WASHINGTON, D.C.—In our nation’s capital, consensus and face-time are in high demand-especially among top-echelon congressional leaders. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the commodity of Washington tourism, post Sept. 11: Monuments and culture still grace the city in abundant supply, but the number of visitors demanding hotel rooms, steak dinners, Senate gallery tickets and the like has declined markedly.
In an attempt to reverse this recent drop-off in the city’s tourism, the Washington, D.C., Convention and Tourism Corporation (WCTC) began airing a national PSA late last month, titled "Of Thee I Sing." Created and produced by EUE/Screen Gems, New York, the ad makes humorous use of both consensus (Republicans and Democrats can surely agree that promoting tourism in the capital is worthwhile) and face-time. (What better way to promote Washington than to have some of the most important political personalities in town mug—or in this case, sing—for the camera?)
The elephant and the donkey have joined together in unlikely bipartisan harmony in this spot, which features senators John McCain, Tom Daschle and Trent Lott—along with representatives Dennis Hastert and Dick Gephardt—backing up jazz vocalist Roberta Flack in a rendition of the George Gershwin tune "Of Thee I Sing." First Lady Laura Bush also makes an appearance in the spot; so does Washington Mayor Anthony Williams. Home-team athletes Mia Hamm and Darrell Green show up, as well.
"Of Thee I Sing" opens on Flack, sitting at her piano, backed by a tuxedo-clad big band. The U.S. Capitol is visible in the background, and Flack launches into her tune. "Of Thee I sing, baby," she begins, as the horn section kicks in and the camera cuts to various scenes of April in Washington. Flack moves along with the song until House Minority Leader Gephardt and former presidential candidate McCain appear arm-in-arm on the Capitol steps, belting, "Autumn, summer, winter or spring, baby!"
Immediately, the focus shifts to Daschle and Lott—the majority leader and minority leader, respectively, of the U.S. Senate—who each vocalize a line of the song. (Don’t expect them to take up an Orin Hatch-style music career anytime soon.) And then we see Mia Hamm, forward for the Washington Freedom, handling a soccer ball and singing a verse. The pattern holds through the rest of the spot, as Washington scenery is cut in with singing-celebrity cameos. Mrs. Bush sings a line from a White House balcony; we also encounter Speaker of the House Hastert and Washington Redskins receiver Green, who, incidentally, is possessed of a smooth, high falsetto—unexpected from a man clad in full NFL regalia.
Washington Mayor Anthony Williams concludes the spot with a tagline and a smile: "Washington, D.C., The American Experience," states Williams, as the horn section blows a last exclamation point on the song.
Jeffrey Cooney, Screen Gems’ director/co-creative director on "Of Thee I Sing," said that he and executive producer Mikola V. Shevchek—along with company CEO George Cooney—had been in contact this winter with numerous friends and family in Washington. These had noticed how swiftly the New York Miracle campaign (out of agency BBDO New York) had arrived on national airwaves, while nothing similar had been done for Washington—which, in addition to seeing 189 people murdered at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, had experienced a sharp drop-off in tourism numbers since that date. "George [Cooney] finally asked me and [freelance creative director] Steve Jankowski to put something together for the city of Washington," Jeffrey Cooney recalled.
Creative director/copywriter Jankowski, who has worked with Screen Gems on several past assignments, said "Of Thee I Sing" came to mind immediately as a possible tune to build a spot around. However, this was in early November, when such a high-energy number might not have been so appropriate. "It’s definitely a more upbeat and spirited way to express your patriotism—versus the slower "God Bless America,’ " observed Jankowski. Nonetheless, he and Cooney began working on the concept last winter, "which was fine, because we were able to take some time and really put it together [for this summer]," Jankowski continued.
Both men agreed that securing Flack’s participation was crucial in moving the project forward from its planning stages. "Roberta was our first choice," offered Cooney. "Not only was she perfectly equipped as a vocalist to perform "Of Thee I Sing," but it just so happens she graduated from college in Washington, D.C., and cut her teeth performing there. Her ties to the city are deep."
After commandeering Flack, Screen Gems still faced the minor challenge of convincing the top elected leadership of the American Congress to croon on national television. This duty fell to Shevchek, who remembered, "Jeff and Steve gave me these boards with singing senators dancing on the top of the Capitol steps … And I said, ‘You guys are serious, right?’ "
Assured there was no mistake, Shevchek said, he began his efforts to enlist politically powerful singers by essentially cold-calling Gephardt. "I walked into the Capitol building and said, ‘I’m here to see Dick Gephardt,’ " Shevchek remembered, "and they said, ‘Are you a lobbyist?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m a producer!’ "
Gephardt and his staff didn’t take long to agree to the project, and this helped Shevchek to line up the rest of the participants. "Things fell into place pretty quickly," remarked Shevchek, who noted that the most time-consuming aspect of producing the spot was negotiating shooting time at the Capitol and the White House.
"Jeri Thomson, the secretary of the senate, really helped us with [obtaining] all the permits to shoot," continued Shevchek. "She loved the project, loved the prospect of bringing tourism back to D.C. … She really paved the way for us."
Shevchek also credited Vicki Isley, VP of marketing and communications at WCTC, with helping to shepherd the spot from conception to completion.
Additional credits at Screen Gems for "Of Thee I Sing" include DPs Barry Markowitz and Chris Bottoms, art director Andrew Ulanoff, producer Nick Levis, music producer/producer David Stekert and Steadicam operator David Taicher. Freelancer Jon Smalheiser completed both online and offline editorial work on the ad, while Victor Mulholland of bicoastal Company 3 was the colorist. Leon Pendarvis arranged "Of Thee I Sing," the use of which was donated by the George Gershwin estate. Freelancers Anthony Saunders and Eric Gast served as the tracking engineer and mixer, respectively, on the Roberta Flack recording. Mike Levesque, of Photomag, New York, completed the spot’s final audio mix.
