Walk a Mile in Her Shoes–that’s the title of the recently debuted second episode in the online reality series Brawny Academy. In this eight Webisode series, eight men who’ve been sent to the backwoods Academy by their wives/girlfriends, heighten their awareness of–and empathy for–their better halves. They learn under the tutelage of the Brawny Man, the plaid-shirt wearing icon who’s always been helpful around the house–but in the past year-plus in advertising out of Fallon Minneapolis, he has added to his virtues a newfound, deeper sensitivity for women.
In Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the eight men are divided into two four-member teams who compete against each other. In the first competition, they have to clean up after pigs that The Brawny Man has let into their cabin. Next, the tag teams run an inspired obstacle course, which includes such feats as pushing a baby stroller while carrying bags of groceries, putting away those groceries and then cleaning up the muddy kitchen floor (with Brawny paper towels). Next they have to run the course in high heels, stepping in and out of a maze of laundry baskets, changing a baby’s diapers and cleaning the grime off of muddy windows to reveal the outline of a household appliance on the glass. After clearing these and other hurdles, the anchor men on the tag teams need to swing through the air with the greatest of ease, breaking through a wall of Brawny paper towels.
As its reward, the winning yellow team gets to spend the night in a comfortable cabin. Losing red team members are exiled to a dirty cabin in disarray that they have to clean overnight. All the endeavors of the day build a healthy appreciation for what the women in these men’s lives do.
Brawny Academy was created and produced by Fallon Worldwide in association with Feisty Flix for Georgia Pacific, maker of Brawny paper towels. The show sprung from the findings of a survey conducted for Brawny in which nearly half of American wife respondents said they wanted their husbands to be better at cleaning around the house. Other survey findings: One in four men leaves the toilet seat up. More than 25 percent of women said their husbands never do the dishes. A little over one-third of hubbies cn only cook eggs and make toast.
“Women feel let down by their husbands,” said Chris Lawrence, group account director for Brawny Academy at Fallon Minneapolis. “But we found they are also let down by the category that portrays them in ads stereotypically dressed–starched and pressed–and smiling and singing while they clean the house. It was a double insult to the female consumer because this isn’t anybody’s reality. So we had a simple idea: bring a real situation to life in which women could relate and have a laugh. This was how the concept of Brawny Academy as a reality show was born.”
Two husband-and-wife teams brought that concept to life–creatives Alisa Sengel Wixom and Kris Wixom from Fallon who hooked up with John Russell Feist and Kate Hall Feist of Feisty Flix, reality show producers/directors whose resume includes CBS’ Survivor, NBC’s The Restaurant and Meet Mr. Mom, and Fox’s The Casino and America’s Most Wanted.
Brawny Academy is indeed reality TV. Real men meet the actor portraying the Brawny Man, who helps them be better husbands. TV spots are deployed to drive traffic to the online series on www.brawnyacademy.com. The site not only contains the Webisodes–one debuting approximately every two weeks–but also info about the Brawny Man and the contestants; screen savers, courses from a field guide, and show highlights. Additionally there are four print ads designed as instructional guides for men to help them “learn to become more like a Brawny Man.” They are appearing in such women’s magazines as Good Housekeeping and Redbook this month.
Hollywood’s Oscar Season Turns Into A Pledge Drive In Midst Of L.A. Wildfires
When the Palisades Fire broke out in Los Angeles last Tuesday, Hollywood's awards season was in full swing. The Golden Globes had transpired less than 48 hours earlier and a series of splashy awards banquets followed in the days after.
But the enormity of the destruction in Southern California has quickly snuffed out all festiveness in the movie industry's high season of celebration. At one point, the flames even encroached on the hillside above the Dolby Theatre, the home of the Academy Awards.
The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?
"With ALL due respect during Hollywood's season of celebration, I hope any of the networks televising the upcoming awards will seriously consider NOT televising them and donating the revenue they would have gathered to victims of the fires and the firefighters," "Hacks" star Jean Smart, a recent Globe winner, wrote on Instagram.
The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it's certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there's scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.
Focus has turned, instead, to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they might be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the reeling movie capital.
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