A middle-aged man carrying a bag of groceries walks down a sidewalk in suburbia USA. He’s talking on a cell phone, presumably to his wife. "Nothing’s going to melt," he assures her, referring perhaps to some ice cream bought at the supermarket.
After ending the phone conversation, the man continues along on the street. Suddenly, he stops in his tracks. Right before him is a cordoned-off block of wet cement, affording him an opportunity for expression that he cannot resist. He gets down on his knees and begins drawing pictures in the cement with his finger. Indeed, he’s having a great time until his impromptu art session is interrupted by a gruff-sounding male voice, which grunts, "Hey, Picasso."
The voice belongs to a large construction worker who’s not too pleased to see his block of cement tampered with.
We cut from the scene to a simple message, which fills the screen. It reads, "There’s a better place to connect with art. The New Art Connections. Feb. 21. Cummer Museum."
The spot then returns us to the sidewalk, where the construction worker has assisted our would-be artist on a new project, putting him face down in the wet cement. We see the guy’s face, eyeglasses and all, covered with cement, and get a glimpse of his face’s imprint in the block. As the man takes off his glasses, he comments diplomatically, "Not exactly what I was going for, but it’s nice."
Representing the first time that TV has been deployed to promote the Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, Fla., the :30 was directed and shot by Bill Cuccinello of Picture Park, Boston, for St. John & Partners Advertising & Public Relations, Jacksonville. The pro-bono client Art Connections is a newly renovated art education center at Jacksonville’s Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens.
The core team at St. John & Partners was creative group head/copywriter/producer Josh Caplan and art director Chuck Hamblen. Headquartered in Jacksonville, St. John & Partners also maintains offices in Pittsburgh, Detroit and Crested Butte, Colo.
"This is truly an unconventional campaign for a fine art museum," related Caplan. "The use of physical humor was important for us to reach a wider group of people in the community, and to portray Art Connections as an approachable and fun place for everyone. And since this is a teaser campaign, we don’t have to fully explain what Art Connections is, but we do have to get people excited and interested about learning more."
Hope McMath, director of education for the Cummer Museum, explained, "We recognized the importance of humor in the ad and wanted to send the message that Art Connections is a place where visitors can be loud and have fun. No one is going to tell you to keep your voice down or not to touch."
Bill Near served as executive producer and first assistant director for Picture Park. Danny Stark was the producer.
Khari Streeter of Editbar, Boston, was offline and online editor. Colorist was Rob Leaton of National Boston. Tom Love of Rumblestrip, Boston, was audio mixer and sound designer.
