To tout the increasing availability of cable network Fuse, the upstart music channel that actually shows videos, agency Amalgamated, New York, recently broke a trio of spots that presents the channel as a cure to teenage boredom.
The three ads–“Above Ground Pool,” “Fryer,” and “Rabbit”–feature decidedly quirky teens discussing ways in which they amused themselves before Fuse came along. In “Fryer,” a trio of teens dip whatever they can get their hands on–a sneaker, a cell phone, the TV–into a deep fat fryer. Once they discover Fuse, inanimate objects everywhere are safe. In “Rabbit” a break-dancing kid discusses how before Fuse, he didn’t have much to do–in an effort to amuse himself, he and a friend parachuted pet rabbits off the roof into tires for points. An in “Above Ground Pool” a group of kids is saved from trying to skateboard down the curve of an above ground pool a la Tony Hawkins, although with decidedly less spectacular results. The directing team Happy of bicoastal Smuggler helmed the ads.
“It’s based on the truth of what kids do,” explains creative director Tommy Noonan, who along with Matt Murphy, also a creative director at the shop, came up with the new spots. “The [kids in the commercials] basically screw around all day doing nothing, and we’re using the idea that Fuse is their hope–that they have something do now that they have music videos.”
The ads carry the same irreverent tone as previous work for Fuse from the agency–past efforts included “Totally Uncensored,” a spot in the vein of Girls Gone Wild. According to Murphy, Fuse, which is growing in its availability on cable systems nationwide, was seeking to attract more eyeballs to the channel. “[Agency partner/strategist] Doug Cameron came up with a brief based on a prankster,” explains Murphy. “Fuse’s biggest thing with the advertising was to get people to tune in and watch.
“These spots are about what every kid in America could be doing before they get Fuse,” he continues. Murphy relates that the inspiration for the spots came in part from the 1997 film Gummo about two bored teens from a small town, though the ads were much less dark. Coming up with the concepts involved “writing a huge list of things that could be the funniest–things you could relate to but that also felt fresh and not ad cliché in a way,” says Murphy. “Every spot right now has Gen XYZ kids hanging out and skating at the local mall and stuff. It was trying to figure out a way to take that to another level.”
Murphy points out that the spots weren’t about making fun of the kids, but rather mocking the ideas they come up with out of boredom. “I feel like everyone has some sort of relation to the work,” he explains. “They either did that or knew someone who did that. You don’t look at the rabbit spot and go, ‘oh, that’s me,’ but you know what he’s doing.”
HAPPY PAIRING
Murphy and Noonan selected Happy–Guy Shelmerdine and Richard Farmer…for their prowess with the mundane and the absurd. “They have a realism about their work, but they also have an absurdity in their work,” explains Murphy. “The combination of those two seemed exactly right. … I think Happy nailed the reality of it, shooting it beautifully, and pushing the jokes to be wackier.”
Noonan also praises the duo’s skill with the talent, most of which was cast at monster truck shows in Kentucky. “[Happy] knew how to get the natural funniness out of the actors themselves,” says Noonan. “The guy in ‘Rabbit’ would have never started break dancing unless Happy was prodding him with them questions on what else he could do. … They just did a million things on the set and it was great to watch.”
Noonan and Murphy began working together in February when Murphy joined Amalgamated after five years at Berlin Cameron/Red Cell, New York. Noonan has been with the agency since partners Cameron, Jason Gaboriou, and Charles Rosen opened it in 2003. Although new to working together, Noonan and Murphy had known each other through mutual friends. At the moment the pair is working on a print and outdoor campaign for Svedka Vodka that breaks this month. As for Fuse, “their numbers have been doing better,” reports Murphy. “If this stuff works I think it’ll be a no-brainer to keep pushing it.”