After Sony lowered the price for its PlayStation Portable Media Player early this year, TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles developed the “Get Your Own” campaign, which focused on a guy who doesn’t have a PSP and gets overly excited whenever he sees one. “It speaks about the mind set, when you have it and people see it, they get addicted to it and stare at the screen,” said Nick Davidge, a creative director at the agency.
The campaign’s first iteration took place on an airplane and the second, which launches next week, is set in a shopping mall, where three spots were shot, including one on an escalator that plays online. After the gameboy riding down the escalator sees a guy with a PSP riding up, he tries to walk up and badgers the guy about how great the PSP is. When the guy tells him he can’t use it, the gameboy ascends down the escalator and the “Dude, get your own” tag line plays.
The escalator spot works well online, because three different versions of it were created for three online placements. A 15-second spot runs as a pre-roll; a :30 runs as a banner that’s initiated by a user; and a :42 runs on the PSP website and YouTube and as banners on sites that allow long-form spots. “It works in different time slots and the gag changes where you can cut it,” Davidge said.
Director Sam Cadman, from Tool of North America/Santa Monica, Calif., said the location and the casting were two keys for the spot. It was shot in the Del Amo Shopping Center in Torrance, Calif., where Quentin Tarantino shot Jackie Brown. “So we were on hallowed ground,” he said.
The spot stars B.J. Bales, who appeared in the first campaign as the gameboy. “He’s a funny, spontaneous actor who brought the part to life,” Cadman related. “He was able to play the part even though he got beaten up, running against the flow of the escalator after throwing himself at the elevator doors for the TV spot.”
He runs into a fat guy on his way up the escalator. “We wanted him to barrel past other members of the public and we thought it would be funny if there was a really big guy,” Cadman said. “He’s taken out of the frame when he crashes into the guy with the enormous chest. But it felt natural and easy, because B.J.’s a star and he got it quickly.”
After B.J. gets rejected, he’s near the top of the escalator and begins riding down. “We wanted to make the situation visually funny, so it was best that he was going up at the end so when he gets left behind, he’s going down into the gloomy depths,” Cadman said.
The spot was shot in 35mm by a cameraman carrying a heavy camera with a rig attachment. “It required agility as he was facing backwards and had to step off without falling over,” Cadman said. “He’s standing in front of the PlayStation player who’s going up the escalator with his back to the direction he’s going in, and then he has to step back off the escalator.” It sounds almost as funny as the gameboy scene, but it’s not part of the spot.
Davidge said the spot will play on www.us.playstation.com, MySpace, GrindTV, Heavy, MTV and game sites, including IGN, Gamespot and Cravegames.
Kamala Harris Receives Chairman’s Prize At NAACP Image Awards
Former Vice President Kamala Harris stepped on the NAACP Image Awards stage Saturday night with a sobering message, calling the civil rights organization a pillar of the Black community and urging people to stay resilient and hold onto their faith during the tenure of President Donald Trump.
"While we have no illusions about what we are up against in this chapter in our American story, this chapter will be written not simply by whoever occupies the oval office nor by the wealthiest among us," Harris said after receiving the NAACP's Chairman's Award. "The American story will be written by you. Written by us. By we the people."
The 56th annual Image Awards was held at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in the Los Angeles area.
Harris, defeated by Trump in last year's presidential election, was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as vice president. She had previously been a U.S. senator from California and the state's attorney general.
In her first major public appearance since leaving office, Harris did not reference her election loss or Trump's actions since entering the Oval Office, although Trump mocked her earlier in the day at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Harris spoke about eternal vigilance, the price of liberty, staying alert, seeking the truth and America's future.
"Some see the flames on our horizons, the rising waters in our cities, the shadows gathering over our democracy and ask 'What do we do now?'" Harris said. "But we know exactly what to do, because we have done it before. And we will do it again. We use our power. We organize, mobilize. We educate. We advocate. Our power has never come from having an easy path."
Other winners of the Chairman's prize have included former... Read More