We’re thrust into what initially seems to be a sophomoric prank being captured by a video camera. It’s your classic harmless fraternity-type silliness—or is it?
A young man gestures to the camera as he opens a bedroom door. We see his buddy sound asleep in bed.
"Hey Greg," says the intruder. "Greg."
Slowly Greg stirs from his slumber to hear the moronic question, "Hey, can I wake you up with this air horn?"
"No," says Greg, still trying to catch some shuteye. "No, go away."
Ignoring him completely, Greg’s friend, with air horn in hand, triggers the device. It lets out an obnoxious honk, causing Greg to fall out of bed and onto the floor.
"What is up with that!" yells an upset Greg.
Doubled over laughing, the prankster looks back at his cameraman. "Did you get that?" he asks, wanting to make sure this joke has been video recorded for posterity.
The tone of what we’ve witnessed changes considerably, however, with the appearance of two supered messages: "What if nobody listened when you said ‘NO’?" and "If you don’t stop when she says ‘NO,’ you’re a rapist."
Below the second supered sentence appears a tag identifying the sponsor, The Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA).
Titled "Air Horn," the spot is one of three in a viral campaign conceived by a team from Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minneapolis. The other two ads are similarly themed: "Tighty Whities" shows a guy placing dirty underwear on the head of a buddy even after being told emphatically not to; and "Water" features a prankster dumping a pitcher of ice water on a pal’s head despite the victim’s repeated objections.
Art director Mark Sorensen of Clarity Coverdale Fury explained that the storyboard ideas "came out of ‘How can you get an eighteen-year-old guy to know what it’s like to be standing in a woman’s shoes when she’s saying no?’ We were striving to give them some insight into what it’s like when someone is not listening to you." (Sorensen recently exited Clarity Coverdale Fury and joined BBDO Atlanta.)
MNCASA is funded by the Minnesota Department of Health. Addressing the issue of date rape, the campaign targets 17- to 20-year-old men.
All three PSAs were intentionally shot in a low-budget, home video style reminiscent of reality fare that’s appealing to young men such as Punk’d or Jackass. The spots were promoted on a local rock radio station, sending listeners to a Web site where the PSAs are posted.
"We’re hoping this type of humor and the look of the spots will get guys to check out the Web site and pass it on to their friends," said Sorensen.
The spots were directed and shot by James Stanger of Channel Z Edit, Minneapolis. Ace Allgood produced for Z.
The creative team at Clarity Coverdale Fury included Sorensen, copywriter Troy Longie and producer Rose Pennington.
Channel Z’s Charlie Gerszewski was the editor. Audio post mixer was Bethany Lacktorin of Echo Boys, Minneapolis. Sound designer was Echo Boys’ Tom Lecher.
