When a guy’s truck conks out, he lifts up the hood to reveal how powerless his horsepower had made him. Under the hood are hybrid human/horse characters (actually folks in cheesy horse costumes) who are lazy and insist that in order to rev up they need the gent to sing a ridiculous “Pretty Pretty Pony” song and then accompany it with a dance.
At the mercy of his “lazy horses,” the man sings and dances only to be seen by the driver of a Nissan TITAN truck who stops to lend a hand, thus rescuing our song-and-dance man.
The Traktor collective via production houses Rattling Stick and Traktor directed this offbeat spot as agency TBWAChiatDay New York turns to humor in a product category not known for it.
TITAN is disrupting the myth that to be a serious truck, you have to have serious advertising. Comedy appeals to the younger truck buyer–as does the TITAN which sports a customer base that has tapped into the GenX demographic.
Credits
Client Nissan Agency TBWAChiatDay New York Chris Garbutt, global chief creative officer; Darren Borrino, Rob Rutherford, creative directors; Adam Naccarato art director; Matt Sullivan, copywriter; Jason Souter, head of integrated production; Matt Flaherty, executive producer; Olivia Whyte, associate integrated producer. Production Rattling Stick/Traktor Traktor, director; Joe Biggins, Jeff Shupe, executive producers; Richard Ulfvengren, exec producer/Traktor; Richard McIntosh, head of production; Rachel Curl, producer; Wendal Scott Reeder, production manager. Editorial Final Cut Editorial Ed Cheesman, editor; Andre Castiglioni, assistant editor; Sarah Roebuck, exec producer; Laura Cavanaugh, post producer. Audio Post Heard City Phil Loeb, miser; Andi Lewis, producer; Sasha Awn, exec producer. Postproduction/VFX The Mill Heath Raymond, exec producer; Nirad “Bugs” Russell, Abi Klimaszewska, sr. producers; Ted Rae, shoot supervisor; Fergus McCall, colorist; Rochelle Brown, color sr. producer; Jade Kim, Jeff Robbins, lead compositors; Gabriel Kim, Rachael Moon, Dhruv Shankar, assistant compositors; Clemens den Exter, designer. Music Beacon Street Studios Beacon Street, composers; Adrea Lavezoli, exec producer.
Continuing their partnership to combat the mental health crisis among America’s youth, the Ad Council and McCann New York have released the latest installment of the “Sound It Out” campaign which focuses on helping parents and caregivers have meaningful conversations with their kids about emotional wellbeing.
The new work, “Listening is a Form of Love,” focuses on the important role parents and caregivers play in supporting young people’s emotional wellbeing and is supported by new data from Surgo Health’s Youth Mental Health Tracker. The survey highlights that: 55% of youth (ages 10-24) report mental health struggles; and one in five youth report symptoms of depression, and one in four report symptoms of anxiety.
The film includes an interactive digital experience that invites parents to practice “holding space” by pressing the space bar to listen to kids sharing what they wish their parents could hear, in their own words. Along with this literal interpretation of the active listening the campaign encourages, the website also gives valuable tools to help parents and caregivers be better listeners, and in turn, better support their kids.
There is also this 60-second PSA--directed by Alex Fischman Cardenas via Greenpoint Pictures--which underscores the power and importance of listening to your loved ones.
