Ameriquest Takes On The Super Bowl
By Kristin Wilcha
Ads for mortgage lending companies aren’t exactly known for creative ingenuity–the endlessly airing Ditech spots come to mind as fairly typical of the category. That perception changed Super Bowl Sunday, when Ameriquest Mortgage Company, an Orange, Calif.-based lending firm, broke two clever spots–“Mini Mart” and “Surprise Dinner”–during the telecast of the game. The spots scored well with ad industry pundits and viewers alike, and raised the profile of the company.
Both ads, out of DDB Direct, Los Angeles, and directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander, advise to not judge situations too quickly, just as Ameriquest doesn’t prematurely judge loan applicants. In “Mini Mart,” a guy on a cell phone walks into a convenience store while discussing the price of a new deck. He feels that the person on the other end is being “robbed.” As he is chatting, the store’s owners overhear him, and believing they are being held up, begin to attack the would-be thief–with pepper spray, a baseball bat, and a cattle prod.
In “Surprise Dinner” a guy goes over to his girlfriend’s apartment to cook dinner. As he’s preparing pasta sauce, her large white cat knocks the pan over, splashing tomato sauce all over. The guy, who’s been chopping onions with a large knife, picks up the sauce-splattered kitty–at the same time, his girlfriend walks in the door, to see her sweetie holding the now red-and-white cat, and wielding the knife. The tag line: “Don’t judge too quickly. We won’t.”
Mark Monteiro, executive creative director at DDB Direct, reports that Ameriquest has been ramping up its sports sponsorships of late, which include deals with Major League Baseball, as well as Ameriquest Field in Arlington, Texas, home of the Texas Rangers. The company also has two blimps, Liberty and Freedom, which make frequent appearances over sporting events. Monteiro says that Kevin Morefield, Ameriquest’s executive VP/strategic planning, was instrumental in raising the company’s creative profile. “[Ameriquest] has mainly been a direct-marketing client for years, — and Kevin wanted to make a little bit more noise,” he explains. “They were looking for new ways to step out — and really be a cream-of-the crop company.”
One of the ways to stand out was via sponsorships, including this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. “They were given the opportunity to sponsor the halftime show, and with that came two spots, as part of the package,” recalls Monteiro. “They started talking to us back in May of 2004. … Our main concern was, you’re going to be in the Super Bowl. ‘Do you understand what that means?’ And [Kevin] completely understood what it was all about, and why you were there, and, that whatever emotion you want to go for, whether it’s humor, tears or romance, you have to do it better than anyone else does.”
Monteiro relates that doing the spot involved three rounds of research–two prior to production and one after. Gillespie was selected to direct based on a positive conference call, as well as his reel. “He understood [the scripts] perfectly,” notes Monteiro. “He had a good sense of physical comedy on his reel, which was important to us, especially with a spot like “Mini Mart,” where you’re doing something absurd, but it was really important to us that it look real to balance that.”
Two additional spots were shot–one showing a man getting change from a peep show establishment, and another in which a daughter-in-law appears to be smothering her mother-in-law with a pillow. Both new ads will break in the coming weeks.
Additional agency credits on “Surprise Dinner” and “Mini Mart” go to: Hélène Côté, direct creative director; Vanessa MacAdam, senior producer; David Hennagin, managing director; Pat McKay, senior copywriter; Feh Tarty, senior art director; Josh Fell, copywriter; and Michael Mittelstaedt, art director.SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More