Helping people realize their dreams seems to come naturally for a pleasant, sweet-talking spokeswoman. "How’d you like to try on some goalie equipment?" she sunnily asks a man who has skated into the scene in front of a goaltender’s net at an ice rink.
"Okay," he bashfully responds, donning the gear.
"Now you’re a goalie," she beams. "Get ready."
Hockey stick in hand, she daintily shoots the puck his way. He deflects it softly with his loosely held stick.
"Nice save," she smiles.
"Hockey’s easy," he returns, with growing confidence.
"You’re too good for me," she flatters, then calls, "Guys!"
In a split second, the lightweight fantasy feel of the situation turns to a no-holds-barred competition: The "guys" are a pair of hell-bent hockey players who proceed to pummel the amateur goalie with a barrage of high-velocity slap shots. The action sequence goes fast-mo, adding chaotic impact to a seemingly endless rapid-fire succession of pucks into the cowering goaltender.
Next we see the goalie sprawled on the ice. Surrounded by pucks, he is clearly battered and beaten. Standing above him, the woman observes with ingenuous cheer: "Hockey. Just might be the meanest game on earth."
The spot transitions to a tag listing the date of the Knoxville Speed’s next game, with a phone number to call for tickets. The minor league hockey team promo returns us to the rink, where the goalie smiles broadly in closeup. He’s missing several teeth—a perennial feature of a seasoned hockey player.
Titled "Goalie," this :30 was directed by Eric Welch via Origami Pictures, Nashville. Origami’s Todd Crowder served as executive producer/producer on the job, which was shot on location at Nashville’s Centennial Sportsplex Ice Rink, by DP James Reed.
Part of a two-spot campaign, the ad was conceived by a team from Knoxville, Tenn.-based agency The Tombras Group: Creative director/art director Earl Keister, creative director/copywriter Rob Simpson and producer Sam Spivey.
A contingent from The Filmworkers Club, Nashville, worked on the campaign: offline editor Kurt Poole, online editor Jeff Gish and Henry artist Rich Thomas. Colorist was John Buchanon of MPL Film & Video, Nashville. Audio mixer/sound effects engineer was Bryan Talbot of Spotland, Nashville.
Bob Farnsworth of Hummingbird Productions, Nashville, composed the lighthearted ragtime music.
The other Speed commercial, "Body-check," is similar in tone and premise, only this time it’s an elderly woman who tries to shoot a puck, invited by the same charming rink hostess. The senior citizen enjoys the experience—until she’s whacked senseless by a hockey player who zooms in from out of nowhere, putting on the big hurt with a definitive body-check.
Both spots debuted on Oct. 9, in the Knoxville market, and will run throughout the minor league hockey season.
