The grassy knoll in Dallas has become a Mecca for conspiracy theorists. The site itself is eerie, triggering memories of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination. If you’ve been there, across from the Dallas Book Depository, you cannot help but recall that dark chapter in our history, which triggers images of Lee Harvey Oswald, the presidential motorcade, and the Zapruder film which seemed to contradict the findings of the Warren Commission.
But, they say, time heals all wounds. Nearly 40 years have passed, and taking humorous license with the grassy knoll and conspiratorial overtones is no longer taboo; already they’ve been fodder for skits and political cartoons.
Now the Dallas knoll is the inspiration for "Greasy Knoll," one of six :30s in a "Conspiracy" campaign for Austin, Texas-based restaurant chain Texadelphia, conceived by a team at Makos Advertising, Austin. The tongue-in-cheek premise through all the spots is that some grand manipulative scheme is causing people to flock to Texadelphia for its cheese steak sandwich. How else can one explain the public’s obsession?
With clearly way too much time on their hands, two Texadelphia regulars, Jake and Stu, seek the persuasive source of the plot lurking behind Texadelphia mania. In "Greasy Knoll," they walk along a river bank, preoccupied with cheese steak. Stu is pondering the "onion-to-beef ratio," when he spies a man off in the distance, sitting atop a grassy knoll.
"Dude, doesn’t that guy work at Texadelphia?" Stu exclaims. Hearing "Texadelphia," Jake is overcome with hunger. In grainy, slo-motion footage, we see him double over, clutching his stomach. He bellows out in slo-mo, "I’mmmmm huuuun-gryyy."
Stu looks back at the grassy knoll to see the stranger walking away. "Stoooop himmmmm," screams Stu, whose slowed-down voice accentuates the "urgency" of the situation. A wisp of smoke drifts over the now-deserted knoll.
We then see "Texadelphia" fade in against a black backdrop. A voiceover explains, "Some people think the urge is too strong to be natural," and for a fraction of a second, a photo of the sandwich flashes on the screen.
But conspiracies are in the mind of the beholder—in Stu’s more than Jake’s. In "Bus Stop," the pair stands at an Austin bus stop, observing that several bus lines lead directly to Texadelphia locations. "Conspiracy confirmed," cries out Stu. In "Billboard," the duo drives down a local highway. Stu asks Jake, "Do you see how the ‘cheese’ billboard and the ‘steakhouse’ sign line up together and spell ‘Cheese steak?’ It’s subliminant!" he declares, inventing a word in his excitement. "And it’s everywhere!" And in "Come Again," Jake and Stu take note of a "Thank You, Come Again" sign as they start to exit a Texadelphia restaurant. (They both eat there, proving that they’re willing victims of the alleged conspiracy.) Stu exclaims, "We’re not out the door, and they’re already planting a seed in our head!"
Andrew Christou of bicoastal Moxie Pictures directed the spots, backed by exec producers Gary Rose and Damian Stevens, producer Mark Hyatt and production manager Cathleen Sutherland. The campaign was lensed by DP Danny Toback.
The Makos creative team consisted of creative director Todd Alley, art director Ben Blocker, copywriter Michael Woolf and executive producer/producer John Gilliland.
The ads were edited by Gigi Cone Welch, who at the time was with charlieuniformtango (CUT), Austin and Dallas. (She has since joined Mad River Post, Dallas.) CUT’s Jim Eberle was the online editor/visual effects artist, with Russell Smith serving as audio mixer/sound designer.
