A comedic bit of awards show DéJà vu, a couple of gentle tugs at the heartstrings, and a piece of outlandish prehistoric humor mark this year’s field of four nominated spots for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ (ATAS) 10th annual primetime commercial Emmy.
Normally there are five nominated commercials but a four-way tie for fifth place reduced the final tally to four. Per an ATAS Awards rule, in the event of a tie, the number of nominees must be closer to five. Thus if only two commercials had deadlocked for fifth, a total of six nominees would have been acceptable. But with a four-way tie, the field would have ballooned to eight nominees.
The alluded to DéJà vu is Ameriquest Mortgage’s “Concert,” directed by Craig Gillespie of bicoastal/international MJZ for DDB Direct, Los Angeles. Last year Ameriquest’s “Surprise Dinner,” also helmed by Gillespie for DDB, won the primetime Emmy. Both spots are cut from the same darkly humored cloth. In “Concert,” dad is driving his daughter and her girlfriends to a rock concert. He pulls over so that the girls can make a quick stop at a mini market. The girls get out of the car, but the daughter, whose garb is a bit risqué, comes back as the father hands her some money. Cops witness the girl leaning back inside the car to grab the cash and assume they’ve got a bust for soliciting a minor. The now familiar Ameriquest slogan appears–“Don’t judge too quickly.” As we see the Ameriquest logo, we hear the arrested man’s explanation: “I’m her daddy.”
The other nominated spots are Budweiser’s “Clydesdale American Dream” directed by Joe Pytka of Venice, Calif.-based PYTKA for DDB Chicago; FedEx’s “Stick” helmed by the Traktor collective via bicoastal/international Partizan for BBDO New York; and Hallmark’s “Required Reading” directed by agency creative David Harner of Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, with the Institute for the Development of Enhanced Perceptual Awareness, Santa Monica, serving as the production company.
Like “Concert,” FedEx’s “Stick” deploys humor, showing us how overnight packages got delivered–or more accurately, not delivered–back when dinosaurs roamed the planet. The spot opens on a caveman tying a stick that he needs delivered around the leg of a Pteranodon. The massive bird-like creature takes off only to be snatched out of the sky by a T-Rex. The stick falls to the ground, and the cavemen goes to his boss to report that his attempt to get the stick delivered has failed. Unfortunately for the caveman, his boss fires him. The caveman laments, “But FedEx doesn’t exist yet!” His boss replies, “Not my problem.” To make a bad day even worse, a Brac crushes the caveman when he steps out of the cave.
HEARTSTRINGS
The remaining two nominees both tug at the heartstrings. In “Clydesdale American Dream,” a Clydesdale pony tries to pull the famed Budweiser wagon–but he’s clearly too small. Amazingly, the wagon starts to move, making the pony proud. Unbeknownst to him, his parents are pushing the wagon from behind. A man and the Budweiser Dalmatian mascot look on, with the former telling the latter, “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
And in Hallmark’s “Required Reading,” an older man, Ed, reluctantly walks into a classroom for reading lessons. The teacher starts him with a children’s book, the title of which he can’t even read. Later that night, he takes the bus home as a girl passenger notices the book in his backpack. He explains that it’s his daughter’s. Subsequent lessons show the man slowly yet steadily making progress until he can read on his own. We then see him at home where he opens a box containing greeting cards he’s received over the years. He reads the first one: “Papa means love. I now this is true. I know it because my papa is you. Happy Father’s Day, Papa.” It is signed, “Love, Jenny.”
CREATIVE CREDITS
The aforementioned Harner served as director, creative director, art director and writer on “Required Reading.” Burnett’s Tim Pontarelli was creative director/copywriter on the job. Bob Harley was executive producer. Roger Petrusson line produced for The Institute. Tim Olgerson was the DP. Editor was Bob Ackerman of Avenue, Chicago.
The BBDO creative team on FedEx’s “Stick” consisted of chief creative officers David Lubars and Bill Bruce, executive creative director Eric Silver, associate creative director/art director Jonathan Mackler, associate creative director/copywriter Jim Le Maitre, executive producer Elise Greiche, and director of music and radio production Rani Vaz. Jim Bouvet executive produced for Traktor. The DP was Tim Maurice-Jones. Editor was Gavin Cutler of Mackenzie Cutler, New York. Framestore CFC, New York, was the visual effects house.
For Ameriquest’s “Concert,” the DDB Direct contingent consisted of creative directors Mark Monteiro and Helene Cote, art director Sarah May Bates, copywriter Josh Fell and producer Vanessa MacAdam. Lisa Rich executive produced for MJZ, with Kim Shapiro serving as line producer. The DP was Tami Reiker. Editor was Haines Hall of Spot Welders, Venice.
And for “Clydesdale American Dream,” Joe Pytka was director/DP. DDB’s creative ensemble consisted of chairman/worldwide chief creative officer Bob Scarpelli, DDB Chicago group creative director Barry Burdiak, creative director John Hayes, creative director/art director Steve Bougdanos, creative director/copywriter Patrick Knoll, producer Kate Hildebrant and production business manager Patty Phassos. Tara Fitzpatrick executive produced for PYTKA, with Linda Masse serving as producer. Matthew Wood of The Whitehouse, Chicago, was the editor. Visual effects house was Venice-based Digital Domain.
The Emmy will be bestowed upon the winning commercial during the ATAS Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony on Aug. 19 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
