Top Spot Credits
CLIENT
Western Union.
PRODUCTION CO.
HKM Productions, Hollywood. Noam Murro, director; Patrick Darrin, DP; Tom Mickel and Ron Hacohen, executive producers; Nancy Slazkin, line producer. Shot at Paramount Studios, Hollywood.
AGENCY
Lowe & Partners/SMS, New York. Earl Cavanah, executive VP/executive creative director/art director; Tom Thomas, executive VP/executive creative director/copywriter; Chris Coccaro, agency producer; Peter Hempel, executive VP/group account director.
EDITORIAL
First Edition, New York. Lori Quirk, offline editor; Laura Richardson, assistant editor.
POST
Post Expressions, New York. John Whitaker, online editor. Rocket Dailies, Hollywood. Mike Eaves, colorist.
AUDIO POST
The Mix Place, New York. Bobby Elder, mixer/engineer.
MUSIC
David Horowitz Music Associates, New York. Jack Cavari, composer/manager.
There’s nothing new about spoofing conventional media genres to elicit laughs from an audience. Saturday Night Live has been doing it for years, as have cable networks like MTV and, over the years, TV commercials. Now Western Union has jumped into the fray, with a second batch of spots for its “Talk Show” campaign.
The latest, “A Guy and His Dog,” directed by Noam Murro for HKM Productions in Hollywood via Lowe & Partners/SMS, New York, continues to promote Western Union’s claim that its service is the best way to wire money. It opens on a talk-show hostess standing tall in Oprah-like glory, who introduces us to “today’s topic”–disasters resulting from improper money transfers.
In this case, it’s a man and his dog–and the canine speaks, at least to the man. He’s asking to attend obedience school, and has called his master for the funds. Unfortunately, they weren’t sent via Western Union, and as a result, never arrived at the school. The pooch is pissed, the master miffed and the host horrified. If only they’d used Western Union.
The faux-talk show motif serves as the ultimate ’90s humor machine. “A Guy and His Dog” strips commercialism to its barest core, asking buyers to identify as viewers as well as consumers of popular culture. It works because neither allegiance dominates, allowing the familiarity of the talk-show format to ease the audience into the product pitch.
Lowe & Partners executive VP/executive creative director Earl Cavanah, who served as art director for “A Guy and His Dog,” said the spot’s creatives chose to mock talk shows because it had yet to be undertaken for an entire campaign.
“There were a lot of different ways to approach the drawbacks of not using Western Union,” Cavanah said. “We wanted to show people pouring their hearts out, and what better way to show [that] than through a talk show?” This approach dovetailed nicely with Western Union’s goal, which client director of marketing Kevin Carroll said was “to show the heartbreak caused by not using Western Union.”
So Murro kept the pathos pouring, trying to keep the “talk show” as real as possible while still betraying it as a spoof. One way he ensured this was by casting actors, rather than real people. “We needed actors to do a lot of acting to appear as if they weren’t acting,” Cavanah said. “But we did use a real dog.”
The spot was also filmed in a real talk-show studio, one used by The Leeza Gibbons Show in Los Angeles. “My main challenge was to be true to the genre,” Murro noted. “You can’t fool the audience.” Murro used a single camera throughout the shoot, to maintain as much control as possible over each shot. Expressions, close-ups and image cuts are all geared toward maintaining a rigid, seamless humor.
Cavanah praised Murro as easy to work with, noting that he shared a joint vision with the agency and client. The director, he said, aimed for deadpan performances to keep the spot’s tone “as serious as possible while still being funny.”
So serious is the spot, in fact, that the dog’s communication abilities are never even questioned. The audience is simply left to ponder the validity of the man’s claim that he understands the dog’s speech, which could, of course, be nothing more than an extension of his imagination.
“Like on a real talk show,” Murro pointed out, “we wanted the audience to look at these people and think, `Oh, my God, they really believe this stuff.’ ”
***
Curious Freshens With Wizard Stick-Ups
CLIENT
Reckitt & Colman/Wizard Stick-Ups.
PRODUCTION CO.
Curious Pictures, New York. Steve Oakes, director/designer; Tom Lucak, DP; David Starr and Richard Winkler, executive producers; Russ Dub , senior producer; Tammy Walters, head of CGI; Dave Figliola, stop-motion animator, “Toys”; Kim Lee, CGI animator, “Closet”; Hunt Squibb, set designer. Shot at Curious Pictures.
AGENCY
McCann-Erickson, New York. Doug Welch and B.J. Kaplan, senior creative directors; Lisa Kaplan, producer; Meredith Muegge, senior copywriter; John Arehart, senior art director; Irwin Warren, executive VP/deputy creative director.
EDITORIAL
Curious Pictures. Anthony Orkin, editor.
POST
“Toys” completed at The Tape House Editorial Company, New York. Bobbie Thomas, film-to-tape; Robin Weekes, assistant film-to-tape; Jay Tilin, online editor; Tony Gilliam, assistant online editor. “Closet” completed at Curious Pictures. Joe Herman and Dameon Ciarelli, compositors.
AUDIO POST
Photomag, New York. Doug Senger, engineer.
MUSIC
Michael Carroll Music, New York. Michael Carroll, composer/arranger.
THE SPOT
In “Toys,” a diaper is tossed into a garbage pail. The odor is so vile that each of the little stuffed-animal critters in a crib run for their lives. A Stick-Up is placed on the lid of the pail to combat the odor. Sniffing the fresh air, the toys return. In “Closet,” a teen throws his stinky sneakers into a messy closet, assaulting his clothes with their appalling aroma. The garments jump off their hangers and flee in desperation. When Mom places a Stick-Up in the closet, the clothes return.
“Toys” began airing April 21 and “Closet” in mid-July.
***
Falcon Pitches To Lincoln/Mercury
CLIENT
Lincoln/Mercury Dealers Association.
PRODUCTION CO.
Falcon Productions, Coral Gables, Fla. Errol Falcon, director; Robert Blatman, DP; Alana Rothlein, executive producer; Barbara Martin-Cordle, producer. Shot on location.
AGENCY
Young & Rubicam, Detroit. Joe Agius, associate creative director/art director; Tom Hillebrand, producer. Young & Rubicam, Tampa, Fla. Matt Sandoval, account supervisor.
EDITORIAL
Falcon Productions. Alex Ferrari, Avid editor.
POST
Post Edge, South Beach, Fla. John Holtzman, online editor. BVI, Coconut Grove, Fla. Scott Gardner, colorist.
AUDIO POST
Post Edge. Vinnie Oliveri, engineer/mixer.
THE SPOT
Three spots feature Florida Marlins pitcher Alex Fernandez. In “Especial,” Fernandez talks about his dad is and why he purchased a Lincoln Town Car for him. “Me Gusta” shows Fernandez enjoying his Mountaineer. “Mi Gente” features Fernandez stating how great it is to be back in Miami where he grew up and began his baseball career, and also how he likes the fact that although he has a new team and uniform, some things haven’t changed–like his lucky number, and the people at Lincoln/Mercury.
Spots broke March 24
