Crispin Porter+Bogusky Steps Up The "Truth" Campaign With Clandestine Mission.
By Heather Jacobs
Four young people enter the premises of the Louisville, Ky.-based Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, which manufactures and markets such cigarette brands as Kool and Lucky Strike. Dressed in casual teen attire, they walk through the foyer to the reception area. Once there, one of the teenagers holds up a fishhook-shaped plaque, saying to the receptionist, "We were wondering if you could help us? We want to deliver this to the head of marketing."
Meanwhile, a team from Crispin Porter+Bogusky Advertising (CP+B), Miami, and Redtree Productions, New York and Boston, is sweating it out in a van parked around the corner. They have, after all, just sent four actors—rigged with hidden DV cameras—on a clandestine mission into the headquarters of the nation’s third-largest cigarette company. The result is captured on video: "Golden Fishhook," one of three-spots directed by Redtree’s Christian Hoagland, as part of the long-running "Truth" campaign for the Florida Tobacco Pilot Program, an anti-smoking initiative.
The spot then shows the chipper, friendly receptionist as she answers the teens’ request with "Oh. OK, sure." Shortly thereafter, a smiling female marketing executive and a male public relations executive walk across the foyer to greet the visitors. There are handshakes all around. "We just wanted to present the Golden Fishhook Award to the makers of Kool cigarettes," says one of the lads.
"Fishhook Award? What does it mean?" asks the woman, looking somewhat amused and encouraged. "It says right here," relates one of the lads. Reading the inscription out loud, he announces, "To the makers of Kool with the K cigarettes, we present the Golden Fishhook Award for using sex to lure scores of underage males into smoking."
The male tobacco company executive responds, "One of the things we have found is, the reason that kids smoke really doesn’t have anything to do with advertising."
"Then how come you guys spend fifteen million dollars worth of advertising a year if it doesn’t do anything?" retorts one of the teens.
"It’s not advertising that does it," objects the female executive.
"If I was 15 years old, I would want to be cool," says one of the teenagers as he holds up a print ad depicting a sophisticated, glamorous woman. "And it seems that it’s saying here, ‘If you smoke these cigarettes, you will be cool.’ Right?" The female executive argues, "The problem is …," but she is cut off by another teenager who states, "One third of the people who smoke your product will die …" The screen frames the male executive as he glibly protests, "One hundred percent of the people are eventually going to die."
The visitors then announce that it is time to leave. They encourage the executives to enjoy the Golden Fishhook Award. Again, there are handshakes between the teens and the execs. "Thanks a lot, guys," says one of the teens. The male executive calls out, "Take care," to their retreating backs.
The other two spots in the Hoagland-directed campaign were: "Golden Sloth," in which an award by that name is delivered to the New York headquarters of Philip Morris, makers of Marlboro cigarettes, in honor of the company’s taking 50 years to figure out that smoking causes cancer; and "Golden Shovel," which shows a shovel-shaped award being dropped off at the Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters of Winston Cigarettes, makers of Camel cigarettes, for outstanding performance in the burying of scientific evidence.
The kids were rigged with various miniature DV cameras. Two cameras were mounted onto specially manufactured sunglasses; another was hidden in a hat, another in a beeper; and another encased in the eyelet of a button.
Prior to the "Golden Fishhook" encounter, an additional "visitor" walked through the foyer to capture wide shots, and footage was taken of the building’s exterior.
The quality of the resolution varies from camera to camera, but the overall result is pretty impressive, according to Hoagland. "We might even downgrade the image or tint it, to give it more of a raw, undercover look. With the latest technology, people really don’t know that they are being filmed, so you get much more natural reactions, and that’s the magic of these spots. Normally, when you pull out a camera, people are aware of it and they start looking into the lens or they don’t want to deal with you. When people are reacting and not aware of the camera, you get a whole different reaction, and I think it is a really special reaction," observed Hoagland.
The work also captures what the teenagers are sensing. "You can almost hear their hearts beating as the adrenaline starts pumping through their bodies because they are so scared and nervous," said Paul Keister, art director at CP+B.
Hoagland conducted extensive rehearsals to prep the teenagers, making sure they were fully versed in the legalities and knew the rules they had to follow. For example, if they had been asked to leave, they knew that they had to do so. But they were instructed to keep the conversation going, instead of turning and running.
"It’s kind of like a military operation where we go in and do a pre-scout, constructing a floor plan from memory," explained Hoagland. "The teenagers are acting, so they are probably nervous anyway, but they are going into what could be a hostile environment, and each has the added responsibility of being my cameraperson. I have to train them how to tell a story, how to give me a wide shot, how to make sure they are showing the whole space, giving me an entry and exit shot, following the action of who is talking. It’s a lot to deal with, but I was very happy with the footage that they got."
Additionally, two of the teenagers each had a wireless communication device hidden in one ear. This enabled Hoagland to give them on-the-scene direction.
Tom Scherma, editor at Mad River Post/New York, which also has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, had the challenge of taking footage from six video cameras and distilling the material from a 25-minute encounter into a :60 and a :30. "Basically we were just trying to capture the essence of what went on in there and convey that in the most concise way," said Scherma. "There were definitely logistical problems that came out with the hidden cameras, given that the teenagers weren’t always aware of where the camera’s field of vision was. The best material came out of the eyeglass camera, which is the most concise, because it sits on the bridge of their nose and therefore their view is lined up with the camera’s view."
In terms of his role as a campaign co-creator, Keister related, "I feel like I’m just informing the public … We’re not crusaders. We are just doing our part."
"Golden Fishhook" is airing in Florida, but there’s precedent for it possibly gaining more widespread exposure. Other spots in the "Truth" campaign have gone on to run nationally.
Angelina Jolie To Receive Gothams Performer Tribute For “Marie”
The Gotham Film & Media Institute has announced that Academy Award®-winner Angelina Jolie will receive the Performer Tribute for her performance as Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s upcoming film Maria, at the 34th edition of The Gothams, taking place on Monday, December 2, at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The tribute will honor Jolie’s rendition of legendary opera singer Callas.
“Like the legendary figure she portrays, Angelina Jolie transcends mere performance to craft something extraordinary. Her interpretation captures both Maria Callas’ complexity as an artist and the cultural resonance that defines an icon,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of The Gotham. “We are thrilled to celebrate what is truly one of Ms. Jolie’s career-defining performances in the final installment of Pablo Larrain’s magnificent trilogy.”
Maria follows Callas, one of the most iconic performers of the 20th century, as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye. The film reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life. Written by Steven Knight, with cinematography by Ed Lachman and costumes by Massimo Cantini Parrini, Maria has Jolie joined by a star-studded cast including Alba Rohrwacher (Hungry Hearts, Happy As Lazzaro), Pierfrancesco Favino (Padrenostro, Adagio), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, Dolemite Is My Name), and Valeria Golino (For Your Love, The Beautiful Game). Marie premiered to critical acclaim at the Venice Film Festival and Jolie’s performance continues to stun audiences at the New York Film Festival, London Film Festival and the AFI Fest. Maria will be in... Read More