Can there be a better client than Duluth Trading? They trusted us to come up with a spot worthy of a product with a great name, Ballroom Jeans. Yes, awards. Lots. Including a Clio.
Zola Coconut Water – “Champagne”
Just finished these spots for Zola Coconut Water. Finding an authentic Thai voice took us across the country and several weeks. But we found him!
Food.com – “Foul Mouth”
Food.com wanted one thing. To get noticed in the dot com advertising blur. And they did with this spot. It became more of a PR event than a piece of advertising, talked about up and down the dial. (We wish we could share with you the auditions. All these nice, midwestern ladies cursing up a storm…)
TypingMaster – “Talk Like You Type”
This spot was produced for our client, TypingMaster, based on the simplest of ideas “What if you talked like you typed?” The darn thing took hours to produce correctly because we had to balance of the fun of mispronunciations and the actual message. Winner of multiple awards including the $1,000,000 National EAR Awards, London Internationals and a Cannes Lion.
Pepsi – “Own Boss” featuring Dave Chappelle
Yes, that’s Dave Chappelle. Yes, it was an adventure working with him. He refused to go to a proper studio so we built a studio in a dilapidated conference room in his office basement. And since we (Chappelle, me, the engineer, three Pepsi clients and three BBDO folks) were all crammed into the same space, nobody could laugh out loud. Chappelle stopped after a dozen takes and said, “What the hell! Nobody’s laughing! I’m a comic! I need laughter!” I assured him if he was in a booth, we’d all be laughing like crazy. He said, “Oh…right.”
Two weeks after producing these spots. Chappelle turned down a multimillion dollar from Comedy Central then disappeared to South Africa. We feel a bit responsible. (By the way, working with celebrities is something we’ve done a lot of.)
Prego – “Paulo”
This campaign was the little engine that could. Three simple spots, every award on the planet. Including Best of Show at the One Show, San Francisco Show, Clio Gold and the Howard Gossage Award for Copywriting.
Diet Mountain Dew – “Club Superfun”
Produced, cast and co-written for Diet Mountain Dew and BBDO NY. Yes, it was a gas to create.
Lutron – “Who Left the Lights On?”
The latest for Lutron, the company that invented the light dimmer.
Pioneer Navigation – “The Traffic Jack Show”
This was a big idea for Pioneer Navigation. On the 405, the agency (BBDO West) procured a billboard with a broadcast signal at the far end of the dial, advertising something called “The Traffic Jack Show.” When the driver tuned in, they listened to an entirely fictional show dedicated to all things traffic, sponsored by Pioneer Navigation. We produced nearly an hour’s worth of original programming featuring wild traffic reports, insane callers, and the bizarre egos of this radio talk show.
Ford – “The Mike Rowe Show”
Ah, Mike Rowe. This spot is just the beginning of a campaign featuring Mike and his unique view of the world, vis a vis Ford fuel economy.
Duluth Trading Company – “Cockroach Tough”
Yes, Duluth Trading again. Yes, lots of awards. Our clients heard people quoting these spots on the streets of Minneapolis and Denver.
Slingbox – “Don’t Mention Christmas”
One of the dozens and dozens of spots we did for Slingbox, featuring our hapless voiceover actor just doing his best.
Sierra Mist – “Don’t Be Absurd”
Produced for BBDO NY and their client, Sierra Mist. One of many spots mistakenly dealing with the word “free”. Oh, yes, that is the wonderful Mary Gross of SNL fame.
Slingbox – “The Argument”
“The Argument” (produced for Slingbox and our client, Hub Strategy) was just one of dozens of spots featuring our hapless, overly-confident voice-over actor who had to deal with any number of live challenges. These spots were so popular they were often mentioned on the air and requested by listeners. If you’d like to hear the rest of them, let us know. We’ll get them to you.
Starbucks – “Aliens”
When Starbucks was at the apex of their growth, consumers were wondering what they stood for (besides coffee). We understood that coffee inspired thought and conversation. “Aliens” was one of dozens of radio spots that offered topics of conversations that you could have over a latte.
Subway Restaurants – “Sandwich Salesman”
Yes, that’s Subway’s Jared Fogle and it turns out he was a great straightman. He was unflappable, no matter what kind of whacko we through at him. Thanks, Jared.
Tillamook Cheese – “Cow”
Yes, the campaign for Tillamook Cheese was an outrageous rip-off of Monty Python and the Holy Grail but who would have thought the grail was made of cheese? (Oh, and if you haven’t seen Spamalot, you should.)
Kirkwood Ski Resort – “Yodelers”
Jeez, how many great spots have we created over the years for Kirkwood Ski Resorts? Thirty? Forty? This is one of our favorites. We took songs from around the world and “translated” it in favor of Kirkwood. And it turns out there was not a limit to how silly you can be.
Mountain Dew – “Junk in the Trunk”
“Will this radio spot get pulled?” We did our best to walk right up to the line of FCC appropriateness and not go stumbling over. Produced, cast and co-written by Pond Radio for BBDO NY and their client, Mountain Dew. The FCC just didn’t know what to do and left it up to the individual stations.