We open on a relaxed social occasion—a group of people seated at a dining room table, enjoying their supper. Suddenly, an unseen force grabs one of the diners. He is picked up out of his chair and pinned against the wall.
He’s then thrown across the room and laid flat out on the floor. Meanwhile, his dinner colleagues remain seated at the table. They’re talking about the unusual spell of dry weather, wondering if the reason is El Niño. They don’t show any concern about what’s going on.
The struggling continues, and the man is whisked under the table. He holds onto two of the table’s legs in a futile attempt to resist the force that’s taken hold of him. The table shakes a bit, jostling about cups and dishes, but those seated continue to show indifference to their friend’s plight.
The guy is then pulled down the hall. He digs his nails into the carpeting, but it isn’t enough to stop the force from taking him to his final destination. He’s thrown out the front door of the house, but at least he’s finally free of the invisible grip—or is he?
Standing in front of the home, he lights a cigarette and takes a few puffs. A voiceover explains: "It’s tough to fight the urge to smoke. With help, you’re seven times more likely to quit. We can help."
Supered across the screen is the toll-free Minnesota Tobacco Helpline phone number (1-877-270-STOP).
This :30 is part of a two-spot campaign for the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT), directed by Tom De Cerchio of Incubator Films, West Hollywood, for agency Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minneapolis. MPAAT is an independent, nonprofit organization. The other spot, "Meeting," similarly depicts a man trying to fight the force that drags him out of a business meeting. Again, the invisible force proves to be too strong—it leads him outside the building, where he ends up smoking a cigarette.
The creative ensemble at Clarity Coverdale Fury consisted of creative director/copywriter Jerry Fury, art director Glenn Gray and producer Jenee Schmidt.
De Cerchio, a self-described "anti-smoking advocate," was immediately drawn to the campaign upon seeing the storyboards. "I was really taken by the concept of people fighting their addiction, yet being over-powered by it," he related. "You see it everyday. Just look outside of office buildings with people standing out front smoking."
De Cerchio deployed flying rigs in both spots to create such effects as the actors being thrown across the room and dragged up a wall. He set up many of the shots so that the rigs wouldn’t show on camera. Whenever they did, they were "visually painted out," said De Cerchio, citing the efforts of visual effects editor Randy Glackstetter of Pixel Farm, Minneapolis. The overall editor of the commercials was Jim Stanger of Channel Z, Minneapolis.
Tamsin Prigge executive produced for Incubator Films, with Kate Dale serving as producer. The campaign was shot in Toronto by DP Tami Reiker. Providing production support services was Radke Films, Toronto.
Audio mixer was Ken Chastain of Echo Boys, Minneapolis. Sound designer was Tom Lecher, also of Echo Boys.
"Dinner Party" is scheduled to debut on air in May. Though it’s initially running in Minnesota only, De Cerchio is hopeful that other states will pick up on the work and adopt or adapt it for their markets. He noted that past anti-smoking public service messages in Minnesota have gone on to gain exposure in other parts of the country.
