The Harlem Globetrotters seemingly never miss a shot. The Holland Globetrotters never make a shot, in a humorous new spot for Diet Dr Pepper. Created by Young & Rubicam (Y&R), New York, and directed by Chuck Bennett and Clay Williams—a.k.a. Chuck & Clay, of Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, the commercial, titled "The Holland Globetrotters," parodies the world-famous touring basketball team whose players are known for their skillful tricks and playing ability.
As the :30 opens, a crowd of spectators is going wild in anticipation of the Holland Globetrotters taking the court. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Holland Globetrotters!" booms the announcer’s voice as the team clumsily bursts through a giant paper disk picturing the team’s windmill logo.
The players wear Dutch-boy outfits that probably wouldn’t go over so well in the style-conscious NBA. Think yellow shirts and wooden shoes, with blue overall shorts, caps, and neckerchiefs. They look, well, totally uncool. Their enthusiastic cheerleaders are clad like sexy Dutch milkmaids, in starched, flaring white hats and thigh-high peasant dresses.
As for hoop skills, the Holland Globetrotters don’t have any. They miss all of their shots and fail to successfully perform any tricks. The crowd loves them, anyway: One fan bears a sign reading, "Can’t Dutch This." The stunned referee just looks on in disbelief.
"Not everything can be as good as the original. But Diet Dr Pepper is," a voiceover proclaims. "Diet Dr Pepper tastes more like regular Dr Pepper."
The spot concludes with an iconic shot of a victorious player exiting the basketball stadium through a tunnel as a fan is heard shouting, "You ‘da man!"
Why take a humorous approach with Dr Pepper advertising? Because it worked for the client in the past. In fact, "The Holland Globetrotters"—and two more new spots, including one called "CHimPs," which spoofs the former TV series CHiPs—are a continuation of a successful campaign that began last year, in which Y&R parodied things that just weren’t as good as the original. The results were funny, memorable ads, including "Hudson Riverdance," a take-off on the Broadway sensation Riverdance; and "Green Bay Watch," which poked fun at the TV series Baywatch.
Bennett and Williams had directed these earlier spots, and were eager to work on the campaign again when Y&R contacted them about the job. Williams noted that the agency had taken a gamble on the duo the first time around. Formerly managing partners/creative directors at TBWA/ Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, he and Bennett had accumulated a reel of solid directing work at that point—but it consisted mainly of spots they had helmed while at TWBA/Chiat/Day. "We were essentially untried for other people at other agencies, and Y&R gave us a big chance," said Williams. "… [Then] they came back to us the second year, which says a lot about their loyalty and, hopefully, a little bit about the job we did for them the first time."
For their part, Y&R creatives couldn’t imagine giving the project to anyone else. "What we found remarkable about Chuck and Clay is they have an agency background, so they helped us get great spots on the air, as opposed to just doing great spots for their reel," stated Y&R senior art director Jordan Atlas. Heading up the Y&R ensemble were executive creative directors Manny Perez and Peter Murphy. Sadly Murphy, 61, passed away in November of cancer.
In coming up with concepts for a second round of ads, Atlas explained, the creative team selected pop culture themes "that people can easily identify with and that would be something we could slightly turn on their heads." This time around, the Harlem Globetrotters seemed like a perfect subject.
"One thing that we learned in year two with this campaign is, the ads that are strongest are the visual ones—like the ‘Globetrotters’ and ‘Baywatch’ spots, where you can tell a story with less dialogue and just sit back and watch the physical humor," observed Y&R associate creative director/copywriter Jeff Maerov.
For "The Holland Globetrotters," Y&R approached Williams and Bennett with the premise pretty well set. "We were just putting the pants on the idea, really," Williams reported. "It was up to us to bring it to life."
Right from the get-go, Williams and Bennett decided not to play the humor too broadly, not to make the players blatantly goofy. "The premise was exaggerated enough," noted Bennett. "To support that, everything had to be almost real, or just close to real—not completely exaggerated."
Williams continued: "We shot it in a realistic style, the way you would cover a real basketball game. We tried to have the choreography be real. We tried to have the cheerleaders do real moves. We treated this thing seriously and didn’t have the actors make it a joke. We had them really try to be good, and we just captured the action and let the humor play on its own without trying to force it."
The spot was shot in one day on a basketball court at University High School, Los Angeles. Julius LeFlore, who worked on the basketball-themed film White Men Can’t Jump, choreographed both the cheerleaders and basketball players.
After reviewing tapes of the actual Harlem Globetrotters in action, Williams and Bennett provided LeFlore with a list of tricks and moves they wanted the Holland team to attempt. The players—all actors with a Scandanavian/Dutch appearance—were cast in Los Angeles. They had a couple of days to rehearse, and to get used to wearing wooden shoes. (Most of the men had to wear four pairs of socks to get the footwear to fit snugly.)
By the time the shoot day arrived, the players were ready to dribble. "We had it all fairly well figured out, choreographed and rehearsed," Bennett said, noting that improvisation was involved, as well. "I think we were able to find the improvised moves because of the flexibility of the shooting. We used a SteadiCam, and we had a couple of cameras, so we were able to be opportunistic, I think—particularly with the cheerleaders. We were able to capture some moments that unfolded before us."
One moment not caught on camera was that of Maerov teaching the cheerleaders how to dance. "Although the choreographer did quite a nice job, he wasn’t able to really nail one particular move. Then Jeff came out there and did this little slapping-the-pony-type dance that you may catch three-quarters of the way through: The cheerleaders are sort of spanking each other," Atlas related. "The highlight of the shoot for me was watching Jeff teach them that."
When asked where he learned the move, Maerov quipped, "The streets."
Will Y&R create more of these spoof spots for Diet Dr Pepper? "I hope so," replied Maerov. "This concept has legs."
Those who have been parodied have given their blessings to the spots, Maerov added —and that includes the Harlem Globetrotters organization. "I think they were flattered. That’s been our experience with all of the ads," Maerov volunteered. "Whether it be Riverdance or Baywatch, the people we’ve approached have been really flattered and receptive. Hopefully, it’ll become one of those things over time where it will be cool to be parodied by us."
