Thomas Edison observed that invention springs from an effort consisting of "one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."
Well, in this spot for Parker Hannifin, a diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies, inspiration itself can come in the form of yet another bodily fluid. Aptly titled "Baby Shower," the ad opens on a young father attempting to change his baby’s diaper.
"All right, big guy. You ready? We’re just going to follow proper procedure here," says the father to the infant. Lying on a couch, the baby looks up at his father. From the child’s perspective, we see the dad and a nearby electric fan that’s been turned on.
"First step—we’re going to take off the diaper," relates the father, continuing his play-by-play account of the proceedings. At that point, we see a stream of baby pee hit the fan, spraying the father and the room. The baby laughs.
A simple message is supered against this humorous backdrop: "Engineers see the world differently."
The spot then returns to the young dad—except this time he’s at a company board meeting, pointing to a visual presentation of a temperature control apparatus. He explains, "It occurred to me that a cooling mist could make the power plant more efficient."
Clearly the idea is well received by those in attendance. The father adds that the concept was "just a little something me and my team came up with."
A voiceover then intervenes, "At Parker, we help engineers turn inspiration into innovation."
The words "Motion," "Control" and "Technology" then rotate on screen, giving way to the Parker logo, accompanied by the slogan, "Anything possible."
"Baby Shower" was one of three spots in a campaign directed by Kevin Smith of Backyard Productions, Venice, Calif., and Chicago, for ad agency, Brokaw, Cleveland. The other two commercials are similarly themed, with engineers finding inspiration in unlikely situations that skew to the offbeat.
For example, "Hippity Hop" shows a little girl riding a large bouncing ball that’s not working properly. The movement of the broken toy inspires her engineer father to come up with an inventive concept for a new kind of roller coaster. While daydreaming, however, the engineer fails to notice that his daughter has bounced into a nearby hedge.
Smith’s support team at Backyard included executive producers Kris Mathur, Blair Stribley and Eriks Krumins; head of production Peter Steinzeig; and producer Peter Keenan. The DP was Randy Arnold.
Brokaw’s creative ensemble consisted of creative director Greg Thomas, art director Brian Gillen, copywriter Tim Brokaw, and producer Ellen Stafford.
Editor was Bob Mori of CO-OP Editorial, Santa Monica. Monette Dubin executive produced for CO-OP. Kevin Prendiville and Beau Leon of The Syndicate, Santa Monica, served as online editor and colorist, respectively. Audio mixer/sound designer was George Gates of Commercial Recording, Cleveland. Music composer was Andrew Batcheler of Parker Hannifin. Motion designer was Gregg Brokaw of Brokaw Motion, Cleveland.
