Even if you haven’t read Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus, you know that something is wrong with this spot from the very outset. We open on a young couple—presumably husband and wife—seated cozily on a couch, watching TV. He hands her the remote control, praising her ability "for always finding the best shows."
The next scene finds the twosome at the dining room table. The man is going through a pile of invoices. "Four hundred dollars! What’s this for?" he asks his spouse.
"Shoes," she replies casually.
The husband responds with an enthusiastic "of course" facial expression, and continues tabulating the month’s bills.
Then we see the woman slaving over a hot iron. Hubby enters the room, reaches for the iron and finishes pressing his shirt.
Subsequently, the husband is giving his wife a manicure as they engage in "girl talk." "Now he’s being nice," she confides. "Is she falling for that?" he responds conspiratorially.
The final slice-of-atypical-life finds the man determinedly piling his prized "male" possessions on the curb with the garbage, including an overstuffed easy chair and an equally well-stuffed piece of taxidermy—a mounted deer’s head.
Suddenly, we’re at a table in a fast-food restaurant. The woman has been daydreaming.
A voiceover intervenes: "A chicken sandwich this good …"
"What?" asks the hubby, sensing that his spouse’s mind is elsewhere.
"… could raise your expectations for everything else," promises the voiceover.
"Nothing," responds the wife, holding a sandwich from which she has taken a bite, but returning to the real world.
Tasty food photography of Burgerville’s Northwest Chicken Sandwich fills the screen as the narrator notes the item’s attributes, among them special barbecue sauce, pepper bacon and Tillamook cheese.
Via Portland, Ore.-based Limbo Films, Todd Korgan directed this spot, as well as a companion ad relating the husband’s "fantasies" about his wife. (Korgan is repped nationally through Motel Films, Hollywood.)
Big Ads, Portland, is the agency for Burgerville, a chain of fast-food restaurants in Oregon and southwest Washington. The Big Ads team consisted of creative director/ copywriter Joel Thomas, copywriter Derek Barnes, art director Jim Raleigh and producer Erik Ewton.
Producing for Limbo was Tracie Davis. The spots were shot by DP Gary Nolton.
George Mitchell and Mike Quinn of Mission Control, Portland, served, respectively, as Avid editor/post producer and Flame artist/online editor. Colorist was Jeff Tillotson of Flying Spot, Seattle. Audio mixer was Eric Solberg of Digital One, Portland.
