Intern Sweatshop: Use Only What You Need

Brandon Musso, Creative Department Intern

David Ogilvy once wrote: “I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard.” Seeing as there is enough advertising clutter out there anyway, I completely agree that billboards popping up all over the countryside are unsightly and monotonous. Once in a while, however, a billboard will stand out for breaking barriers and sending a positive message. Though you may hate the medium, there are billboards that are so creative you almost forget you’re looking at a thirty-foot metal obstruction. Plus, if the message is promoting being eco-friendly, it’s almost balanced out, right? Take a look at this clever billboard from Eskom, a South African electric company.

Though it could be argued that the billboard is only effective 50% of the time, the message is still effective during the day. The spot works visually by only using the space that’s needed. Apparently, this billboard won a Grand Prix at the Loeries, which is surprising seeing as the company is basically telling consumers not to use its product. It also seems Eskom is not well liked by locals in South Africa, so this was a smart move that will hopefully cast the company in a better public light (pun intended).
It immediately reminded me of a campaign I saw for the Denver Water company from the Colorado based Sukle Advertising & Design. The company wanted to break through the clutter and tell its customers to “use only what you need.” I daresay it was effective:

Pretty literal and definitely outstanding. I applaud the campaign for turning your typical loud, colorful, obnoxious billboard into art with a message. To find out more about the Denver Water campaign, check out www.useonlywhatyouneed.org

Brandon Musso, Creative Department Intern

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Under the Influence--48 Hour Film Project Baltimore

So nearly a month ago, I posted about the trials and tribulations of making a movie in only 48 hours, and the clash of creative minds that took place over those two days of writing, shooting and editing a film for the Baltimore 48-Hour Film Project. Although a lot of the equipment we used was borrowed from Renegade and many of the people involved in the shoot were Renegades, Renegade can't take all of the credit. A lot of friends, vendors, interns, and even people who found us through Craig's List, participated in a variety of ways from writers to cast to camera to post-production, and many roles in between. So the video below is not necessarily a "Renegade" prjoect, but a mix of talent and creative vision put together by our team.

It was directed by Ad Agency Confessional's very own Matt McDermott. (He also plays "Scratch n' Sniff Guy.")
You may recognize our Creative Director Little Kenny Bigtime as an extra. He was also part of the writing team and music supervisor.
Jason Bloom, a frequent contributor to the confessional, spent nearly a day editing the film and taking it from a bunch of great shots to an actual short film.
Noah Thomason, our Director of Production (who inspired this post here) handled the camera, along with another friend of Renegade, Joe Anderson of JoeNation.tv.
Jill Kaufman, one of our associate Creative Directors, was also part of the writing team and played the film's naughty devil.
Like most people, I wore a couple hats for the film, but my identity will remain a secret on the grounds that it may incriminate me.
Of course, we didn't list everyone involved here, but hey, that's what the credits are for.

Anyway, enjoy: Under the Influence by Team Renegade.




Some parts worked perfectly, some didn't, and others worked even better than we expected. Are there things we'd do over if we had the chance? Sure. But the audience laughed and apparently thought it wasn't too bad. Last week, we learned we won the Audience Favorite Award for our group, which had a few other professional teams and a few other comedies, so we're pretty proud of that.

Finally, you can click here to check out our production from the 2007 48 Hour Film Project, The Davidson Account. We do want to warn you, again, this film also wasn't a purely Renegade project, so it does get a little blue, and the language is not exactly safe for work.

Feel free to leave any comments with your thoughts on either film.

--Captain Awesome, Copywriter

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A Creative Confession

A couple weekends ago, many folks from Renegade and friends participated in Baltimore’s 48-Hour Film Project. Our team was given a character, a line of dialogue, a prop and a genre, and we had exactly 48 hours to write, cast, prep, shoot, edit and deliver a 4-7 minute film. It’s a lot of work and a lot of fun, and a chance for creative types at Renegade (who spend most of the time thinking up creative ways to sell someone else’s wares) a chance to really stretch our creative muscles.

Wait, are you saying your needs as creative minds aren’t fully met writing :30 screamer spots and commercials featuring the product, the offer and the phone number, each three times? I’m sad to say, not always.





*Please note, neither of these are Renegade-produced, and creatively have no link whatsoever to Renegade prior to this blog post.


Yes, sometimes, a client sees a script and it’s perfect, not a word out of place. And sometimes, supermodels marry old, bald, short, fat guys.

Let’s face facts. This is a business, and clients and agencies alike are both in it to make money. A creative type like myself, who dreams of one day writing the next Bull Durham or The Usual Suspects, takes a job at an advertising agency because it pays the bills and it’s a chance to use my talents to pay the bills while Hollywood waits to decide how great my current screenplay is. (I don’t want to give away the plot, but let’s just say it features zombies, extraterrestrials and surfing—Dawn of the Dead meets E.T. meets North Shore. I know what you’re thinking, and yes, it’s just as awesome as it sounds. Hollywood, please ask for ex. 267.)

Not that Hollywood.

But for creative types, who want to make the most interesting, catching, effective product for a client, the process can actually be hell. Even after 17 revisions and multiple reviews by multiple committees, you still may not have it right.

There are so many places you can go wrong:

It’s too expensive. (Someone should’ve told me that before I proposed my first “post-apocalyptic” cable advertisement.)

The client doesn’t get it.

It doesn’t feature the product enough.

“How will this make the phones ring?”

And sometimes you just completely miss the mark.

This conflict can easily occur when more abstract minds intersect with more directed minds or more simply, when two groups just aren’t on the same page.

However, it can be even more difficult when you take 30 or so creative minds and tell them to come up with one simple, short story in the span of only a few hours.

The story should be about this.

The story should be about that.

The story should be about an ear ring that turns the wearer into actor/comedian Chris Tucker, who needs to return the ear ring to a certain church or risk being stuck that way forever.

And even once you’ve decided on characters and a story, there are still more issues.

The dialogue’s flat.

That’s a cliché.

That isn’t funny.

Why would the character do that?

Why does it have to be so raunchy?

What’s so wrong with raunchy?

The audience isn’t gonna get it.

The audience isn’t stupid.

You’re gonna get it.

You’re stupid.

Put even a handful of people in a room who are passionate about creativity and who want to produce the best product, and people are going to butt heads. Because each one has a vision, and each one has a case to make as to why they are right. After all, they do all do this for a living.

In the end, we forged our creative efforts into what we thought was a pretty good, pretty funny story. And then, on the day of the shoot, the story changed even more. Sigh.

So clients, when you get a pitch or a script or a comp, and think, What the hell are these guys thinking? Rest assured, we like this idea. I’ll bet we feel pretty passionate about this idea. And we didn’t just go with the first idea that stuck to the fridge. We think this idea works for a reason. Your audience is going to get it. And it’s going to sell your product. Of course, if we ever miss the mark, we can simply blame our Creative Director. You're welcome, Ken.

But remember, sometimes short, bald, fat guys can be endearing. Just look at Danny DeVito.

I think I’ve made my point.

--Captain Awesome, Project Specialist

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Our Dying Imagination: DirecTV owes Anchorman a Thank You

Here at the Ad Agency Confessional, we have several on-going series. And this is one I'm probably most passionate about--originality and blatantly ripping off good creative. Because as time goes on, from the page to the screen, it feels like the are less and less original ideas. And what passes for "creative" are bad parodies, rehashed bits, and routines so tired clowns with seltzer bottles think they're lame. I was actually brainstorming the inaugural piece for this segment when I saw this DirecTV commercial. Now I think John Michael Higgins (the funny guy in the spot) is a hysterical actor, as are several of the other Christopher Guest players that have appeared in these DirecTV commercials. But this 2008 ad rips a joke straight out of Anchorman (2004). Of course, if you're going to rip off comedy, Anchorman isn't a bad place to start.

At about 0:51 seconds is Paul Rudd's statistical explanation of "Sex Panther's" effectiveness.



Click here if the player doesn't work.

And at about 0:13 seconds, DirecTV owes Anchorman a thank you.



DirecTV, for shame.

--Captain Awesome

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I Might Be a Sucker

Rolling my cart out of Safeway the other day, I was asked by a girl, maybe 10 or 11 years old and sitting behind a small table, “Would you like to buy some chocolate to raise money for a good cause? They’re only a dollar. The money goes to my school.” I thought, she seems excited, and I do like chocolate. Only a dollar! SOLD!

In retrospect, did I need it? I’m 40 pounds overweight, and this wasn’t some special enzyme-filled, calorie-reducing health chocolate. It wasn’t a great deal, either. I could’ve bought a Snickers in the checkout line for $0.79. Nor was it gourmet chocolate. It pretty much tasted like a Hershey bar, the same brand of miniatures I already had in my shopping cart. And as for the good cause? I don’t have any kids, so helping a school is only a benefit for me in that it keeps kids out of the way of my car during the day.

And when I asked her if it was a good school, she didn’t shout, “It’s the best school on the planet!” She shrugged her shoulders and, counting out five chocolate bars said, “Sure.” Thinking back, I'm wondering if I didn't hear her say, “Sure…sucker. And thanks for wearing your church sweatpants out on a Sunday, slob.”

DON’T JUDGE ME, LITTLE GIRL WITH YOUR CRAPPY SCHOOL!

So why did I buy this needless candy? This little girl presented an enthusiastic sales pitch for a product I already liked, followed by a reasonable price point. On top of that, it was for a good cause! I enjoy inexpensive chocolate, and I help save our nation's youth! Hooray!

So, is a strong pitch and a good deal all it takes sometimes? Is that why we still see infomercials for Tony Little's Rock and Roll Stepper?

Or why Billy Mays (Oxiclean, Orange Glo, Ding King, etc.) is such a popular pitchman?

I didn’t think I needed a Samurai Shark, but he just seemed so excited about it. Only three easy payments of $19.95! Why don’t they just give it away!

The answer is, YES.

As an ad agency, we love brilliant creative like this ad for Centraal Baheer insurance.

But not every campaign needs to be Advertising Genius. It may just need to be Advertising Smart. If you’re trying to get a brilliant concept to a hard-to-reach audience, it’s probably worth spending the extra money. But if your audience just needs a good price point to buy something they already use, like food or cleaning supplies or electronics equipment, then maybe you just need someone like this classic pitchman.

Although, as my father, Admiral Awesome, once noted, you do run the risk of annoying your potential customers. He’s vowed never to buy anything Billy Mays pitches. I said, “But Dad, he seems really excited.” He said, “Cap’n, we were really excited when you started remembering to zip up your fly, but we weren’t gonna sell it to anyone.” You win this round, old man.

So, know your message, know your audience, and decide, do I need something brilliant, or do I just need to spring Crazy Eddie out of prison?

-Captain Awesome, Project Specialist

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