Guest Review

Canice Neary Creative Director Element 79 Partners, Chicago Dan Morales VP-Creative Director Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York 1- stay the hell away from my monkey! 2- you can look at my monkey 3- you can stand next to my monkey 4 - touch my monkey! 1. Toyota Tacoma "Girlfriend" Shot in faux home video style, an enraged girlfriend takes her aggression out on her beau's Tacoma, with surprisingly disappointing results. Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi/LA CCO: Steve Rabosky CD: Harvey Marco CW: Travis Sorge AD: Dino Spadavecchia Agency Producer: Elissa Singstock Director: Baker Smith/Harvest CN "Fatal Attraction" for cars. This spot rocks. I knew guys who videotaped themselves in their bitchin' new cars and wondered about them. Bet she has his attention now. It's a pretty great stunt and shooting on video gives the spot a great sense of realism. Actually, I deducted a half star for the pan to the girl right before the truck lands upright, as it's one of those, "Oh, yeah, there's the cut" moments. But I gave it back because we were told we can't give half stars, and the girl is just so darn spunky. (4) DM The last time I drove on the beach, I got stuck in the sand and I was arrested. Then again, I was sporting a 'fro, listening to Rush, and driving a Nissan Sentra wagon hatchback with five rogue surfers who are probably now in jail or the military. Seriously, this should win Product Demo of the Year. Clever idea, flawless execution. Kudos for avoiding every truck commercial cliche in the universe. (2) 2. Budweiser "Reading Room" A referee takes time out off the field to check into the "reading room" rule book, only to return with a TP tag-along. Agency: DDB/Chicago CCO: Bob Scarpelli Global CD: John Immesoete CDs: Barry Burdiak, John Hayes Agency Producers: Kevin James, Greg Popp Director: Greg & John/Partizan CN They call this advertising? Where's the product shot? What were the ARS scores? Oh, to have a client that trusts and challenges you to infiltrate pop culture every time out. No, I don't see a bottle or a glass of beer, but I see an advertiser who knows, embraces and treats its customers like intelligent human beings, as opposed to numbers. All the spots in this campaign, and this one in particular, set the record straight on what really goes on in those ref huddles. Between the refs and Leon, Bud owns the NFL. No penalties here. (3) DM When I first saw this "True" campaign a few years ago, my reaction was, Those geniuses. If you can sell a broad generic premise any brand can own to a huge client, and have it be as creatively fertile as "True," you are not small school-bus material. Nope. You, my friends, are role models. Especially, when you consistently crank out funny universal truths. It's been a good run, boys. Unfortunately, this spot is painfully not funny. I would have left it in script form. (1) 3. Bacardi "Names" In this spot from a '70s-spoofing campaign featuring the detective team Bacardi and Cola, the goofy duo "deducts" the name of a vixen twit. Agency: David & Goliath, L.A. CCO: David Angelo ACD/CW: Jim DiPiazza ACD/AD: John Davis Agency Producers: Ann Kurtzman, Marlene Winder Director: Brian Beletic/Smuggler CN I swear I saw this movie on an old USA Up All Night show with Rhonda Shear. Damn, it's fun to be stupid ("stupid" as in "stupid fresh," of course). I love the cheesy look, the titles, the music, the casting (although, isn't it bordering on racial stereotyping for the white guy to be Bacardi and the black guy Cola?), the wigs and the blonde. Although I still can't stomach the smell of Bacardi 151 due to an unfortunate incident my freshman year in college, I love this spot, and the campaign. B&C get the job done, indeed. (3) DM Nobody is having more fun right now than the creatives working on this Bacardi campaign. It's so campy and stupid, how can you not love it? With TV pilot potential, it is advertising disguised as hilarity, and that'll always score well with the high school kids. Ooops, I mean, the single twenty- and dirtysomething crowd. You know, those good-looking co-workers of yours who go out during the week and crawl into the office the next morning with a Gatorade in one hand and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich in the other. (3) 4. UPS "Quitting Time" In an oddly sentimental spot, a woman gets extra help and then some from her UPS guy. Agency: The Martin Agency Creative Supervisors: Valerie Foley, Aurica Green CWs: Valerie Foley, Rebecca Renner ADs: Aurica Green, Amy Elkin Agency Producer: Craig Jelniker Director: Kinka Usher/House of Usher CN Hallmark Hall of Fame presents: Brown is the Color of My Heart. At the risk of never being able to work in Richmond, Va., I really don't like this commercial. Or the campaign. Granted, it's hard to compete with FedEx's wonderful work the last few years, but pulling heartstrings when talking about package delivery just rings hollow. I'm sure the UPS folks are great people, but guardian angels? The copy's schmaltzy, the performances forced and seeing as they were directed by Kinka Usher, I'm still waiting for a punchline or at least for something to blow up. 0 Stars DM When I watched this spot at my desk, a female co-worker walked into my office and asked me if I was crying. Obviously, I told her, "No." When she asked me why tears were rolling down my cheeks, I told her she was fired. When she reminded me that I didn't have the authority to terminate anyone, I played her this tender spot for UPS. She found it sweet and wondered why the UPS guys who deliver our packages were never that cute. I reminded her that she was married. She then reminded me that that was only because her boyfriend was too scared to break up with her. (one star) see all TV spots from the work on www.adcritic.com

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