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.
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.)
Diet Mountain Dew – “Club Superfun”
Produced, cast and co-written for Diet Mountain Dew and BBDO NY. Yes, it was a gas to create.
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.
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.
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.
Pink Elephant Car Wash – “Parcheesi”
This spot was one of dozens we did for the magnificent Pink Elephant Car Wash of Anchorage, Alaska. The owners are brave, daring and loved to help make people laugh. “Let’s Keep It Clean” was the hook and you’ll hear the rest. (There are lots of Pink Elephant spots we can share. Just ask.)
Shutterfly.com – “Ugly Baby”
The folks at Shutterfly didn’t want to produce this. Then they did want to. Then they didn’t want to air it. Then they did want to. Then the calls started coming in. Yes, some were outraged but most wanted to know more about Shutterfly.
Doctor’s Nightguard – “Friggin’ Sleighbells”
Another favorite client was the Doctor’s Nightguard who trusted us to create ads that got some attention. This holiday spot features Donner and Blitzen as a couple of guys, one of whom has a big anger problem. Donner is one uptight reindeer.
Duluth Trading Company – “Plumber’s Butt”
Another Duluth Trading spot? Yes. They get funnier the more of them you hear.
eBay – “Abbreviated”
You know a spot goes back aways when it references newspaper want ads. We produced and cast this for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and their client, eBay. It won tons of awards, including the Grand Mercury.
Diet Pepsi – “Karen & Debbie”
Subversion in advertising is all too rare. The client was BBDO NY and Diet Pepsi and they had no problem poking fun at advertising. (Embarrassing moment – we recorded the women before we added the subversive announcer so it sounded like we were producing the world’s worst commercial. I looked up and noticed the studio door was open and the people in the lobby were looking at us like we were the worst hacks in the industry. I closed the door.)
Feminist Forum
I was listening to NPR the other day, suffering through some spiritual feminists yak away, clearly masking their hatred of men with new-age jargon. I was so incensed I had to lampoon them.
Lobster Divers
What if the lobstermen of Maine had a more dangerous technique for catching lobsters?
Pond’s Pitch
What are the ethical depths we’ll go to for success in advertising?