not a game–it’s real life, with people worried about their jobs or simply getting work to support themselves and their families. At times it seems we’ve lost our way, that divisiveness has become the calling card of the day, with finger pointing becoming a national pastime. But it’s been this way before and ultimately Americans have overcome problems by coming together, finding a way or making a way if there’s no way to be found. Eastwood is akin to a coach delivering a halftime pep talk. He affirms that the second half is about to begin for America, during which the world will hear the roar of our engines. Indeed the resurgence of Detroit can prove inspirational for the country’s rally from tough times.
The second two-minute Emmy nominee out of W+K, Portland, Ore., is P&G’s Best Job which shows us different moms around the world getting their youngsters up in the early a.m. for training in their respective sports and follows each through the years until their moments of competitive Olympics glory. A supered message reads, “the hardest job in the world is the best job in the world. Thank you, Mom.” This tug-at-the-heartstrings anthem film was shot on four continents and features local actors and athletes from each location–London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Beijing.
A splash of “Color”
Rounding out the trio of nominated commercials from W+K, this one from its New York office, is Target’s “Color Changes Everything” promoting its line of spring apparel and home and beauty products. Whether it’s the spring bloom or a suburban living room, the addition of a little color can transform everything around it. And this spot charmingly conveys, to the tune of “Allouette,” that Target’s spring offerings–from throw pillows to tableware to dresses–can refresh any environment.
Director Engstrom follows a colorful, energetic, and sprightly group of characters who arrive in a bright, bold hot air balloon, spilling out and bringing their magic touch to a civic center and its suburbs. As they jump, dive, cannonball, sprint, and flip, they transform the town into a more lively version of itself, bringing with them the colors of spring and the Target collection.
Mark Fitzloff, a W+K partner and an executive creative director on all three of his agency’s nominated commercials, quipped of the TV Academy recognition, “The Emmys hold a certain mystique in the commercial world. And it’s not just the connection to the entertainment business. It’s literally a mystery because it’s outside our industry. Like I have no idea who even picks the nominees. For all I know it’s the same people who pick Game of Thrones–which is pretty awesome.”
The winner of the primetime commercial Emmy will be announced and honored during the Creative Arts Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 15.
Editor’s note: This is the second installment in an 11-part series that will explore the field of Emmy nominees and winners spanning such disciplines as directing, cinematography, editing, animation and VFX. The series will run right through the Creative Arts Emmys ceremony and the following week’s primetime Emmy Awards live telecast. In addition to appearing on SHOOTonline and in our weekly email newsletter, The SHOOT>e.dition, The Road to Emmy will also have its Part 6 installment in SHOOT’s August 17 print issue (for details on the issue, please visit: www.shootonline.com/go/upcomingissues).
Click here to read Road to Emmy Part 1
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 3.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 4.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 5.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 6.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 7.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 8.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 9.
Click here to read The Road To Emmy, Part 10.
Here are this year’s Emmy nominated spots:
