These days some feel guilty if they’re having too much fun. Eating out seems frivolous, comedians are taking a more serious tone, and in general, there is an overwhelming sadness in the wake of the World Trade Center and Pentagon disasters.
But according to director Tom Schiller of bicoastal Coppos Films, laughter may be most important thing we hold on to. "Remember that guy who had cancer and he brought W.C. Fields movies into his hospital room to watch and he felt much better? And even a great philosopher once said, ‘For all your ills, I give you laughter,’" relates Schiller. "People have had anxiety attacks since the disaster, and laughter is one of the cures. I think we should all continue to laugh."
Just before the terrorist attacks, Schiller had finished a round of Budweiser spots. The ads are based on the award-winning radio work out of DDB Chicago that makes a tongue-in-cheek salute to "Real American Heroes." The radio spots recall such individuals as "Mr. Foam Finger Creator" or "Mr. Foot-Long Hot Dog Inventor."
The television spots focus on another round of bizarre vocations, including "Mr. Really Bad Toupee Wearer," "Mr. Pro Wrestling Wardrobe Designer" and "Mr. Nudist Colony Activities Coordinator." Backed by an earnest soundtrack, images of men donning ill-fitting hairpieces or colored spandex hot pants fill the screen. It’s the stuff of classic commercial parodies on Saturday Night Live.
The campaign was intended for release in the U.K. as Budweiser ads, and later in the U.S. as commercials for Bud Light. But after the terrorist attacks, with firefighters, police officers and other rescue personnel dying while trying to save people, everyone involved felt the humorous content undermined the concept of what a true American hero is. According to Coppos Films managing director Joanne Ferraro, both the radio and television spots were in the process of being tested to get a sense of the public’s reaction. And at press time, Coppos Films was waiting to hear whether or not they’d be making some adjustments to the campaign or leaving it as is.
Mockumentary Roots
The Budweiser spots were a dream project for Schiller. As a former writer for Saturday Night Live in the 1970s, and later in the ’90s, his penchant for parody is legendary. He is the creator—and director—of mock commercials for products like the "Manbra" (for those men suffering from enlarged mammary glands) and the "Klinger," a human hair yarmulke. And while he’s been called the "king of fake," Schiller felt this latest Bud work helped him break through "the fourth wall," expanding his abilities as a director. "I can still imitate any style, but I’ve grown from that," explains Schiller. "My first stuff was mostly very simple, one-take against a background. [Budweiser is] more dimensional and cinematic."
The simple one-take approach won Schiller acclaim back in ’98 with a campaign out of Lowe & Partners/SMS (now Lowe Lintas & Partners), New York, for Courtyard by Marriott, which he directed during his five-year stint at Five Union Square Productions (now Stockland Martel Films), New York. The campaign, which included "Missed Cue," "Reporter," and "Anthem," earned, respectively, a Gold, Silver and Bronze Lion at the ’98 Cannes International Advertising Festival.
In October ’00, Schiller joined Coppos Films. His contract at Five Union Square was up, and the director was ready to make the next step in his career. "Coppos was bicoastal and had a bigger presence in the advertising world," explains Schiller. "I admired [director] Mark Coppos’ work and they wanted me, so I felt it was the right time to make a change."
Since joining Coppos, Schiller has been busy. Just before shooting Budweiser, the director helmed a spot for Pert shampoo out of Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, titled "Three Kinds." It is part of an ongoing campaign known as "Sink Boy," wherein an actor named Michael Collins takes to the streets with a portable sink asking random passersby if he can wash their hair to emphasize how well the shampoo works.
This type of guerilla filmmaking is a natural approach for Schiller, who claims he’s been doing the man-on-the-street thing since he was 11 years old. "Me and my friend had fake microphones and I put [a sticker that said] CBS on it and we’d go to the L.A. airport and interview people as they got off the plane and ask them how their flight was," recalls Schiller.
In February, Schiller helmed a Heineken tie-in for the feature film Swordfish, directed by Dominic Sena, who also helms ads out of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films. Titled "Gabriel and You," and done via Lowe Lintas & Partners, New York, the ad compares the exciting life of the movie’s main character, Gabriel (played by John Travolta), to a couch potato-like guy watching TV. The spot cuts back and forth between high-action scenes from the movie and a guy watching the same high-action scenes on TV. A voiceover drones on "You, Gabriel, you, Gabriel," pointing out the difference between the two men. At its conclusion, both Gabriele and the guy watching TV reach for a Heineken causing the passive viewer to feel better knowing that he drinks the same beer as a movie star.
For "Gabriel and You," Schiller had to go to the set of Swordfish to create a scene where Travolta is actually holding a Heineken bottle. "They told us that the movie would have Travolta drinking a Heineken, but then you never see it," explains Schiller. "So I had to recreate a whole scene that looked like the movie to get that shot of John Travolta holding the bottle."
In May Schiller directed a three-spot package for Southeastern Toyota out of WestWayne, Atlanta, which aired in the Southeast. "Bus Stop," "Stake Out" and "Picket Line," each feature a troupe of disgruntled clowns protesting their exclusion from the dealership’s promotion.
Schiller says that these days, more agencies are coming to him to enhance ideas. "I find myself writing a lot more than I used to in these treatments," says Schiller, who claims he is genetically predisposed to being humorous. Schiller’s father was a writer for I Love Lucy, and growing up around the people on set exposed Schiller to a comedic sensibility. "I was encouraged to watch early television. My parents woke me up at the age of six to watch Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar if there was a funny sketch on," Schiller relates. "Therefore I have a baby boomer’s vault of historic television comedy material and archetypes, which I can carry with me as a national treasure," states Schiller, trying to explain the unexplainable: what makes him funny.
In the future, Schiller wants to get commercials down to a shorter length, a master plan he calls "Schiller Vision." "Creating the most laughter in the shortest amount of time to make the most money for the client. That’s what ‘Schiller Vision’ is," he explains. "Saturday Night Live taught me how long three minutes is on television and it was highly instructive in that way as far as provoking laughter. Now I’m learning what you can do in thirty seconds."
