Call center workers dispense advice on moving, storage and some of life’s most ticklish problems in a clever new campaign directed by STORY’s Jeff France for PODS and The Richards Group.
Each of four new spots features a telephone exchange between a PODS call center rep and a potential customer. In Don’t Like, a man describes a litany of things he dreads about an upcoming move, including “housework,” “feeling rushed,” “people pestering me,” and “talking.” The friendly PODS agent responds with advice on how the company can help him avoid these problems. She’s momentarily speechless, however, when he says the job for which he’s relocating is “marriage counselor.”
SPW Credits
Client: PODS
Agency: The Richards Group, Dallas. Jeff Hopfer, art director; David Eastman, writer; Bridget Fontenot and Dan Calhoun, producer; Derek Darst, brand management; Sara Sax, business manager.
Production: STORY. Jeff France, director; Mark Androw and Cliff Grant, executive producers; Merilee Newman, producer; David Watson, production manager; Erik Martin, production coordinator.
Edit: Charlie Uniform Tango, Dallas. Justin Wilson editor; Jeff Elmore, producer; Rodney Demeglio, assistant editor.
Commercial production company Explore and director Jeremy Pinckert went to a familiar well to pull inspiration for their latest production for Go RVing. "Hotel Hassle" was initially conceived as an audio-only campaign, but Go RVing's SVP/CMO Karen Redfern asked Explore to adapt the script into a new, live-action commercial. The adaptation from audio ads to digital commercial spots involved adding re-written lines and a few iconic scenes from Pinckert’s ideas that provided anchor moments for the ads. In particular, 'Hotel Hassle' features a room key that just won’t open the door. The visual he added (a round sensor on the door where the key unlocks) not only modernized the ad into the age of tap, but also gave the spot a technology vs. human undertone, invoking the AI-character Hal from Stanley Kubrick’s '2001 A Space Odyssey.'
Explore and Pinckert also added a visual hook to the ending of the spot that leaned on his own experiences traveling with his family. He found his hands were always full, clutching a few bags, random loose objects, his phone, and of course, his coffee. In the commercial, there is a moment where all of the frustrations are just too much for the protagonist and he almost curses in front of the family. What if the director added an action where the protagonist accidentally spills their coffee and the camera freezes precisely at this moment?
"Hotel Hassle", part of Go RVing's larger Don't Go There! campaign, is currently being broadcast nationwide via strategic digital channels.
