Lost in the shuffle of the high-profile, mega-audience, all-encompassing Super Bowl ad derby are those spots that ran locally or regionally during the Big Game telecast. So in our tradition of shining the spotlight on creatively worthwhile work that might otherwise not get widespread exposure, consider "Re-mote" for the Minnesota Partner-ship for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT). Conceived by agency Clarity Coverdale Fury, Minnea-polis, the public service spot is featured in this week’s "The Best Work You May Never See" gal-lery (see p. 13).
Directed by Tom De Cerchio of Incubator Films, West Hol-lywood, Calif., the :30 promotes the Quitplan Helpline and Quit-plan.com, two of the MPAAT’s smoking cessation services available throughout the state.
In the spot, a man tries to retrieve a pack of cigarettes from another room by deploying a remote control toy truck. How-ever his wife comes to the rescue via a remote control plane that bombs the truck, sending the pack of cigarettes and his tobacco craving up in smoke.
Part of the thinking behind the Super Bowl buy—albeit regional—was that the major television event is only a month into the new year, at a point when many people are trying to keep promises to themselves to quit smoking. This ad offers resources that people in Minnesota can tap into so that they can stick to and achieve their healthy New Year’s resolution. "The timing of our message couldn’t be better," related Rob Rankin, VP/brand development supervisor at Clarity Coverdale Fury.
Creative director/ copywriter Jeff Fury of Clarity Cloverdale Fury, related, "We know people will do just about anything to try to quit, except ask for help. Remote control trucks and fiery explosions are a great way to catch their attention and remind them that Quitplan programs offer the help they need."
According to the MPAAT, people who get help are up to seven times more likely to quit than if they try to do so on their own.
The MPAAT is an independent, nonprofit organization that is funded by a three percent portion of the 1998 Minnesota tobacco settlement. The organization is slated to serve Minnesota for 25 years—until 2023. Past ads promoting its anti-smoking programs—including the De Cer-chio-directed "Dinner Party" and "Wolf"—have also earned distinction in our "The Best Work You May Never See" gal-lery.
The core agency creative team on "Re-mote" consisted of exe-cutive creative director/art director Jac Cover-dale, creative director/ writer Fury and producer Jenee Schmidt.
Interestingly, "Remote" isn’t the first time that Clarity Co-verdale Fury has used a marquee broadcast event to get an important public service message across in the form of a regional spot. During last year’s Academy Awards telecast, viewers in the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester, Minn., markets saw "Credits," a low budget yet high concept anti-smoking ad.
That spot opened on two supered words, "The End," as if a movie had just concluded. Then the credits roll, but with a unifying theme: the roles of every cast member entailed smoking (i.e., "Bellhop Smoking," "Jaywalker Smoking," "Onlooker #1 Smok-ing," "Wife Smoking," "Hus-band Smoking," "Doctor Smok-ing").
The scrolling credits stop on a rectangular box that is centered on screen. The message written in that box simply reads: "Smok-ing in PG-13 Movies is Up 50%. Tobacco Companies Can Take Credit For That."
The ad then concludes with a "TM" logo, which stands for Target Market, part of the Min-nesota Youth Tobacco Preven-tion Initiative funded by the State of Minnesota’s Youth Tobacco Endowment.
"Credits" strongly conveyed the message to teenagers that tobacco companies use many tactics—like glamorizing smoking in the movies—to get them to smoke. Airing this piece during the most important movie event of the year, the Oscars, was indeed a fitting time buy.
Using only background music and no voice talent, "Credits" was conceived by an agency ensemble consisting of creative director/art director Coverdale, copywriter Troy Longie and producer Schmidt.
