We open on a pair of vending machines at a motel. The camera peers through the glass panel of one of the machines, revealing prices that reflect inflation that has escalated exponentially. A mini-pack of pistachios goes for $14. The price tag on a snack of sunflower seeds is $13.
Next we’re taken to a butcher’s shop where a hanging dry salami runs nearly $62 a pound. Gazing through the glass display case, we find lean ground beef at a per pound price of $52-plus, boneless chuck steak at $53.49 and a pound of center cut pork chops going for $67.99.
A drive by a neighborhood restaurant/coffee shop provides a glimpse of a sign heralding its special of the day: a chicken dinner for $349.99.
Grocery store aisles yield prices of $11 a pound for apples, and almost $23 for a can of chicken noodle soup.
Suddenly we see trouble brewing as protestors outside are running in the street towards a grocery store. They are carrying placards with messages reflecting tough times such as “Food or Shelter” and “We all have a right to eat.”
Police decked out in full riot gear mobilize to try to stop the unruly crowd from getting further out of control but it’s to no avail as they rush the store, with another target being a bakery truck from which goods are being unloaded.
The camera then cuts away from the scene, leaving us with a supered message across a black backdrop which reads, “Imagine a world where food was too expensive.”
The spot then returns us to a grocery store but now the prices are in line with what we have been accustomed to. A woman picks up a loaf of white bread from a shelf. The price is $2.49. She gazes at it for a prolonged moment and then puts it back.
A follow-up super to the message about food being too expensive reads: “For 36 million Americans, it is.”
An end tag carries a WHY logo and website address, WhyHunger.org, as a voiceover urges us to join in the fight against hunger and poverty.
Founded in 1975, WHY is a not-for-profit organization designed to help in that fight, providing aid and connections to community-based groups and initiatives that empower individuals in need through job training, education, afterschool programs, assistance to small farmers, instructions on how to grow your own food, and by providing microcredit and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Spot debut Titled “Desperate,” this PSA was directed by David Adam Roth of Boxer Films, Los Angeles, for ad agency Duncan/Channon, San Francisco. Boxer signed Roth earlier this year on the strength of his spec work.
The Why job represents the first real-world commercial for Roth as a director. He is one of the talents covered in this week’s Directors Series feature story on up-and-coming helmers. Roth said he was immediately drawn to the “Desperate” concept from a batch of ideas developed by Duncan/Channon.
“The simplicity of the message made it stand out,” recalled Roth who worked closely with the core agency creative team of Dave Knox and Ken Hall to help make the spot resonate with viewers.
Bringing message home “The concern was that there are people who feel detached from the subject, who view the hunger problem as one in a third-world country,” said Roth. “We needed to show them that this is a problem in their own backyard.”
Key in advancing that pursuit were varied shooting locations that felt a bit Americana–like the motel, for example. “We were on a limited budget and had to shoot it all in Los Angeles,” related Roth, “so we had to come up with locations that felt familiar but not generic.”
Lawson Deming served as DP on the job.
Editor was Pedram Torbati of Boxer Films.
