Viewers first learned about the condition Connectile Dysfunction during the Super Bowl. In a thinly veiled parody of erectile dysfunction infomercials, the spot, created by Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, shows a business traveler at an airport sitting in a corner frustrated because he can’t connect to the Internet where and when he wants to due to inadequate broadband coverage. Luckily the cure is revealed: Sprint Mobile Broadband connection cards.
Now the brand is spreading the cure for “CD” even further with a customizable viral video and microsite curecd.com. The microsite introduces visitors to the Connectile Dysfunction Treatment Center, an online clinic where sufferers are greeted by vivacious Nurse Debbie. From there they can meet the center’s kooky, recovering patients by taking a tour of the facility.
In the Body Therapy section, we see patients getting physically prepared to reconnect with the world. In Group Therapy, CD sufferers are shown rebuilding their confidence destroyed by dysfunction. And in Isolation Therapy, visitors can watch patients cleanse their minds of CD’s ill effects.
Before going on a tour, visitors are given the opportunity to personalize and send a video to an aquaintance who might be suffering from CD. The recipient will receive a link to the video customized with personal information like, name, partner’s name, industry they work in and where they live. The sultry Dr. Cate McManus of the CDTC playfully hints at their difficulty getting and maintaining an Internet connection in a curiously intimate way.
“We wanted it to feel like the nurse knows all about the person to cut through the usual B to B clutter that’s out there,” said Dominic Goldman, senior VP/creative director at Publicis & Riney, pointing out that B to B doesn’t have to be boring.
It also doesn’t have to be about “ramming products down customers throats.”
“The interesting thing about the site is there is very little branding. Sprint is only mentioned when you click on the Find a Cure brochure and from there you can visit sprint.com,” explained Goldman. “We felt like that allowed the piece to feel less like advertising and a hard sell and to get under people’s radars and entertain them. We were very pleased Sprint agreed to this.”
Kudos go to the actors for the entertainment value of the project. Goldman pointed out that Nurse Debbie ad libs for six minutes while people are filling out the form to admit a friend. “She was fantastic. Those characters really help bring this to life. It could have been quite flat if they didn’t,” he said.
He also praised the work of copywriter Paul Mimiaga and writer/director Lee Einhorn of Mekanism, San Francisco. The company was tapped because it could handle all the technical issues of building the site as well as the directing responsibilities.
Goldman was excited about the level of casting and production values that brought this idea to life. “It was almost like a full TV shoot for a website,” he said.
How The Hollywood Awards Calendar Has Been Affected By The Wildfires
Hollywood's awards season has all but come to a rare halt as the wildfires continue to disrupt life and work in the Los Angeles area. There are near daily updates from the Hollywood guilds and organizations that put on awards shows as the industry navigates the ongoing crisis.
Here's an overview of the major upcoming awards shows, from the Oscars to the Grammys, including updated dates for nominations.
Producers Guild and Writers Guild award nominations
Postponed, no new dates announced
The Writers Guild of America nominations were to be announced Jan. 8, a date that was pushed to Jan. 13 and then postponed indefinitely. The Producers Guild of America nominations for feature films were to be announced on Jan. 10, which was pushed to Jan. 12 and then postponed to an unspecified date this week.
Academy Award nominations
Jan. 23
The Oscar nominations have been twice-delayed — they were initially slated for Jan. 17, then Jan. 19, before being delayed again. The delay in the announcement accommodates an extended voting deadline, as many Academy members have been affected by the wildfires.
The nominations will be announced via a "virtual presentation," eschewing press on site.
Critics Choice Awards
Jan. 26
Originally slated for Jan. 12, the awards were set to take place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, only miles from the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where fire was raging.
The awards will be broadcast live on E!, hosted by Chelsea Handler.
Grammy Awards
Feb. 2
By virtue of announcing their nominations back in November, the Grammys' schedule has largely been unaffected by the wildfires. Some... Read More