A conservative young couple rings a doorbell in an apartment complex. The door swings open, revealing a condescending host who waves them in with, "Welcome, come een. Ees fabolous, no? Seet wherever you like."
This get-together of beautiful people just drips with affectation and insincerity. Geometric art objects serve as furniture, albeit dysfunctional.
The couple tries to adapt, but to no avail. The woman attempts to sit on a curving sculpture that may be a chair. But there’s no horizontal to hold her, and she slides down the perch’s steep slope, to wind up on the floor.
Similarly the man confronts an impossible piece of furniture which doubles as a conversation piece: It’s shaped like an empty horn of plenty. Gingerly he manages to sit. There’s a hint of surprise on his face, as the spot cuts to a quick sales pitch. "Storehouse has a novel idea," relates the voiceover, while different pieces of functional furniture are displayed: "Furniture you can actually sit on—comfortable, stylish and, yes, affordable."
Back at the party, paramedics wheel the man on a gurney, his butt inexorably planted in the horn of plenty. The top of the horn proves too plentiful as it hits the apartment doorframe. "Ow," yelps the man—but politely. The paramedics mull over how they’ll get the victim out of the apartment—much less out of the offbeat chair.
"High Design Land" ends with a Storehouse Furniture logo, accompanied by the supered slogan, "Why not love your furniture?"
The spot was conceived by a creative team at Seidel O’Neil & Partners, San Francisco, consisting of creative director/copywriter Howard Seidel, art director Kurt Ho and producer David Park.
Jim Barton of kaboom productions, San Francisco, directed the ad. Lauren Schwartz and Shane Francis served as executive producer and producer, respectively. DP was Andy Lillien.
Doug Werby of Mad River Post, San Francisco, edited the commercial. Caitlin Johnson produced for Mad River. Flame editor was Nate Robinson of Ntropic, Sausalito, Calif. The colorist was Paul Bronkar of 525 Studios, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Mark Pittman of Robert Berke Sound, San Francisco.
–Millie Takaki
