It seems that the fight for the craziest, most absurd holiday ad is in full force, with McGarryBowen Chicago being the latest agency to throw their hat in the ring with three new spots for Sears that introduce us to “The Denskies.”
While Draftcb’s currently causing controversy with its Joe Boxer jingle for Kmart (and let’s not forget the earlier Satan/Genghis Khan layaway spot), McGarryBowen makes that holiday effort seem tame in comparison to its “Squirrel Revolt” ad. It wouldn’t stand out from the other two “Denskies” installments, in its “let’s be as crazy as possible” humor, were it not for the line (assuming I’m hearing this correctly), “Oh god, it’s mating with my mouth.”
The aforementioned spot (which you can watch above, though you probably shouldn’t) begins with Papa Denskie explaining to his wife that he’s trained “those pesky squirrels” to cut coupons. Everything, though, soon goes haywire, the squirrels attack the man and elicit the crazy, over-the-top response from the above paragraph. (You know, the one where the guy gets orally raped by a squirrel with a rage boner.) If people were pissed off about Kmart’s “Show Your Joe,” I can’t imagine how they’ll respond to this one.
The other two “Denskies” spots for Sears have plenty of crazy to spare as well. In “Robo Granny,” the same man builds a robotic grandmother so that the family won’t have to go visit their real, living grandmother. Predictably, chaos ensues, dragging on for way too long, with the spot clocking in at 1:23 but seeming more like a 5-minute endurance test. Meanwhile, “Medium” sees agency and client portraying their subject as some kind of crazy, possessed witch lady. I’d almost feel bad for real mediums if it weren’t for the fact that they make their living by pretending to talk to dead people (sorry, Sylvia Browne, RIP). The message from Sears this holiday season seems to be the tired “Don’t do something crazy to save time and money, shop here” approach–just with the crazy pushed well beyond the point of reason. You can check out the other two after the jump, along with credits.
Advertising Agency: mcgarrybowen Chicago
CCO: Ned Crowley
Group Creative Director: Kevin Thoem
Group Creative Director: Lee Remias
Associate Creative Director: Jose A. Martinez
Associate Creative Director: Addhemar Sierralta
Director Of Production: Lisa Burke
Broadcast Producer: Lindsey Zuercher
Music Producer: Morgan Thoryk
Client: Sears
VP, CMO Sears: Jim Kunihiro
VP, IMC: Robert Raible
VP, CMO Lawn & Garden: Martin Lee
Advertising Manager: Rick Ray
Executive Producer Of Broadcast: Mary Pat Sampsell
Production Consultant, BBS: Deb Hardin
Production Company: Moxie Pictures
Director: Martin Granger
Producer: Heidi Soltesz
Editorial: Whitehouse Post, Chicago
Editor: Matthew Wood
Executive Producer: Dan Bryant
Producer: Jojo Scheerer
Visual Effects: The Mill
Producer: Anastasia Von Rahl
VFX Supervisor: Bill Higgins
VFX Supervisor: James Allen
Sound Design: Stimmung
Audio Mix: Another Country