The prospect of making an insecticide commercial might seem tantamount to being sentenced to creative purgatory. But Richmond, Va.-based The Martin Agency has broken out of any such would-be ad incarceration with "Ice Cream," directed by Stacy Wall of bicoastal/international hungry man. The :30 takes a humorous, offbeat approach in promoting FMC Corporation’s Capture pest control product.
"Ice Cream" opens with a shot of a cornfield full of healthy green stalks. A voiceover asks, "Why don’t we give our corn to the rootworms?"
The spot then cuts to a little girl holding an ice cream cone. But this idyllic slice of Americana has gone perversely awry, as flies cover the scoop of luscious vanilla ice cream. The voiceover continues, "Well, why don’t we give our ice cream to the flies?"
Next, we see a Norman Rockwell-esque town in which pedestrians pass on a quaint corner. However, each person has stepped in chewed bubble gum. Even a dog struggles to extricate his paw from a sticky wad. The voiceover adds, "… and our sidewalks to the gum?"
Continuing our bizarre journey, the camera takes us to a baseball diamond, where a game is being held up by a monkey wearing an umpire’s uniform. Holding a baseball triumphantly above his head as the players and a team manager watch in frustration, the monkey is having a jolly good time. The voiceover queries, "Why don’t we just give our planet to the apes?"
Finally, we return to the cornfield, where the voiceover again asks, "Why don’t we give our corn to the rootworms?"
A super fills the screen with the definitive answer: "Because we don’t have to." Then additional words appear: "Capture. Rootworm control like never before."
The Martin Agency’s creative team on "Ice Cream"—part of a "Why Not?" campaign that includes two other similarly themed spots—consisted of creative director John Mahoney, copywriter Josh Gold, art director Cliff Sorah and producer John Noble.
Gold quipped that upon seeing the storyboards, director Wall was immediately drawn to the assignment. As Gold recollected, "[Wall] said, ‘Any spot that has maggots and a monkey umpire in it is something I can’t really turn down.’ "
The client also embraced the campaign. "Farmers continually battle a war against pests in their cornfields," related FMC communications manager Shelley Woods. "These spots show the importance of their battle and give them hope about not having to lose the fight. The absurd drama of the idea makes them truly unique for the category."
Executive producers for hungry man were Steve Orent and Dan Duffy, with Kevin Byrne producing. DP was Tim Ives.
The editor was Chuck Willis of bicoastal Crew Cuts. Online editors were Rich Schreck and Eric Gelgand at Nice Shoes, New York. Colorist was Lez Rudge, also of Nice Shoes. Audio mixer was Rob McIver of Buzz, New York.
Music was composed by Lee Wall of Luna Music Partnership, New York.
The Capture campaign has been airing regionally, hitting such states as Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. In most of those markets, the spots ran during the Super Bowl.
