This State Farm spot from DDB Chicago starts with footage of disastrous situations and a voiceover (by Lorenzo Persons) asking the question, “What if one day we woke up and everything just stopped going wrong?” As a dark tornado transitions to a peaceful sky, an accident is averted, and a blazing fire is extinguished, the voiceover continues, “No more accidents, no more fires, no more emergencies.” Suddenly everything that can go wrong, goes right. The spot goes on to emphasize how in a world where things stop going wrong, State Farm will still be here to help with college, a first car and new beginnings.
Hoffman/Metoyer of MJZ directed this commercial, which is titled “Wrong/Right.”
Credits
Client State Farm Agency DDB Chicago John Maxham, chief creative officer; Mel Routhier, Barry Burdiak, John Hayes, group creative directors; Mike Schif, Chad Broude, Brian Boord, creative directors/writers; Diane Jackson, chief production officer; Scott Kemper, Debora den Iseger, executive producers; Katie Greenbaum, associate producer; Jack Perone, chief strategy officer; John Manley, group strategy director. Production MJZ Hoffman/Metoyer, directors; Eriks Krumins, exec producer; Emily Skinner, producer. Editorial Final Cut Rick Russell, editor; Betty Jo Moore, assistant editor; Rebecca Baker, producer; Suzy Ramirez, head of production; Eric McCasline, exec producer. VFX The Mill Udesh Chetty, shoot supervisor, 2D lead artist; John Leonti, Mike Di Nocco, creative directors; Richard Tepavchevich, 3D lead artist; Jonathan Freeman, Daniel Popovic, Andrew Pellicer, 2D artists; Jordan Carroll, Maureen Lu, Ben Jones, 3D artists; Jie Zhou, Rasha Shalaby, Itai Muller, matte painting; Jared Yeater, exec producer; Nicole Duncan, Alex Bader, producers; Samantha Hernandez, production coordinator. Music Hanan Townshend, composer. Human Jonathan Sanford, exec producer. Audio Post Another Country John Binder, Peter Erazmus, mixers; Josh Hunnicut, assistant; Tim Konn, exec producer. Sound Design HenryBoy Bill Chesley, sound designer; Kate Gibson, producer. Voiceover Talent Lorenzo Persons
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
