WHEN PIGS FLY…When it comes to sex, men are pigs–literally, in this Trojan condoms spot titled “Evolve” directed by Phil Joanou of bicoastal/international MJZ for The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York, with visual effects by Framestore NY. We open on a stylish club/bar in which oink oink pigs try to hit on different women. Understandably each lass rejects these overtures–that is until one pig goes into the men’s room and buys a Trojan condom from a vending machine there. The pig transforms into a hot looking guy who comes back out to the club to find a girl sitting at the bar who immediately gives him a come hither look. The entire commercial plays to a bluesy guitar riff and lyrics about any pig’s chances of scoring with a beautiful woman–only if pigs could fly. The lyrics at the end, though, note that our Trojan-buying gent just grew “wings” thanks to his condom-buying decision. For the ad, six animatronic and six posable pigs were supplied and operated by creature creation firm Stan Winston Studios. “Evolve” generated controversy from the outset as Fox and CBS both declined to run the spot.
HEARING VOICESLeo Burnett London makes a convincing case against drunk driving on behalf of client The U.K. Department of Transport with a PSA entitled “Barman,” part of a larger “Drink Drive” campaign. In the spot, a man approaches a bar to order a drink but before he can the bartender eerily transforms into a succession of characters–a policeman, a solicitor, a prospective employer, a car salesman and a girlfriend–via voices whose words dramatise how a life can fall apart after what seems like a small decision, in this case what alcoholic beverage to drink. We hear the police officer arrest our bar customer for drunk driving, an employer fire him and so on. At the end, the bartender asks in his own voice, “So what’s it going to be?” John Hardwick of HLA, London, directed “Barman” for a Leo Burnett team that included creative director/copywriter Tony Malcolm, creative director/art director Guy Moore, art director Rick Brim, copywriter Dan Fisher and producer Emmalou Johnson. Audio post mixer/sound designer Parv Thind of Wave, London, played a key role in manipulating the bartender’s varied voices to help define the different characters he portrayed.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWSRobert Keske has been named chief technology officer for the Nice Shoes family of New York-based companies (Nice Shoes, Freestyle Collective, Guava, Nice Spots). He comes over from Autodesk Media & Entertainment where he served as an infrastructure and interoperability product development manager, working on software color correction products and designing as well as developing efficient high-end production and 2k/4k workflows for various companies. At Nice Shoes Keske will work closely with company principal Joe Bottazzi to find technological solutions that further enhance each shop’s ability to offer clients the most advanced postproduction services….Smoke artist Chris Hengeveld has joined Northern Lights, New York. He was most recently a Smoke artist at Sony BMG where he regularly worked on broadcast promos for VH1 and VH1 Classic over the past five years. Earlier he was lead editor at National Video Center’s Telezign division in N.Y….
