Recently, Geico and The Martin Agency brought back some of their “lesser-known” ad stars in a sequel campaign. We’re a bit partial to Pinocchio’s turns trying to get out of a parking ticket and navigating a first date. The Woodchucks are good as well.
Then, there are the raccoons. Those little rascals are the Bo and Luke Duke of omnivore mammals … what kind of trouble are these scavengers going to get themselves into now? The characters were introduced in 2016 and included some very fun extras. A video series, called Raccookin’, showed some entertaining (and disgusting) cooking demonstrations.
Despite the fun that seemed to be had in making the campaign, one writer, Ryan Durr, had a decidedly different experience on set, that he recently shared on Twitter.
Several years ago I wrote the raccoons spot for geico. It became one of their most watched commercials. Since the agency recently brought it back, I thought I’d share the story of how I was laid off in the middle of production. pic.twitter.com/yVlEeaPxtV
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
I’d been with the agency for almost 2 years. After selling through the script, I pitched digital extensions. One was a spoof on Tasty videos with the raccoons cooking with trash. The client said it was the best presentation they’d seen.
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
The only problem was we had zero budget. Big surprise. So I convinced producers and clients we could shoot this all in-house at the agency with one camera and me puppeteering raccoon paws. We literally had to use leftover food from our homes. pic.twitter.com/si1pK0dCgi
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
The day of the shoot. Important Client is in town to observe. I’m working the puppet paws on this video when I’m called to a “mandatory meeting.” We cut and I go into the adjoining room. There’s one person waiting. Weird, I think. https://t.co/LUNyohl3Cb
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
I sit down and they say,” hey, things are bad, sorry but we’re letting you go.”
“Yah right,” I reply.
“No we’re serious.”
Awkward silence. The awkwardest.
“Um, what about the shoot?”
“What shoot?”
“The one I’m running right now for Geico.”
More very awkward silence.— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
They leave the room and return to tell me they’ll find someone to cover.
“K can I get my bag now? My keys are in it.”
“Where is it?”
“Right next to the client.”
“Shit” is what they say.
“You didn’t think this one out all the way huh?”— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
They get my bag, lie to the client about my sudden disappear, and a really nice AD covers the rest of the shoot. https://t.co/WcCk8KZXAC
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
The entire raccoon campaign remains one of my favorite projects not just because it was funny or made it in-house or so successful they agency kept producing more versions. It’s because of this story. So let that be a lesson, I guess? https://t.co/AIyg2bLPUC
— Ryan Durr (@rDurrty) January 22, 2020
Yes, this would qualify as a lesson of sorts.
AgencySpy has reached out to The Martin Agency for comment and we’ll update the post when we hear back.
UPDATE: The Martin Agency’s CCO Karen Costello said, about the story: “I was not at Martin then. Reading Ryan’s story, our heart goes out to him. We are not the leaders of three years ago—and we are not that agency.”