Long Haymes Carr’s TV ‘movers’ Rolls Over Minutes For Bellsouth

In a television spot for BellSouth Mobility DCS, a tuxedo and a seldom-walked bassett hound are among items stripped from their owner to make a point about the client’s new “Save Your Minutes” promotion. The ad was created by Long Haymes Carr in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Atlanta-based supplier of wireless technology has launched a program that allows new subscribers to roll over unused minutes from one month to the next for one year. Current customers can switch to the plan by paying a onetime $25 fee.
“The market is flooded with short-term promotions and quick-fix giveaways,” said client director of strategic positioning Joe DePreta. “By marketing for the long term, we will build customer loyalty exponentially.”
The 30-second spot, titled “Movers,” depicts two 20-something males happily watching TV when three uniformed men burst in and start confiscating various items. The man who owns the property seems resigned to what’s happening as he tells his astonished pal, “That’s how it is. You don’t use ’em, you lose ’em.”
The TV commercial’s voiceover explains: “What if the stuff you didn’t use was taken away from you? That’s exactly what happens to your unused mobile phone minutes.”
The spot’s “movers” wind up lugging away the poor guy’s stove, vacuum cleaner, fish tank, exercise equipment, a dust-covered tuxedo and, finally, his pet bassett hound.
“I was gonna walk him,” the man says sheepishly, as his pooch is hauled out.
The spot ends with the BellSouth Mobility DCS tag: “It’s your life. Don’t miss it.” It broke late last month in the Carolinas and parts of Tennessee and Georgia.
LHC vice chairman and chief creative officer Jim White said the agency was mindful of keeping a “brand positioning” feel to the promotional spot. Other creative credits go to art director Tom Parkes and copywriters William Kelly, Evert Cilliers and Lee Earle.