New Campaigns: Midwest

Client: BP Oil Co., Cleveland Agency: W.B. Doner & Co., Southfield, Mich., and Cleveland Executive Creative Director: John DeCerchio Creative Directors: Gary Wolfson, Mike Sullivan Associate Creative Directors: Joe Minnella, Karl Shaffer, Charles McAleer Director of Broadcast Production: Sheldon Cohn Director: Joe JohnstonNobody really likes having to stop for gas. W.B. Doner embraces that truth in a new spot for BP Oil. In 'Transformer,' a little boy imagines a truck that turns into a gas station as his family's car drives onto it. Since the gas station is moving, they can fill up their tank and buy munchies without losing any time getting to their destination. While BP hasn't quite developed that sort of technology yet, the company does promise in the spot to get customers in and out of their stations as painlessly as possible. The focus on the consumer experience is a switch from past work, which has concentrated on BP's products. 'We keep you moving,' first introduced by Doner last year, continues as the tagline. The spot includes computer-generated animation from Industrial Light and Magic in San Rafael, Calif., and is directed by feature-film director Joe Johnston, whose credits include Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. --Tanya Gazdik------------Client: ServiStar, Butler, Pa. Agency: MARC, Pittsburgh Creative Team: Ed Fine, Tony Jaffe, Ron Sullivan Agency Producer: Marianne Shaffer Director: Frank TammarielloThe Frankenstein monster is a frequent advertising character, but MARC was clever enough to realize that someone with bolts holding his head in place is a perfect subject for a spot promoting hardware chain ServiStar (and sibling chain Coast to Coast). Here, the crazed monster loses one of those vital neck bolts after being struck by lightning. As he breaks out of his restraints to grab the bolt, it disappears down a drain in the lab. The voiceover asks, 'Need hardware?' The agency decided a different strategy was required to differentiate the chain. Competitors tout price, service and products ad nauseam. 'Customers expect those things. We're going further,' said Ed Fine, MARC senior vice president and executive creative director. --Ellen Rooney Martin------------Client: Ameritech, Chicago Agency: The Marketing Arm, Dallas Creative Director: Chris Smith Art Director: Jeff Malcomb Copywriter: Tony CurtisThis three-spot promotional campaign, offering a chance to win Chicago Bulls playoff tickets with the purchase of Ameritech Cellular service, may be the most entertaining use yet of Bulls star Scottie Pippen. He and Bulls mascot Benny the Bull are paired as judges for the best stupid human trick, with the winner getting a pair of tickets to a Bulls playoff game. One fellow is shot out of a cannon in an effort to make a basket, but he misses the hoop and goes through a wall. Another man plans to jump from a trampoline to make a basket and ends up in the ceiling. Pippen comments dryly about the 'air ball' the guy shot. The best of the trio of spots is one with former Bulls player John Paxson attempting to recreate his game winning three pointer from a playoff game several years ago. He continually misses, much to the chagrin of Pippen. The voiceover tells how much easier it is to get playoff tickets just by signing up for Ameritech Cellular Service. --Ellen Rooney Martin------------Client: Zebco, Tulsa, Okla. Agency: Core, St. Louis Creative Director: Eric Tilford Art Director: John Dames Copywriter: Wade Paschall Photographer: John HuetCore creatives tried to capture the excitement of deep-sea fishing with action-packed photos in print ads for Zebco's Quantum line of saltwater fishing equipment. The ads were shot on a fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas and are intended to display the strength of Quantum rods and reels. Zebco is trying to make inroads with demanding saltwater anglers by emphasizing the toughness and durability of its Quantum line. Water-stained chart paper is used to complete the effect. Copy for one of three print executions reads, 'Sometimes you can't tell if he's fighting to stay out of the boat or if you're fighting to stay in.' Another reads, 'I don't want to eat him. Or put him on my wall. I just want to look him in the eye. So he knows I'm the one who beat him.' Body copy covers product attributes like 'one-piece machined aluminum frames (that) fight fish hard, corrosion harder,' and a drag system that 'finds saltwater almost as amusing as big fish.' The photography is so striking that the ads also include a toll-free number anglers can call to get posters of the ads as well as information on the equipment. The ads broke earlier this year in national fishing publications. --Trevor Jensen------------Client: Interstate Bakeries Corp., Kansas City, Mo. Agency: Campbell Mithun Esty, Minneapolis Executive Creative Director: Jim Bosha Art Director: Darryl Kluskowski Copywriter: Ron Kanecke Director: David Bishop Forget the adage 'As boring as white bread.' Campbell Mithun Esty presents some very unusual white bread in this 30-second spot, which began rolling out to 34 spot markets at the beginning of this month.The spot, titled 'Backpack,' is being used to support seven different bread brands--including Butternut and Holsum--marketed regionally by Interstate Bakeries. A young boy buys a loaf of bread for Mom at the grocery store and pops it into his backpack before riding home on his bike. As he rides and as a voiceover explains the nutrients contained in the bread, his backpack grows larger. Grains and vegetables begin popping out the splitting seams. 'Boy, I'm glad you only wanted one loaf,' he tells his mother when he gets home. --Scott Hume------------Client: Ben Hogan Co., Richmond, Va. Agency: Cramer-Krasselt, Chicago Creative Director: Marshall Ross Art Director: Kerry Ferguson-Arnold Copywriter: Bill Rogers Director: Paul DektorCramer-Krasselt's first work for Ben Hogan golf equipment appeals to the weekend golf enthusiast who gets up at dawn for a tee time. By emphasizing the simple pleasures and integrity of the game, the campaign attempts to promote the virtues of solid, understated Ben Hogan equipment over the flashy, largersized metal woods that dominate the high-end golf club market. The voiceover that accompanies scenes of a golfer walking down a dew-laden fairway at the first light of dawn says, 'A player knows the game isn't about having the biggest driver.' The campaign's tagline is 'True to the game.' Print work follows the same thinking. Print copy reads, 'This is not about some miracle driver. Or magic putter.' Television broke in spot markets during the Masters golf tournament and will extend to network cable. Print advertising begins in May issues of golf enthusiast magazines. --Trevor JensenCopyright ASM Communications, Inc. (1997) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Midwest

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New Campaigns: Midwest

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