The shoes, the hats, the sunglasses, the cars and, yes, the snack chip, must, in a single swipe, define and fly in the face of a teen’s chosen image. The product must always be in a state of redefinition, with only one constant: being "cool" (or awesome, rad, dope, etc.). Yesterday is the enemy of the teen; today is neutral; tomorrow is his raison d’etre. Teenagers may be fickle, but if you can establish yourself among the cool, a teen may not be able to live without your product. This makes an advertiser’s job highly challenging. The approach is everything-since the product, for the most part, stays the same.
But teens can smell a phony a mile off. Advertising executives have made fools of themselves by writing copy that pathetically attempts to relate to the young. Other times a well-written spot cannot make it to air before the teen lexicon dates it with the spawn of a new word indicating approval. Get subtle with these kids and your message can be lost in a sea of exploding ads clamoring for teens’ short attention spans. Be obvious and they recoil in protest-driven by an instinct to be different and a refusal to be mediocre. They are a tricky lot, these teenagers, and holding their attention can be like hugging a greased watermelon.
Creatives at BBDO New York approached the teen sensibility head on in a humorous ad titled "Cheerleader" for Doritos’ new Extreme line of tortilla chips. Bicoastal/international hungry man produced the spot. Helmed by Marcos Siega and DP’d by Ramsey Nickell, it is one of two currently in the campaign, with five more in various stages of planning. Each spot follows the same general format. Shoot Online subscribers may read this week’s Top Spot of the Week in full by accessing the Current Issue in the Members Area.
CLIENT
Frito-Lay/Doritos Extreme.
PRODUCTION CO.
hungry man, bicoastal/
international.
Marcos Siega, director; Ramsey Nickell, DP; Dan Duffy and Steve Orent, executive producers; Angela Jones, line producer. Shot on location in Los Angeles.
AGENCY
BBDO New York.
Ted Sann, chief creative officer; Gerry Graf and Harold Einstein, creative directors/copywriters/art directors; Elise Greiche, senior producer
EDITORIAL
MacKenzie Cutler, New York.
Ian MacKenzie, editor; Yvette Choy, assistant editor; Sundy Procter, executive producer.
POST
Nice Shoes, New York.
Rich Schrek, online editor; Scott Burch, colorist.
AUDIO POST
Lower East Side, New York.
Bobby Giammarco, mixer (He has since joined Photomag, New York); John Grant, assistant mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
MacKenzie Cutler.
Marc Healy, sound designer.
