What could be more embarrassing than an old high school yearbook picture?
How about having that picture appear in a national ad?
Tom Hanks is enduring this humiliation as the premiere subject of the first biographical “bookazine,” People Profiles. His school mug shot (shown here), with black suit, bow-tie and mane of hair–perhaps a yearbook photo–is now gracing millions of ads in Time Inc. publications, thanks to DeVito/Verdi, the New York shop that created the ads for the $7 million account.
The first digest, featuring Hanks, hits newsstands July 5, followed in August by Julia Roberts.
Another ad shows Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt and Roberts as they appear today. Without mentioning their names, the copy reads: “Roach-infested apartments. No indoor plumbing. Unemployment checks. Just a day in the life of Hollywood’s most glamorous stars.”
Verdi characterized the theme of both ads, produced by shop creatives Aaron Eiseman and Abi Spencer, as “lifestyles of the rich and famous before they were either.”
–Kathleen Sampey
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