Director Klaus Obermeyer of Santa Monica-based Aero Film and Campbell Ewald Advertising, Los Angeles, have taken Farmers Insurance to a whole new level–actually “Level 5” to be exact in this video game-style TV :30 featuring a larger than life character, “The Lord of Mishap.”
    We open on a quiet neighborhood where suddenly everything goes awry. A minivan slams into a power pole. The pole topples over, the impact on the ground causing electrical sparks to fly all about. A house literally explodes into smithereens. The cause is then revealed to us: a powerful, sinister looking character, part human, part CG warrior from hell.
    He identifies himself as “The Lord of Mishap” and continues to wreak havoc throughout the neighborhood. But suddenly, his acts are reversed before our very eyes. This seemingly inexplicably positive turn of events is then explained to us as we see two co-worker guys in a control center congratulating one another. It seems that one worker has reached “Level 5,” and been able to counteract all the destruction. Along the bottom of the screen we see that HelpPoint has been activated.
    In a matter of moments, the invincible “Lord of Mishap” has been reduced to Casper Q. Milquetoast. The blown-up house is now standing as if nothing ever happened. The power pole is again upright. Helpless, the self-proclaimed “Lord” mutters to himself, “It’s not fair.”
    An end tag carries the Farmers Insurance logo, accompanied by the slogan, “Farmers. Gets You Back to Where You Belong,” as well as a toll-free phone number and Web site address.
    Farmers HelpPoint is an emergency response service that people can call after having an accident or mishap. This spot promotes the message that the moment you contact Farmers HelpPoint, the service starts making things right immediately.
    The videogame style of the spot is in many respects an update of Farmers “Get You Back To Where You Belong” advertising introduced several years ago. In one spot from back then, for example, a ravaged, burning house is restored to its pristine self in a matter of moments. This contemporary videogame approach, though, gives a different dimension to that message, reducing a threatening scenario to a humorous blip as we see the all powerful “Lord of Mishap” become a self-pitying footnote.
    Klaus Obermeyer of Aero Film, Santa Monica, directed and lensed “Level 5” for Campbell Ewald Advertising, Los Angeles.
    The agency creative team consisted of chief creative officer Bill Ludwig, executive creative director Debbie Karnowsky, associate creative director/art director Mike Conboy, associate creative director/copywriter Neville Anderson, head of production Bob Solano and exec producer John Haggerty.
    Skip Short executive produced for Aero, with Lance O’ Conner serving as producer, Bernie Wesson as head of production and Kate Thumann as production supervisor.
    Visual effects house was Sight Effects, Venice, Calif. The Sight Effects ensemble consisted of executive producer/visual effects supervisor Melissa Davies, visual effects supervisor Adrian Hurley, visual effects producer Andrea Morland, CGI artists Jason Mortimer, Sal Hayden, Shun Imaizumi, Kathryn Capri, Victor Garcia, John Jenkins and Maggie Langley, and Inferno artists Joana Cruz, Miles Elsimer and Chris Stevens.
    The Lord of Mishap character was modeled and animated by Sight Effects, using Maya, motion capture and composited in Inferno. The motion capture shop was House of Moves, Culver City, Calif. Editor was Barton Kiel of Aero Post, Santa Monica.

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