Buster, Stun Creative’s conceptual design studio that specializes in original animation and motion graphics for the advertising and broadcasting industries, has “revived” the American advertising legendary character “Mrs. Butterworth” by re-animating “her” for two new, concurrent ad campaigns—one for Geico Insurance and the other for the Mrs. Butterworth syrup product itself. The announcement was made today by Mark Feldstein and Brad Roth, co-presidents, Stun Creative.
To view the Geico/Mrs. Butterworth TV spot, and two of the new Mrs. Butterworth spots, please see: http://busterdesign.tv/client/post/twobutterworths.html
Jonas Morganstein, Buster’s Executive Creative Director, oversaw the concurrent animation projects. Buster’s Geico Insurance spot, in which “Mrs. Butterworth” appears as an insurance “spokes-character,” was for client The Martin Agency, Bob Meagher, Senior VP/Senior Copywriter for The Martin Agency said, “We chose Buster for this project because they were the same people who animated ‘Mrs. Butterworth’ for Pinnacle Foods last year, and, as such, are now the ‘source’ of the real ‘Mrs. Butterworth’ character. We were very pleased—and surprised—how fast Buster was able to contribute this lifelike CG character for our spot. We have heard from many industry people—and the general public—about how great our new spot is. It has caught many people off guard, with some people on YouTube even saying they were ‘blown away.’ A favorite moment is the last line from the spot, when the Geico logo appears right over top of Mrs. Butterworth and she quips, “Oh, dear, someone has put a logo right over my face.”
For the new Mrs. Butterworth TV ad campaign, which is comprised of three 30-second spots, Buster’s client was Merkley & Partners Ad Agency, working on behalf of their client, Pinnacle Foods, the owner of the Mrs. Butterworth brand. This was Buster’s second Mrs Butterworth campaign working directly with Merkley & Partners executives Gary Grossman, Director of Broadcast, and Andy Hirsch, Executive Creative Director, Director, Partner, to develop and re-animate the “Mrs. Butterworth” character. Grossman said, “Merkley & Partners is a repeat customer because Buster is a one-stop shop that delivers quality production animation. And it’s always nice to work with nice people.” Adds Hirsch, “We love working with Buster, Jonas and Kurt—they are one of the few places that can combine live action, animation and editorial all in one shop, and do so with a certain humanity and a great sense of fun. We used Buster in the past for a Coldeeze spot and a previous ‘Mrs. Butterworth’ campaign for Pinnacle Foods, and have always been very pleased with the work Buster has done for us.”
Buster’s Kurt Spenser, director of the three spots, adds, “We realized how successful the campaign had become when we were in casting and some of the child actors were expecting the bottle to actually talk to them. It’s always a fun challenge to create a connection between young actors and a not-yet-talking bottle of syrup.”
Morganstein said, “When Merkley came to us to relaunch the brand in 2007, Mrs. Butterworth hadn’t talked or even giggled in over a decade. We literally rebuilt her – updating her personality to be more contemporary and yet retaining the core character traits that make her an indelible part of our popular culture –our most famous advertising spokesperson. After her 2007 rebirth, 2008 was a victory for Mrs B –starring in two concurrent campaigns simultaneously. She’s back and as thick ‘n rich as ever. It was Buster’s honor to help Mrs B regain her spotlight as America’s premiere advertising icon.”
BUSTER’S CORE CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM FOR TWO NEW “MRS. BUTTERWORTH” PROJECTS:
Jonas Morganstein, Executive Creative Director & Executive Producer
Kurt Spenser, Director
Hema Mulchandani, Line Producer
London Murphy, Animation Director
Darren Kinre, Lighting Director
Morgan Susser, Cinematographer
ABOUT BUSTER:
Launched in 2004 by co-presidents Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein as a division of their noted advertising agency Stun Creative, Buster is a conceptual design studio specializing in original animated content for the advertising and broadcast industries. Led by Executive Creative Director Morganstein, Buster provides its clients with a one-stop solution, by developing and delivering dynamic ideas driven by innovative imagery that always tells a story.
Buster’s core services include design, animation and live action direction for TV commercials, TV show opens and network packages. The studio’s work has become renowned internationally for its “Sometimes Dramatic, Sometimes Quirky, but Always Intriguing” style.
Among Buster’s clients are FX, Discovery Channel, ABC, Fox, Bravo and The Sundance Channel, to name a few.
Buster is located at 5757 Wilshire Blvd, Suite # 600, Los Angeles, CA, 90036. The phone is 323/460.4035, and the web is www.busterdesign.tv
