Following in the footsteps of its creatively inspired breakthrough pre-roll fare (such as “Unskippable,” “Fast Forward” and “Crushed”) for client GEICO, The Martin Agency has rolled out a new series of spots in which it admits they’re interrupting you and then lets you get in the fun by interrupting the interruption. Directed by the Terri Timely duo (Ian Kibbey and Corey Creasey) of Park Pictures, six dual interruption pre-roll spots are in this latest campaign, including this piece titled “Nighty-night” in which a couple in bed talks about GEICO only to be interrupted when two stationary bike exercise cyclists break through the bedroom wall. And then everyone gets interrupted again by an intrusive GEICO logo.
Neel Williams, VP, creative director at The Martin Agency, said, “In the previous three rounds of pre-roll work, we played with the concept of time. First by skipping to the end, then fast-forwarding through the middle. This year, we took a different approach, but still kept things very self-aware. Rather than apologize for the interruption, we thought it would be fun to lean into it.”
Associate creative director Mauricio Mazzariol of The Martin Agency added, “Getting interrupted before watching an online video is not exactly a Ferris wheel ride. So, these new Interrupt-a-palooza ads are supposed to bring some humor to the issue by embracing the disruptive nature of pre-roll and taking it to a whole new level.”
Credits
Client GEICO Agency The Martin Agency Steve Bassett, SVP, group creative director; Neel Williams, Justin Harris, VPs, creative directors; Brett Alexander, SVP, executive producer; Mauricio Mazzariol, associate creative director; Maggie Weishaar, content producer; M.A. Williams, jr. content producer. Production Park, Pictures Terri Timely, director; Shawn Kim, DP; Jackie Kelman Bisbee, Justin Pollock, exec producers; Anne Bobroff, head of production; David Lambert, line producer. Editorial Cut+Run Frank Effron, editor; Amburr Farls, exec producer; Brian Mulvey, editorial producer; Michelle Eskin Remote Editing Facility Running with Scissors VFX & Finishing ArtJail Steve Mottershead, VFX supervisor/creative director; Lee Towndrow, creative director/Flame lead; John Skeffington, head of production; Emily Bloom, Chris Memoli, Ben Vaccaro, Jesper Nybroe, and Joel Osis, Flame artists; Christian Mangual, Nuke artist; Ben Elliot, Flame assist; Ruoyu Li, Justin Miller, Jimmy San, CG artists. Color The Mill Fergus McCall, colorist Remote Color Facility Running with Scissors. Audio Heard City Mike Vitacco, sound designer & mixer; Sasha Awn, producer. Music APM, Extreme Music and Asche & Spencer
After losing part of his right leg due to cancer, Terry Fox campaigned to raise national awareness and funding for cancer research by running his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada 42-km daily run, on his prosthetic leg. Fox, who died in 1981, is a national hero. His image will be on Canada’s new $5 bill.
In this two-minute video titled “Finish It,” the Marathon of Hope is recreated. It’s all done in one take, and it features an actor/marathon runner who uses a prosthesis on the same leg as Fox. CGI was deployed to make him look more like Fox. To further ensure the actor represented Fox accurately, not only did the actor and team watch and study many videos of Terry, but Terry’s brothers, Fred and Darrel, coached the actor on Terry’s running style and mannerisms. They also created a copy of Terry’s prosthesis for the actor to use for the shoot.
The message is clear. As the Marathon of Hope now marks its 45th anniversary, we now have the opportunity to “Finish It” for Fox, raising money and awareness to get a cure for cancer over the finish line, completing the work that Fox started. The public service film starts with Fox on the marathon run, eventually joined by a crowd of other dedicated runners from all walks of life who take over the race.
Mark Zibert directed via production company Scouts Honour for Toronto agency Diamond. The video features a never-before-heard version of the song “Courage” from Canadian band The Tragically Hip.
“We wanted to create a campaign that captures the magnitude of Terry Fox’s legacy while driving meaningful action,” said Peter Ignazi, chief creative officer at Diamond. “By revisiting the Marathon of Hope with such care and reverence, we aimed to reignite Terry’s mission and... Read More
