This tale of father-and-son bonding takes a poignant twist. From a sports standpoint, the hits just keep coming as we see the dad teaching his son the finer points about athletic competition — how to hit a baseball, followed by how to hit a receiver with a perfectly thrown football pass, and then how to hit the strike zone with a fastball.
In each go-around, the youngster shows he’s an apt student. He whacks the baseball, chucks a nice football spiral, and then hits the center of the catcher’s mitt with the horsehide.
Indeed father and son are having a lot of fun as we see scene after scene of quality time spent together. Next the lad is being taught the finer points of golf, namely how to hit a nine-iron. Then it’s how to hit the net in hockey, as the boy scores a goal.
A voiceover takes us from one lesson to the next, the last sports session being how to hit the open man, a tenet of team basketball. A nice pass in a pick-up game results in an easy lay-up.
However, the voiceover then asks a disturbing question of the father: “How much time have you spent teaching him what not to hit?”
A supered message then appears in two parts, the first sentence reading, “Teach him early.” This is followed by, “All violence against women is wrong.”
The Web site address endabuse.org appears on screen along with sponsor logos for The Ad Council, the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Waitt Institute For Violence Prevention.
Endabuse.org is the site for the Family Violence Prevention Fund, an advocacy organization that combats domestic violence through varied initiatives, including working with health care providers and employers to identify and aid victims of abuse, helping communities support children from violent homes, lobbying for improved public policies, and showing Americans how to help prevent family violence. The group helped gain passage for the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, which President Bush signed into law this month. The Family Violence Prevention Fund’s Web site contains resources for families to prevent violence, such as a “coaching” toolkit for parents to impart important lessons to their kids about domestic abuse.
Titled “Father And Son,” this :30 was directed and shot by Sam Jones of bicoastal Tool of North America for McCann Erickson, San Francisco.
Jones’ support team at Tool included executive producer Jennifer Siegel, head of production Amy DeLossa and line producer Gillian McManus. Jones lensed the PSA on location in Los Angeles.
The McCann Erickson creative ensemble consisted of senior VPs/group creative directors Greg Rowan and John Zissimos, copywriter Jesse Gazzuolo, art director Tim Stier and producer LauraLe Wunsch.
The spot was edited by Doug Walker of FilmCore, San Francisco. Jon Ettinger executive produced for FilmCore. Colorist was Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica. Audio post mixer was Mark Pitchford of M Squared Productions, San Francisco.
Original music was composed by Michael Lande and Hector Perez of Music Orange, San Francisco.
The principal actors were Randy Hernandez and Zach Hernandez. The PSA made its on-air debut last month.