CREATIVE: Best Spots

AMERICA WEST GOLF VACATIONS "I love a golf vacation," says a guy, "but I hate waiting for a tee time." His solution: to dress up as a tree, then furtively hit the links. "My branches get in the way of my follow-through, and it's tough to get in the zone," he says, pulling a golf cart behind his trunk. "But you play through it." And he may be the first deciduous plant to pursue a hobby since the trees in the Haunted Forest threw apples at Dorothy and Toto. Title: Sycamore Man Agency: Team One, El Segundo, Calif. Creative director: Tom Cordner Associate creative directors: Robert Prins, Matt Bogen Art director: James Hendry Copywriter: Greg Collins Senior producer: Beth Hagen Production co.: Food Chain Films Director: Marc Greenfield Editor: Lee Cowan, Lost Planet BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE A wholesome-looking teenage couple discuss the tragic news of his moving. She's upset, but he calms her. "They have to sell the house first. We'll have the whole summer together." Enter a real-estate agent who plants the BH&G for-sale sign in the front yard. As the music turns to Jaws meets Friday the 13th, she screams, "Good-bye, I'll miss you." Title: Puppy Love Agency: Valentine Radford, Kansas City, Mo. Creative director: Bob Simon Art director: David Boensch Copywriter: John Godsey Agency producer: John Pace Production co.: The Lieberman Co./Johnson Burnett Director: Robert Lieberman CHEER A peewee football team called the Purple People Eaters has a problem: After multiple washings, their tough-guy purple jersies have turned to, well, lilac. Off the bench comes Cheer, which claims, after mucho washings, to keep the color purple intact. The final scene shows a young warrior catching a kickoff, hard-charging opponents bearing down. Now, booms the John Facenda-like voiceover, "they could show their true color: yellow." Said warrior hightails it out of there, exiting stage left. Title: Lilacs Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago Group CD: Ron Condon Art director: Tony Katalinic Copywriter: Michael Hush Executive producer: David Moore Agency producer: Rod Wilson Production co.: Moxie Pictures Director: Dan Levinson Editor: Bob Carr, NuWorld Music: Steve Ford CLINIC OF UROLOGY A doorbell rings, and the door opens. A stork (wearing a red delivery hat) has brought a bundle of joy. The scene is repeated five more times, then a question appears on the screen: "Need a vasectomy?" It's a simple, clever idea that cuts to the chase (sorry). Tougher sells there are not. Title: Stork Agency: BVK/McDonald, Milwaukee Creative director/copywriter: Gary Mueller Creative director/art director Scott Krahn Agency producer: Mary Pat Cupertino Production co.: Wyoming Films Director: Bill Everett CRAYOLA Happy, happy; joy, joy. This spot offers kids at school and at home drawing with Crayola fingerpaints, chalk and crayons. Whitney Houston-esque vocals feature such lyrics as "Side by side, color by color, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters take the time to see how important Crayola can be." The denouement: Mom gets a homemade card smothered in red hearts. And yes, even the most jaded will have childhood flashbacks when, in the final scene, a kid outlines his hand in red crayon. Title: There's Only One Crayola Agency: Avrett Free & Ginsberg, New York Co-chairman/CEO/creative director: Frank Ginsberg Executive group CD/art director: Manny DeMagistris Senior associate CD/copywriter: Martha Everds Executive group director/broadcast producer: Lynne Kluger Production co.: Ebel Productions Director: Bob Ebel Editor: Tony Siggia, First Edition HANES "Boxers or briefs?" is the question asked by two babes sitting on a park bench (Aqualung, where are you?). The camera catches the various faces and moods of the women as they watch each off-camera guy pass by. And then along comes Jordan. The omniscient Michael is on to their tricks. "They're Hanes," says MJ, "and let's just leave it at that." Rumor has it that women actually do this boxers-or-briefs thing. Sort of makes a guy want to go alfresco. Title: Boxers or Briefs Agency: Long Haymes Carr, Winston-Salem, N.C. Chief creative officer: Jim White Art director: Phil Milano Copywriters: Jennifer Jones, Chris Cannon Agency producer: Sara March Barber Production co.: Lopes Picture Co. Director Rob Lopes KIA SPORTAGE In a TV interview, Sasquatch is asked to compare the Kia Sportage to Toyota's Rav4. "I've had near misses with both. I'm a big fan of anti-lock brakes," he says before choosing Kia. Let's just hope Sportage sales aren't as ephemeral as Sasquatch sightings. Title: Sasquatch Agency: Goldberg Moser O'Neill, San Francisco Creative directors: Jim Noble, Brian O'Neill, Mike Moser Art director: Matt Mowat Copywriter: Chuck Meehan Senior producer: Paul Golubovich Assistant producer: Karena Dacker Production co.: Shelter Films Director: Jonathan David Editor: Bob Spector MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER A dude dressed in full karate garb attempts to break a stone slab with his head; he fails. A shirtless fellow takes his turn; nada. Next: Alexi Lalas, the towheaded (and dangerously close to being overexposed) member of the New England Revolution. He places a soccer ball on the stone, then heads it, breaking the slab. With goofy sound effects and fast-motion footage, this ad, aimed at soccer-playing kids in Boston's suburbs, is funny. Title: Lalas Agency: McCann-Erickson, New York Group creative directors: Jeroen Bours, Joyce King Thomas Art director: Jay Gnospelius Copywriter: Dan Cohen Agency producer: Dean Shoukas Production co. Highway 61 Director: Michael Oblowitz NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE In this spot, youngsters imitate their hero, Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions, and dream of the day they, too, could be playing football on a Sunday afternoon. The NBA has been mining the youth market for years. What took the NFL so long to discover the city kid? Title: Take the Field Agency: NFL Properties, New York Creative director: Bruce Burke Stylist: Michelle Bork Copywriter: Bob Stohrer Agency producer: Henry Frenzel Production co. Cyclops Director: Suzanne Kiley Sound design: Elias Associates PAGENET Remember those pink-paper messages? With a memo assembly line behind him, a guy reads garbled, butchered messages that everyone can relate to. "Buy, buy, sell-but wait to talk to me," reads one. And they get worse. Humor helps pitch what has become an everyday product-the ubiquitous pager. Title: Messages Agency: J. Walter Thompson, Chicago Executive CD: Dennis Ryan Group CD: Mark Silveira Creative director/copywriter: Paul Tilley Art director: Pam Anderson Agency producer: Celeste Sciortino Production co. Komnenich Films Director: John Komnenich Editor: Bob Carr, NuWorld PELLA WINDOWS As Perry Como croons the theme from Romeo & Juliet, a young couple is separated by a large porch window. Their hands "touch" and she puts her lips to the glass. Leery at first, he follows her lead and the kiss commences. Alas, the blinds come down in mid-smooch. When they rise, Dad is watching our hero in action. Title: Romeo & Juliet Agency: Young & Rubicam, New York Creative directors: Tom Coleman, Bob Wyatt Art director: Ahmer Kalam Copywriter: Jeff Maerov Agency producer: Lori Talish Production co.: Crossroads Films Director: Mark Pellington QUOTREK Wall Street is likened to baseball, the major leagues. If you want to be a player, Quotrek "is the only portable monitor offering real-time data, like quotes, headlines, all the major markets." In a confused category, Quotrek throws a strike. Title: Baseball Agency: Highway One, San Francisco Creative director Phillip Feemster Art director: Chris Freire Copywriters: Matt Morin, Tony Newton Agency producer: Andrea Sanchez Production co.: The End Director: Jaume Collet-Serra ROSSIGNOL In a store, a suspicious-looking teenager gets the evil eye from a burly security guard. Obviously hiding something under his jacket, the kid tries to leave. The guard confronts him and the kid pulls out inline blades that attach straight to his sneakers-an idea that just may appeal to teenagers on the go. Title: Suspicious Agency: Lambesis, Del Mar, Calif. CD/art director: Chad Farmer Copywriter: Daniel Chu Executive producer: Susanne Preissler Production co.: Propaganda Films Director: Greg Motolla SANFORD/NICKELODEON This ad promises that school will be different this year and, to prove it, a group of digitally animated frogs do their best June Taylor dancing in the class fishbowl. The difference? Slimewriters (colorful pens, pencils and erasers), which are being sold to kids through . Title: Classroom Agency: Arian Lowe Travis, Chicago CD/art director: Mike Fornwald Copywriter Meg Kannin Agency producer: Lee Lunardi Production co. Warner Digital Studios Director: Patrice Dinhut SCI-FI CHANNEL A woman vacuums her living room. Strange music plays in the background. "Aunt Doris?" reads the copy. A woman vacuums. Strange music plays. "Aunt Daisy?" A woman. Strange music. "Aunt Droid?" "Ever wonder?" asks the Sci-Fi Channel. Title: Aunt Droid Agency: Mullen, Wenham, Mass. Creative directors Paul Silverman, Tom Cook Art director Dan O'Donnell Copywriter Jim Elliot Agency producer: Susan Poor Production co. Assymetrical Productions Directors: David Lynch Editor: Mary Sweeney SPORTSCHANNEL NEW YORK As Metsmania sweeps the nation (OK, Queens), meet Sugar, a rabid fan. "Our Sugar croaked 12 years ago," says the beagle's grim-faced owner. "We buried him in the yard with his favorite Mets chew toy, a rubber figurine of Casey Stengel." Just another Mets memory from SportsChannel. Title: Sugar Agency: Wolfe Doyle, San Francisco Creative director: Daniel Wolfe Art director: David Swope Copywriter: Jason Sperling Agency producer: Denis O'Brien Production co. Starr Farm Films SQUEEZIT Avoiding the inaneness of most kids' fruit-drink advertising, this spot weaves an actual plot around a new marketing concept. Flexing his muscle along the way, a young gumshoe searches for Mystery Squeezit in the new black bottles. The gimmick: In each six-pack, two black bottles hold unknown flavors and "only the back panel holds a clue to their delicious mystery taste." Title: Young Detective Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, New York Creative director: Chris McKee Art director: Trip Park Copywriter: Glen Levy Agency producer: Liz Sloane Production co.: Crossroads Films Director: Mark Tiederman Editor: Charlie Cusamano, Mad River Post TACO BELL A fat guy, in blue jammies, lounges in a pink room. He lumbers over to a white fridge-it's empty, which elicits a scream of horror. In a clever twist, that rebel yell is the grumbling stomach of a kid watching TV. Dude, it's taco time. Title: Fridge-Pink Room Agency: TBWA Chiat/Day, Venice, Calif. CD/art director: Chuck Bennett CD/copywriter: Clay Williams Agency producer: Michelle Burke Assistant producer: Bonnie Teitle Production co.: House of Usher Director: Kinka Usher Editor: Angus Wall VANS Want to get into Best Spots? Goof on cheerleaders. In this fast-paced, hilarious spot, the pom-pom girls are chased by a skateboarder, attacked from above by a snowboarder and bowled over by a street luger. It's a rad ad for Vans, an extreme-sports equipment supplier. Title: Cheerleaders Agency: McElroy Communications, Newport Beach, Calif. Executive creative director: Thom McElroy CD/copywriter: David Karstad Art director: Anne Behnke Agency producer: Steve Garrett Production co.: Cucoloris Director: Tenny Fairchild Editor: John Hopp, JigSaw 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.

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CREATIVE: Best Spots - July

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