Near or at the bottom of the creative totem pole would have to be realtor ads—perhaps just a notch below spots promoting car dealerships and a notch above commercials for attorneys. But amazingly, by mining a healthy dose of comedy—albeit bathroom humor—director Steve Burrows of Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif., and agency Eisner Underground, Baltimore, have elevated Bob & Ronna Realtors, Baltimore, to nosebleed pole-sitter heights.
Titled "Bob & Ronna," the ad opens on a couple dozing in bed during the middle of the night. The woman is in the foreground, seemingly fast asleep. However, the husband awakens to trek to the bathroom.
We hear him urinating, but the sound somehow seems a bit off. The noise is enough to wake his mate, who reaches for the lamp on the night table. She flicks the switch and with the room illuminated, we see that the man is peeing in the closet.
Realizing his mistake, he quickly heads for the bathroom to conclude his business. His wife, with a facial expression of utter disbelief, looks on as he successfully finds the toilet.
A voiceover then relates, "Getting adjusted to your new home is about the only thing that the Bob & Ronna Real Estate team can’t help you with."
The voiceover then suggest that we visit Bob and Ronna at their Web site. We then see a smiling two-shot of professional realtors Bob and Ronna.
The spot broke earlier this month in the Baltimore area market. For Backyard, Blair Stribley was executive producer, Peter Steinzeig was head of production and Sean Hobbs produced. The DP was Rhet W. Bear.
The agency creative team consisted of creative director Eric Hartsock, copywriter Jonathon Helfman and art director Scott Sugiuchi.
This isn’t the first time that Eisner Underground and director Burrows have teamed on a noted piece of bizarre, good taste-challenged comedy. Their collaboration on Accuserv’s "Paper Tray," in which a heavyset woman tries to photocopy her backside only to find that the machine cannot hold up to her heft, proved to be an award show favorite. Among the kudos it garnered was an honor at this year’s Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show in the low budget category. "Paper Tray" also scored Grand distinction for best commercial, as well as Gold in the services/equipment category at the ’04 New York Festivals’ TV, Cinema and Radio Advertising gala.
Jeff Hinman of Blue Collar Productions, Hollywood, served as editor, online editor and audio mixer. Colorist was Dave Smith of Rushes, Los Angeles.
Jim Garrity and Shari Shroder were the principal actors in this spot. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
