Does art imitate life? Or does life imitate art? Rather than ponder such heavy philosophical questions, this spot-promoting The Magic City Art Connection, an annual festival in Birmingham, Ala.-provides an entertaining alternative by positioning art as a byproduct of everyday life.
In "Stock Boy," we see a teenager stocking several supermarket shelves. He seems to be paying meticulous attention to this mundane task, positioning canned goods ever so carefully for display. Grooving to the beat on his Walkman headphones, the teen takes a step back to admire his work, at which point the camera also reveals to us the fruits of his labor: The cans have been arranged to form a giant colorful fish against a sea blue background. Several shelves high, the artful display livens up the grocery store aisle. A voiceover then interjects: "Must be that time of year again. Art is in the air." A logo tag then comes on screen to promote the Magic City art fest in Birmingham’s Linn Park from April 23-25.
Birmingham agency Lawler Ballard Van Durand teamed with Artisan Films, Birmingham, to create three spots, including "Stock Boy," for a total budget of $7,000. The other two ads in the package operated off of the same concept in different scenarios. For instance, a meter maid delights in seeing an expired parking meter and then issues a ticket. But she first folds the ticket multiple times to form an origami animal that she then places on the car’s windshield.
The Lawler Ballard Van Durand jack-of-all-trades on "Stock Boy" was Dan Morse who served as creative director, writer, art director and agency producer.
Director/cameraman was Artisan Films’ David Brower. The company’s executive producer was Rick Pennington.
Morse explained that there were logistical hurdles to clear in order to make "Stock Boy" a reality. Piggly Wiggly, a local supermarket chain, donated 1,200 cans of tuna. "We had to make sure that we didn’t damage the cans so that we could return them at no charge," related Morse. Then the agency created labels via computer to put on the cans. Collectively, these labels formed the huge fish. "We weren’t sure it would work until we put it all together on shelves that we set up in my garage," continued Morse. Once successfully assembled, the shelves and its contents were relocated to a local supermarket in which the crew had but three-and-a-half hours to film.
The procurement of on-camera talent also had its own stringent cost parameters. To meet the shoestring budget, Dane Albright was cast as the stock boy. He is the younger brother of agency art director Rich Albright.
Chris Tomberlin and Jonathon Barnette of Atelier Digital, Birmingham, were offline editors on "Stock Boy." Atelier’s John Pope was online editor. The colorist was Marina Skopinich of VTA, Atlanta. Audio mixer was Barry Brooks of Dill Productions, Birmingham.
The spot broke April 10 in the Birmingham market.
-Millie Takaki
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia Ávila, regional director for Latin America, Ágora, São Paulo
--Radio... Read More