By Millie Takaki
You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. But you can make a Silk pitch from a cow’s mouth–that is if you’re Berlin Cameron United, New York, which has created a tongue-in-cheek package of TV spots to promote its client Silk Soymilk, working with interactive ad shop IMC2, Dallas, which developed the online program.
Silk’s first campaign since 2004 is looking to cultivate a new generation of soymilk drinkers. And to gain new customers and milk converts, Silk has enlisted the most unlikely of “spokes-animals”–an articulate herd of cows (people in cow suits)–to trumpet the health benefits and good taste of soy milk.
The “Cows for Silk” campaign debuted on national primetime TV with “Domestic Dispute,” the first in a series of TV commercials. The spot features a mother of two calves convincing her “bull-headed” husband to try soymilk. Also in the offing at press time were a series of :15s in which Frank Bull, Connie Cow and Amanda Cow each sing the praises of Silk soymilk.
All the commercials drive traffic to a Web site: www.CowsforSilk.com–a kind of super fan site that features the cows from the campaign. On the site, the starring cows pen their personal blogs, express why they love Silk, and share their favorite recipes.
Visitors to the site can also view longer versions of the :15 TV spots, as well as send out e-cards featuring their favorite cow. There are even bios of the cow available on the site.
Excerpted thoughts from Frank, Connie and Amanda are tinged with humor. Consider Connie’s observation, for example: “It sounds so much more pleasant when you get the call that your kid was sent to the principal’s office for squirting Silk out of his nose.”
Amanda observes, “Silk is high in ‘that girl is ripped’ protein and way low in ‘maybe someone should be wearing sweatpants’ fat. Silk makes it simple to look nothing short of irresistible.”
Meanwhile Frank extols Silk’s taste virtue: “I drink Silk because it tastes great. It just happens to be healthy. Don’t confuse me with one of those wacky health food fanatics.”
Errol Morris of bicoastal/international Moxie Pictures directed the spots. The DP was Bob Chappell.
The Berlin Cameron creative team consisted of executive creative director Ewen Cameron, creative director Izzy Debellis, associate creative director/copywriter Neil Riley, associate creative director/art director Taras Wayner, executive producer Dane Johnson and producer Leigh Fuchs. Editor was Adam Jenkins who at the time was with Bug Editorial, New York. (He has since joined Cut+Run, New York.)
Web site credits at IMC2 go to account manager Ryan Oleson, project manager Allison Butler, creative directors Mary Ridgway and Bart Hirneise, designer Charles Grant, copywriter Duane Jones, production staffers Robert Barfield and Bryan Parker, information architect Dina Ray, technical consultant Matt Samuels and Web engineer Elijah Hardin.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles — "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson — that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More