LOS ANGELES—Identity theft can have its unjust rewards—or on the flip side, a well-earned award: this year’s primetime spot Emmy. "Outfit," part of Citibank’s "ID Lip Synch" campaign that centered on identity fraud, won the eighth annual commercial Emmy during the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Creative Arts Awards ceremony, held on Sept. 12 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles.
Kevin Thomas of Thomas Thomas Films, London, directed "Outfit" for Fallon, Minneapolis. (Thomas is repped stateside by Sandi Mollod & Associates, New York.)
This marks the third time that Fallon has received the primetime spot Emmy, more than any other ad agency. Fallon’s other two Emmy wins were for PBS commercials, including last year’s "Fish."
The original Citibank campaign—consisting of the spots "Outfit," "Mud Flaps" and "Geek," all helmed by Thomas—presents a literal depiction of identity theft, deploying humor to tackle a serious subject. In each commercial, a victim of the crime speaks in the voice of the thief. In "Outfit," for example, a middle-aged man sits in his wood-paneled den, drinking a can of beer while watching TV. In a valley-girl voice, "he" gloats about having recently purchased a leather bustier, and scoffs at the $1,500 price tag. After all, what’s $1,500 when it’s someone else’s money being spent? Citibank is then touted as the financial institution that helps protect its customers against identity theft.
The Citibank work represented British director Thomas’ first major foray into the American advertising market. He has since directed a follow-up campaign, as well as other U.S. fare.
When originally interviewed by SHOOT about the Citibank commercials earlier this year, Thomas related, "I knew they were going to be good. It was a really strong idea, and like all the best ideas, it was simple. The spots are brilliantly written, very funny, and very clever in an observational way."
Thomas’ industry roots are in the agency side of the business. He started in advertising in 1983 as an art director at Abbott Mead Vickers (now AMV BBDO), London. He followed that with a stint at TBWA, London, and then joined Lowe, London, where he worked for six years, serving as head of art. After Lowe, he joined M&C Saatchi, London. While there, he began directing select jobs, eventually moving on to join Blink Productions, London. A year later, he signed with Godman, London, where he met producer Phillipa Thomas (the two are not related). In ’00, the pair teamed to launch Thomas Thomas Films.
FALLON FEAT
Fallon first won the Emmy for PBS’ "Photo Booth" in ’01. It was directed by Errol Morris of bicoastal/international @radical.media. Two years later, the aforementioned PBS spot "Fish" received the Emmy; it was helmed by Alfonso Cuar?n of Santa Monica-based Independent Media.
The only other agency to garner the award more than once is Wieden+Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore., which has won two Emmys. The first came in ’00 for Nike’s "The Morning After" directed by Spike Jonze of now defunct Satellite. (Jonze is now with bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander [MJZ]). W+K received its second Emmy in ’02 for Nike’s "Move," directed by Jake Scott of bicoastal RSA USA.
The Fallon team on "Outfit" included creative director David Lubars (who has since become CEO/chief creative officer of BBDO North America), group creative director John Matejczyk, art director Steve Sage, copywriter Ryan Peck and executive producer Rob van de Weteringe Buys. Bob Hughes was the DP. Editor was Andre Betz of Bug Editorial, New York.
For this year’s Emmy, "Outfit" topped a field of nominated commercials that consisted of another Fallon spot, United Airline’s "Interview," directed by animators Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis of Acme Filmworks, Hollywood; Saturn’s "Door Music," helmed by Mark Romanek of bicoastal Anonymous Content for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), San Francisco; Budweiser’s "Born A Donkey," directed by GS&P’s Jeff Goodby via Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, for GS&P; OfficeMax’s "Rubberband Man" directed by Anonymous Content’s David Kellogg for DDB Chicago; and Miller Lite’s "Dominoes," helmed by Fredrik Bond of MJZ for Young & Rubicam, Chicago.
This was only the second time in its eight-year history that six commercials were nominated for the annual primetime spot Emmy Award. Normally there are five nominees, but two ads tied for fifth place in the judges’ scoring.
Also of a historic nature was United Airline’s "Interview," which became the first animated commercial to be nominated for the primetime Emmy Award.
