In Alfred Hitchcock’s The Trouble With Harry, the title character was a corpse. However, the trouble wasn’t with Harry but rather the people in a small town and their reactions to the body. The dark comedy was a bit disturbing—and in this and other respects carries some parallels to a simple, smartly conceived two-spot campaign directed by Jeff Goodby, partner/creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, for the Marin Cancer Project. Based in the upscale Northern California community of Marin County, the Cancer Project is looking to raise funds to combat cancer through research and awareness.
In a :30 entitled "Market," we see a pair of Marin women shopping in a supermarket. As they push their cart down an aisle, we see a corpse laid out on the grocery store floor. The cart seems headed directly for the body, and the shoppers come to a halt. One woman apparently takes notice. "Jean—look," she says.
"What?" replies Jean.
"You mean you don’t see that?" asks the first woman, staring down at where the body lies.
"See what exactly?"
The first woman then approaches the body, reaches down and picks up—"Organic beets!" she exclaims.
"Great," says Jean. "Let’s get out of here."
A female voiceover intervenes, "People are dying in Marin County and no one even seems to notice. Open your door to our volunteers Nov. 9th."
Accompanying the voiceover are two supered messages against a black background: "45 Percent More Breast Cancer"/25 Percent More Prostate Cancer."
An end tag contains a Web site address (marincancerproject.org) and a phone number (415 924 8090).
This same obliviousness and callousness toward death is similarly reflected in the other Marin Cancer Project PSA which features a family of four strolling past a man’s body as they hike along a nature trail. The hikers talk about being hungry and their plans to grab a bite at the ranger’s station. The family’s young daughter, a little girl, then stops to tie her shoe, perching her foot on the corpse. She is totally unaware of the death beneath her sole.
While there’s shock value to the ads, they clearly deliver a poignant message. At the same time, the campaign has stirred a bit of controversy. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, at least one local TV station—ABC-7 in San Francisco—has refused to run the spots.
But a strong wakeup call to action was needed in that cancer rates in Marin County have increased dramatically. The spots hammer home the point that ignoring the problem is ludicrous.
Goodby, Silverstein & Partners footed the bill for the campaign, with crew and industry suppliers donating their services and equipment. The agency team consisted of creative director Goodby, copywriter Julie Rath, art director Todd Lamb and executive producer Debbie King.
Goodby directed the spots through San Francisco-based Roaring Tiger Films. Carey S. Crosby and Tom Ruge served as executive producer and line producer, respectively, for Roaring Tiger. The DP was Norman Binney.
Editor was Sheila Sweeney of Bob ‘n’ Sheila’s Edit World, San Francisco. Sweeney also served as sound designer. Online editor was Jimi Simmons, also via Bob ‘n’ Sheila’s. Colorist was Stefan Sonnenfeld of Company 3, Santa Monica. Audio mixer was Jay Shilliday of Crescendo! Studios, San Francisco. Music was composed by Andy Newell of ripe sound, San Rafael, Calif.
