By Robert Goldrich

Life is full of simple pleasures, if you take the time to become aware of them. Yet in everyday life, someone looking to enjoy those ordinary pleasures can seem the odd man out, one whose behavior might be regarded as curious, embarrassing or even causing others to feel slightly uncomfortable.

    This :30, however, puts such behavior into its proper perspective, while being both humorous and poignant at the same time. We open on a man in the driver’s seat of a parked car. A traffic officer approaches to give him a ticket. Rather than being upset, the man reaches out through the open automobile window and hugs the standing officer.

Next we see the same man in a stable, hugging a horse. Then we’re taken back to the city, this time to a counter at a diner. The man reaches across the counter to hug his waitress.

Our next sojourn again takes us from urban to rural, as our male protagonist is seen hugging a tree. While in the politically conservative mindset, the term “tree hugger” is a pejorative term, this time the moniker plays as touchingly sweet.

Finally, we see the man and his wife asleep in bed. In mid-slumber, he rolls over and ends up hugging his wife.

A super puts this hug fest into sobering context. The message reads, “Most people with ALS lose the use of their arms the first two years of the disease.”

That’s followed by the question, “What would you do, if you still could?”

The next super relates, “ALS kills the body first.” An end tag identifies the sponsor as being the ALS Society of Canada, accompanied by a Web site address, www.als.ca.

Titled “Hugging,” this :30 is part of a two-spot campaign directed by Yael Staav of Reginald Pike, Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto, for BBDO, Toronto. The other PSA shows a man running endlessly through town and then the city’s outskirts. He hardly looks like a dedicated athlete in training. Instead he’s a regular guy with a bit of a paunch who seems to suddenly have gotten into the marathon running, fitness swing of things. But that’s not the case. Titled “Running,” this spot tells us that within two years of being diagnosed with ALS, people lose the use of their legs. The same query appears, “What would you do, while you still could?”

ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eroding the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement.

James Davis and Josefina Nadurata executive produced for Reginald Pike, with Tom Evelyn serving as producer. The DP was Tico Poulakakis.

The BBDO team consisted of president/chief creative director Jack Neary, senior VP/deputy creative director/copywriter Ian Mackellar, VP/associate creative director/art director Christina Yu, and producers Margaret John and Matt Minor.

Editor was Alison Gordon of Relish, Toronto. Colorist was Eric Whipp of Technicolor, Toronto. Audio post mixer was Keith Ohman of Pirate Radio & TV, Toronto. Music composer was Toronto-based Jim Guthrie. The principal actor in “Hugging” was Jeff Elliott.

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