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.