New Campaigns

Client: KRBE-FM, Houston Agency: Stan & Lou Advertising, Houston Creative Director: Lou Congelio Art Director: Craig Mikes Director: Clay Peres As the May sweeps period arrives for radio broadcasters, so do new commercials for their morning drive crews. In Houston, contemporary hits station KRBE-FM (104.1) is putting faces on its bread-and-butter Sam Malone and the Morning Show in a series of 15- and 30-second executions through Stan & Lou. The unscripted spots show Malone with sidekicks Maria Todd and "Psycho Robbie" blabbing about Seinfeld-esque nothings at a diner, apparently unable to stop their mouths even when off-the-air. They point out the lack of an ethnic presence in the dirt-poor community of The Waltons and pontificate on questions such as "Do buffalo wings come from baby chickens?" The trio also talks about the diner's menu items, such as the tongue sandwich. Malone asks if one adds peanut butter to it, does the tongue stick to the roof of the bread? "We wanted to capture the natural humor, personality, spontaneity and zaniness that takes place during the morning show," said agency owner Lou Congelio, "and demonstrate to the world just how funny these guys are." KRBE has worked with Stan & Lou for the past seven years. The commercials are slated to air on all major television stations in the Houston market. --Glen Fest Client: TU Electric, Dallas Agency: Evans Advertising, Dallas Creative Director: Kevin Mote Copywriter: Kim Smith Art Director: Bo McCord Producer: Kelly Scott Al Carrell sometimes has to pay the price for being Dallas' version of Bob Villa, according to the client. In a new 30-second spot for the utility company, the "Super Handyman" finds he cannot get away from questions about home improvement, the subject of his popular weekly radio show in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The commercial from Evans, part of the EvansGroup network, has fun with this dilemma, as a way to promote TU Electric's new E-Choice information campaign. The 30-second ad shows Carrell being bombarded by advice-seeking fans, even while he is at the movies, pulled over by police at a traffic stop, or at the dentist. While Carrell is overwhelmed by the attention, a voiceover states, "When you're a home improvement expert, people never stop asking for your advice. Which is why Al Carrell is glad folks can call TU Electric for advice about lowering their heating and calling costs." The client's new E-Choice program is a phone-in information program geared toward homeowners who need to replace or repair their heating and cooling system. The TV commercial and similar radio ads will air in Dallas and Fort Worth through October. A print campaign for E-Choice is scheduled to begin a run this month in daily newspapers across Texas. --G.F. Client: Southwest Airlines, Dallas Agency: GSD&M, Austin, Texas Creative Director: Brian Brooker Art Director: Gene Brenek Copywriter: Mike Woolf Having apparently lost a movie-choosing debate to his girlfriend, a 20-something guy finds himself trapped in a packed theater, where a melodramatic tearjerker drones on endlessly. The film's nearly all-female audience exhausts its supply of tissue as the man searches fruitlessly for more candy at the bottom of his bag. Sound like a situation most guys would kill to get out of? Setting up this and other "I'd rather be somewhere else" scenarios is the tack of a new Southwest Airlines television campaign promoting cheap fares ("as low as $39 each way") as an antidote to boredom. The 30-second commercial, which broke last month in major markets including Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, poses the straightforward question, "Wanna get away?" and follows up with fare information for the client's routes. The ad is the first execution in a new retail effort designed to complement the carrier's "Symbol of freedom" image advertising. "Now Southwest can come to us with any offer and we can plug it into our new campaign. This allows us to respond immediately," said agency creative director Brian Brooker. Additional ads sharing the "Wanna get away" theme are currently in production and will be rotated with the "Movies" TV spot throughout the year. --Steve Krajewski

Brand Marketing

New Campaigns

Adweek Staff

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Adweek Staff