Monday Stir

By Erik Oster 


-O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul (OKRP) worked with Chicago director Simon Reinert on an Illinois Lottery ad featuring Reinert’s wife Shifra, a nurse at Northwestern Hospital in downtown Chicago, entitled “Home” (video above). The ad follows Shifra, whose job as a medical professional keeps her from going home to her family during the pandemic.

“One of our producers knew Simon and when we presented him with our idea he knew he could make this work, using his own family,” OKRP group creative director Aubrey Walker said in a statement. “At the heart of our idea is the notion that when someone can’t come home, they realize they take for granted the familiarity of daily life—a coffee cup or a pillow. Simon incorporated that need for connection in such a visceral moment in the film that the emotions just come to life with honesty and authenticity.”

The idea developed into an ad allowing Simon, Shifra and their son to film in their own home and work environments, allowing the concept to be executed safely.

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“The Illinois Lottery believes in celebrating what winning means, beyond the financial aspects of winning,” Illinois Lottery director Harold Mays explained in a statement. “For those who are sacrificing something or giving back, they are the real winners here in our state and we want to play our part in reminding everyone that there are good people here doing amazing things.”

“It was a bit of a roll of the dice on if we could tell a narrative story well with such large production limitations,” added OKRP CCO Laura Fegley. “But the serendipity of finding a family with an important story to tell, that also happened to have a director in it, sold us. Ultimately having the director literally connected to the story made for some truly intimate footage.”

The spot will air in 60- and 30-second versions on local network broadcast in Illinois, as well as digital and social channels.

-WPP’s GroupM went through a series of layoffs last week.

-CEO Mark Penn discusses how MDC Partners is weathering the pandemic and the path ahead for the holding company.

-MRM McCann’s “No More” PSA on domestic violence informs viewers about the rise in domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

-Amazon, Facebook, Google and other companies are extending work-from-home policies to September and beyond.

-TikTok is preparing to launch a new augmented reality ad format.

-Campaign documents how creatives in the U.K. have adapted to the work-from-home life. The highlight: Havas London CCO Vicki Maguire shares that her dog peed on her feet during a virtual conference call.

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