Creative: Best Spots – February

P>

Best Spots are selected by Adweek editors from commercials breaking on broadcast and cable television. Call Nancy Sobel at (212) 536-6453 to submit reels or to order this month’s collection.
The Best Spots section is compiled by Mark Lang.

DAIRY MANAGEMENT INC.
A party plate of cheese is placed next to a goldfish bowl. The two goldies have a hankering for the yellow stuff and they go kamikaze, leaping out of the water. Unfortunately, the cheese gets moved. Oh, well. Sushi, anyone?
TITLE: Goldies
AGENCY: Leo Burnett, Chicago
CD/COPYWRITER: Rory Monaghan
ADS: Ben Hershey, Bob Shallcross
PRODUCER: Michael Antonucci
PRODUCTION CO.: Propaganda Films
LIVE-ACTION DIRECTOR: David Kellogg
SPECIAL EFFECTS: Rhythm & Hues
HEAD TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Robert Luyre
EDITOR: Jim Hutchins, Nomad Editing
MUSIC: Cliff Colnot Music

DIAL-A-MATTRESS
A guy in a squirrel costume highlights this funny ad. “Anybody with half a brain knows an Arctic ground squirrel is down by now,” says the giant rodent to the mattress-delivery guys. Seems squirrel boy hasn’t had a chance to hibernate–too busy cleaning the gutters and roof. And too busy arguing with his wife–a human woman. Hmmm. Where’s Ken Starr when you really need him?
TITLE: Squirrel
AGENCY: Dweck & Campbell, New York
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Lori Campbell
ADS/CWS: Steve Pearson, Scott Vitrone
AGENCY PRODUCER: Larry Shanet
PRODUCTION CO.: Hungry Man
DIRECTOR: John O’Hagan
EDITOR: Dave Koza, MacKenzie Cutler

DREYFUS
This striking ad offers a haunting violin score, plus a man and his cat: “Someday, I plan to sleep through rush hour, start a business with my son, see a ballgame on a Tuesday afternoon. Someday, I plan to teach someone to read, run for city council, build a boat, learn all the ways to cook rainbow trout.” Dude, here’s the plan: Don’t pet the freakin’ lion.
TITLE: Sleep Through Rush Hour
AGENCY: Citron Haligman Bedecarre, S.F.
CDs: Matt Haligman, Kirk Citron
ART DIRECTOR: DeeAnn Budney
COPYWRITER: Kelly Sopp
AGENCY PRODUCER: Rob Sondik
PRODUCTION CO. Ritts/Hayden
DIRECTOR: Herb Ritts
EDITORIAL: Bob & Sheila’s Edit World
MUSIC: Gary Remal Malkin

ESPN ESPYs
While Best Spots is not a big Norm MacDonald fan, we like the fact that this smarmy comic hosted the ESPYs, a made-for-TV awards show. In this ad, MacDonald tries to “fool” the audience into thinking NBA star Dikembe Motumbo is onstage with him. Hey Norm, can you say Weekend Update?
TITLE: Dikembe
AGENCY/PROD. CO. Hungry Man, New York
CD/COPYWRITER/DIRECTOR: David Shane
AD/COPYWRITER/DIRECTOR: Rick Rabe
AGENCY PRODUCER: Stephen Orent
EDITOR: Ian MacKenzie

GATORADE
The “Be Like Mike” song is back with a vengeance. MJ, Chris Berman, B.B. King, John Popper, Lisa Leslie and Ahmad Rashad (Ahmad Rashad?) all make appearances. The kicker: Larry Bird says he’s not going to sing. Bet he still gets paid, though.
TITLE: Return of Be Like Mike
AGENCY: Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jonathan Harries
ART DIRECTOR: Joe Burke
COPYWRITER: Danny Schuman
AGENCY PRODUCER: Jeff Felter
PRODUCTION CO.: RSA
DIRECTOR: Marcus Nispel
EDITOR: Jim Lipetsky, Red Car
MUSIC: Ira Natelis

HOME DEPOT
On the streets of Nagano, a cute-as-a-button Japanese girl looks up at an Olympic banner. As she reads it, the Japanese characters turn into a skier, who shushes down the mountain. This “proud to be an Olympic sponsor” ad is a nice mesh of visuals, computer animation and music.
TITLE: Banner
AGENCY: The Richards Group, Dallas
CD/ART DIRECTOR: Gary Gibson
ART DIRECTOR: David Jenkins
CWs: Stephen Emerson, Gregg Steward
AGENCY PRODUCER: Harvey Lewis
PRODUCTION CO.: Steve & Linda Horn
DIRECTOR: Steve Horn
EDITOR: Jack Waldrip, Charlie Uniform Tango
COMPOSER: Chip Jenkins, Elias Assoc.
SPECIAL EFFECTS: Digital Domain

IBM
This charming ad profiles an Olympic skier from Cyprus. Seems Andreas is serious about his quixotic quest, and we meet adoring family and friends. His grandma says (in Greek): “He’s a good boy.” The Olympian trains hard: “It’s difficult to be a skier in Cyprus; we haven’t any snow.” By the way, our hero picked up a nickname in Nagano: Dead-Last Andy.
TITLE: Look for Me: Andreas Vasili
AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather, New York
WORLDWIDE CD: Steve Hayden
CDs: Chris Wall, Susan Westre
ART DIRECTOR: Chris Curry
COPYWRITER: Brendan Gibbons
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lee Weiss
AGENCY PRODUCER: Lee Reizan
PRODUCTION CO.: radical media
DIRECTOR: Lenard Dorfman
EDITOR: Crew Cuts

IKEA
6:15 a.m. A hot babe wakes up, gets out of bed and stretches by the window. On the sidewalk below: Three paper boys stare up in awe. “Curtains from $15.95,” the super says. Best Spots never saw that kind of action delivering The Hartford Courant in the 1970s.
TITLE: Paper Boys
AGENCY: Deutsch, New York
ECD: Kathy Delaney
ACD/COPYWRITER: Cheryl Van Ooyen
ART DIRECTOR: Todd Gallentine
COPYWRITER: Mark Mendelis
AGENCY PRODUCER: Cheri Anderson
PRODUCTION CO. Tool of North America
DIRECTOR: Chris Hooper

JOHN HANCOCK
Promoting the Sarajevo Olympic Children’s Fund, this haunting ad juxtaposes joyous scenes of the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo and the horrors of war eight years later. “People have to realize it is time to change guns to hammers, sirens to songs,” the VO says. Hear, hear.
TITLE: Sarajevo
AGENCY: Hill, Holliday, Connors,
COSMOPULOUS, Boston
GCD/ART DIRECTOR: Jamie Mambro
GCD/COPYWRITER Ernie Schenck
AGENCY PRODUCER: Scott Hainline
PRODUCTION CO.: radical media
DIRECTOR Tarsem
EDITOR: Robert Duffy, Spot Welders
SOUND DESIGN: Albert Ibbotson, Albert Entertainment

KFC
The family has gathered to watch Susie skate on TV. But a KFC ad airs first, and the folks are hungry. So they blow off Susie for some original recipe. Talk about a double Axel.
TITLE: Susie’s Family
AGENCY: Young & Rubicam, New York
ECD: Manny Perez
GCD: Chris Grabenstein
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: John Lucci
ART DIRECTOR: Reid Miler
COPYWRITER: David McMillan
AGENCY PRODUCERS: Susan Chiaffullo, Toni Lipari
MUSIC PRODUCER: Steve McCabe
PRODUCTION CO. Backyard Productions
DIRECTOR: Rob Pritts
EDITOR: Rob Tortoriello, Mad House

KODAK
A trip to California exposes the vagaries of changing film speeds and lighting conditions. The Hollywood sign becomes Hey Low Light; at Grauman’s Chinese, Doris Day’s handprints turn into Wrong Time of Day; and Burt Reynolds stars in Blurred Reynolds. Big year for Burt: an Oscar nod and a Kodak ad.
TITLE: Hollywood
AGENCY: Ogilvy & Mather, New York
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Rick Boyko
ART DIRECTOR: John Trahar
COPYWRITER Chris Mitton
AGENCY PRODUCER: Lance Doty
PRODUCTION CO.: Bruce Dowad Assoc.
DIRECTOR: Bruce Dowad
EDITORIAL: King Cuts
MUSIC: Jonathan Elias, Elias Assoc.

LEXUS
Desert sand, mountain snow and lots of impenetrable roads pepper this spot intoducing Lexus’ new line of SUVs. But a simple piece of VO dialogue put this baby over the top: “Roads? We don’t need no stinkin’ roads!”
TITLE: End of the Road
AGENCY: Team One, El Segundo, Calif.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Tom Cordner
ACDs: Steve Levit, Rob Schwartz
ART DIRECTOR: Laura Dellasala
COPYWRITER: Greg Collins
AGENCY PRODUCER: Nancy Dickerson
PRODUCTION CO.: HSI
DIRECTOR: Paul Garreau
EDITOR: Stuart Waks, Stuart Waks & Co.
SOUND: Reinhard Denke, Primal Scream
MUSIC: Jason Johnson

MASTERCARD
This cookie-cutter campaign is churning them out, but this ad hits home. Thanks to MasterCard, a woman gets dolled up. “Look on old boyfriend’s face at the reunion: priceless.”
TITLE: Reunion
AGENCY: McCann-Erickson, New York
DEPUTY CD: Jonathan Cranin
GCD/COPYWRITER: Joyce King Thomas
SR. CD/ART director: Jeroen Bours
AGENCY PRODUCER: Sally Hotchkiss
PRODUCTION CO. Gorgeous Pictures
DIRECTOR: Frank Budgen
EDITOR: Jim Heygood
MUSIC: Zen Music/Joe & Co.

MOTHER’S COOKIES
Meet Lawrence, Diana, Michael, Deborah and John, the dancing cookie chefs. Their big news? A cookie with an unusual name. “It doesn’t make sense to you or me,” sings John, “why a cookie like this should be named Taffy.” Then the Fab Five spell out T-A-F-F-Y with their bodies. The Village People have nothing to fear.
TITLE: Taffy
AGENCY: Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West, San Francisco
CD/AD/COPYWRITER: Jennifer Solow
ART DIRECTOR: Jeff Musser
COPYWRITERS: Robert Solis, Andy Sohn
AGENCY PRODUCER: Ben Latimer
PRODUCTION CO.: Palomar Pictures
DIRECTOR: Francine McDougall
EDITOR: Dan Swietlek, Swietlek Inc.
MUSIC: John Beach, The Beach Bros.

MOUNTAIN DEW
She spritzes perfume. He uses breath spray. And the two sky-surfers launch off separate mountains, meeting at 10,000 feet. After a midair striptease, the pair dance to “Tonight, Tonight.” When a can of Dew appears, he pulls out two straws. She pulls his ripcord and says, “Let’s just be friends.” As he disappears into the night, she chugs the soda. Kids these days!
TITLE: Duet
AGENCY: BBDO, New York
CHIEF CREATIVE: officer Ted Sann
EXEC. CD Michael Patti
SR. CD/COPYWRITER: Bill Bruce
CD/ART DIRECTOR: Doris Cassar
AGENCY PRODUCER: Gary Delemeester
PRODUCTION CO.: House of Usher
DIRECTOR: Kinka Usher
EDITORS: John Murry, T. Muldoon, Nomad Editorial

NIKE
Poet Matthew Cook writes: “Picabo Street, that’s probably the coolest name in the world.” If that name was “a scary dictator,” we’d think of “gasoline prices a rodeo clown, it might just seem idiotic. But when a champion has that name, it’s a whole new kettle of fish.” Picabo stars as herself.
TITLE: Picabo Street
AGENCY: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
CDs: Jeff Goodby, Rich Silverstein
ART DIRECTOR: Margaret Johnson
COPYWRITER: Steve Payonzeck
POET: Matt Cook
AGENCY PRODUCER: Cindy Fluitt
PRODUCTION CO.: Propaganda Films
DIRECTOR: Dante Ariola
EDITOR: Noah Herzog
DIRECTOR: Tim Barnes, Lost Planet

NIKE
“I can’t believe they’re about to take a gold medal from a 19-year-old kid,” says boxer Roy Jones Jr. At the time, we couldn’t believe it either. But the judges stole Jones’ gold medal in Seoul 10 years ago. This spot is a powerful, moving and honest tribute to a man who was victimized by one of the most heinous acts in the history of amateur athletics.
TITLE: Roy Jones Jr.
AGENCY: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
CDs: Jamie Barrett, John Jay
CD/ART DIRECTOR: Vince Engel
COPYWRITERS: Canice Neary, Mik Smith
AGENCY PRODUCER: Jennifer Smieja
PRODUCTION CO.: radical media
DIRECTOR: Robert Leacock
EDITOR: Lucas Eskin, Mad River Post
MUSIC: Jeff Koz, Hum Music

POLAROID
Goofing on America’s penchant for shaking Polaroid pictures as they develop, this ad spans the globe for other strange customs. The Chinese prefer the vigorous head rub. The Scots turn to their livestock. And Arabs beat the photo like a Persian rug.
TITLE: Shaking the Polaroid
AGENCY: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
CDs: Jeff Goodby, Rich Silverstein
ART DIRECTOR: Greg Bell
CWs: Paul Venables, Steve Dildarian
AGENCY PRODUCER: Khrisana Mayfield
PRODUCTION CO.: Tate & Partners
DIRECTOR: Baker Smith
EDITOR: Livio Sanchez
MUSIC: Elias Associates
SOUND: Earwax

SNICKERS
This ad spoofs the new Nike campaign. “I can’t give up,” says a kid shooting baskets on a deserted b-ball court. “I can’t stop trying to fly.” The kid goes up for the dunk. “I can’t get down.” He’s gonna be awhile.
TITLE: Rim
AGENCY: BBDO, New York
CHIEF CREATIVE OFFICER: Ted Sann
Sr. EXEC. CD: Charlie Miesmer
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Wil Boudreau
ACD/GCD: Rick Midler
ART DIRECTOR: Ana Feder
COPYWRITER: Teddy Stoecklein
AGENCY PRODUCER: J.D. Williams
PRODUCTION CO.: radical media
DIRECTOR: Frank Todaro
EDITOR: Mike Douglas, MacKenzie Cutler

TURLOCK IRRIGATION DISTRICT
“Well, Johnny. Do you have any last words?” asks the warden. “Well, yes,” answers the condemned man, strapped to the electric chair. “Now that Californians will be getting a choice in their electric service, I strongly advise shopping around.” From there, this crisply edited spot keeps the viewer in suspense. When the switch is pulled, the prison’s cheapo electricity fails. Johnny lives (for the sequel)!
TITLE: Johnny
AGENCY: Katsin/Loeb, San Francisco
CD/COPYWRITER: Jef Loeb
CD/ART DIRECTOR: Carlton Taylor
AGENCY PRODUCER: Andrea Sanchez
PRODUCTION CO.: Pavlov Productions
DIRECTOR: Marty Weiss
EDITOR: Tom Schachte, Straight Cuts
COMPOSER: Jason Johnson, Primal Scream