Ad of the Day: Dish Network

Dish Network's new Blockbuster Movie Pass offer is a great deal—at least, if you live in a strange parallel universe.

That's where the satellite-TV provider's new commercials appear to take place. Five new spots from Barton F. Graf 9000, the New York agency launched last year by notable wacky-ad veteran Gerry Graf, are set in two distinct worlds—a bar full of cowboys and the home of an eccentric family. The cowboys, who appear in one :30 and one :15, are amusingly odd. Each has a bigger hat, and more outlandish facial hair, than the last. Size clearly matters to these guys, and they'll surely be impressed by the bulk of the Blockbuster Movie Pass—a service that streams 100,000 movies, TV shows, and games to Dish subscribers for free.

The weird family, who show up in a :30 and two :15s, don't have quite as obvious a connection to the product. They apparently while away the hours just sitting around waiting for good news to arrive, so they can celebrate by breaking into odd, often maniacal dances. Dish and its great deal gives them such a reason. Even the mailman gets in on the act, with a little ballet routine.

The awkward, off-kilter comedy is typical Graf. Eric Kallman also worked on the campaign as executive creative director, having reunited last spring with his old TBWA partner in crime, with whom he did many of the classic Skittles and Starburst ads. (Graf and Kallman served as copywriter and art director on the family spots; Matty Smith and Joey Ianno did the cowboy stuff.) You sign up for a certain comedy style with Graf—self-consciously wacky set pieces that don't seem to differ that much in tone from campaign to campaign, or client to client. (Epoch director Matt Dilmore brought these particular spots to life.) It's not much of a stretch to imagine the Dish characters in the agency's Kayak.com campaign, or vice versa. It's odd that you can transplant a style like that, but Graf does come up with vivid scenes. And for a client like Dish, which has bounced projects around from shop to shop, some memorable work surely can't hurt.

CREDITS:

Client: Dish Network

Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000, New York

Spots: "Cowboys," "Lunch"

Founder, CCO: Gerry Graf

Executive Creative Director: Eric Kallman

Copywriter, Art Director: Matty Smith, Joey Ianno

Producer: Sherri Levy

Production Company: Epoch Films

Director: Matt Dilmore

Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza

Producer: Kathy Rhodes

Director of Photography: Darko Suvac

Editorlal Company: The Cutting Room

Editor: Michael Douglas

Editorial Assistant: Kelvin Tso

Postproduction: The Mill

Music: Topanga Waltz ("Cowboys," :30)

Artist: Smoggy Valley Boys

Music Supervision: Andrew Charles Kahn, Good Ear Music Supervision

Spots: "Celebration," "Cake," "Mailman"

Founder, CCO: Gerry Graf

Executive Creative Director: Eric Kallman

Copywriter, Art Director: Gerry Graf, Eric Kallman

Producer: Sherri Levy

Production Company: Epoch Films

Director: Matt Dilmore

Executive Producer: Charlie Cocuzza

Producer: Kathy Rhodes

Director of Photography: Darko Suvac

Editorlal Company: The Cutting Room

Editor: Michael Douglas

Editorial Assistant: Kelvin Tso

Postproduction: The Mill

Music: Explosion ("Celebration," :30)

Artist: Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Music Supervisor: Andrew Charles Kahn, Good Ear Music Supervision