By Robert Goldrich
These aren’t your dad’s shoes. That parallel to “this isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile” underscores the strategic underpinning of the new campaign for Florsheim Shoes out of Laughlin/Constable, Chicago and Milwaukee.
A lingering brand perception for some consumers associates Florsheim Shoes with wool suits and boardrooms. This :30, however, through a deft slice-of-life approach, puts the shoes in a hip, younger, more playful setting–the playfulness coming from the relationship between a young “everyman” and his uber-dog, a Border Collie with great taste in footwear.
We open on the guy seated on his bed, putting his socks on. He asks his dog, “Hey, do me a favor. Go into the closet, look up on the second shelf, on the right side near the back wall, and bring me my new Florsheim loafers.”
The dog whisks off to do his duty. But there’s one catch. The owner commands, “The brown ones.” Suddenly we see the world through the dog’s eyes–in black and white. He looks back and forth at two pairs of loafers and can’t determine which is brown. The dog then takes its best guess and grabs a pair.
We return to a full-color world in which the guy, upon receiving the shoes from man’s best friend, mildly admonishes, “Not the black ones–the brown ones. What are you, colorblind?”
Indeed, that diagnosis is correct. Through the dog’s vision, we see his master in glorious black and white, as an end tag carries the Florsheim logo.
Mike Wang of V12, Santa Monica, was the director. Jen Locero executive produced, with Robin Wyman Dill serving as producer. The spot was shot on location in Vancouver, B.C., by DP Damian Acevedo.
The agency creative team consisted of executive creative director John Constable, creative director/copywriter Kirk Ruhnke, art director John Kirchen and executive producer/producer Phil Smith.
Editor was Tom Pastorelle of Cutters, Chicago. Assistant editor was Christine Gilliland. Tim Stipan and Brian Higgins of Sol Design fx, Chicago, were colorist and online editor, respectively. Audio post engineer was Ben Keller of Another Country, Chicago. The music track was licensed from Killer Music, Hollywood. Principal actor was Justin Mader.After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More