McDonald’s losing Millennial audiences;
suffering in sales of product to 20-somethings; major menu redo to gain market
share. While a thoroughly interesting issue and story, one of which I’ve regarded
curiously lately (see my retweet at R_TiffanyAnne) I knew in this issue of Ad Age I had to turn directly to the
article on AT&T’s “Not Complicated” campaign, aka my favorite TV spots, perhaps,
ever! Forget the major headline stuff this week, I want to know who made those
spots, what was the inspiration and are those adorably rambling first-graders
scripted or natural?
IT
CAME FROM ATLANTA
To quote one of my fav pigtailed stars from
these spots, “I want more, I want more, I like it I want more.” In November we
had the first chance to catch one of the “Not Complicated” spots where a group
of four children and one straight-edged man help us understand the one-ups
AT&T has over competitor’s wireless networks. As Ad Age put it, “the secret sauce was in the first-graders
imaginations.” BBDO, Atlanta brainstormed a simple concept, with remarkable flexibility
that enables producers to hone in on one clear message at a time, illustrated
with a hilarious, surprisingly human effect.
GUIDED
IMPROV
While the NBA version is “ok” (however, my
husband was most impressed by the star collection of athletes), “dizzy boy”
wiggling his head while waving his hand – aka “multitasking message” – in front
of an overly impressed moderator makes me laugh out loud every time I watch.
So, was this tiny tike told to yabber-on about how much he could shake and
wiggle, or was this a natural occurrence? “Guided improve” as I’ve come to
understand. Scripts were prepared in case nothing was useable, but otherwise
moderator Beck Bennett who is also part of comedy group Good Neighbor, guided
foursomes of six-year-olds through whatever their imagination brought them
while talking through topics like the importance of fast versus slow.
HARD
TO MAKE IT LOOK SO EASY
Each round of spots required shooting four or
five different groups of kids a day, with two hours devoted to each group.
Overly talkative kids were paired with attentive but not as “big energy” children
as Ad Age specified, (we all
understand how kids can go off subject). During editing if the spot felt too
scripted or unnatural, it was ditched. The result is a series of comedy spots
that have become a pop-culture phenomenon, drawing praise not just from the industry
but from your buddy at the water cooler too.
