Advertising – Leanne Padgett

TIM & ERIC’S AWESOME NEW GE AD, GREAT JOB!

This new G.E. ad is a perfect combination of three things I like very much: Tim & Eric, app-controlled devices, and Jeff Goldblum. Introducing the new GE smart bulb called Link!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egIY7ushchU

Also, it is super funny. I love how weird it is, plus it made me laugh pretty hard. I am kind of surprised G.E. agreed to do it.

I usually find this style of advertising really corny and unfunny. For example, I didn’t like the OldSpice Guy on a Horse (“The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”) or the Mr. Wolfdog commercials because I felt like they went overboard on the cheese factor. But now I think maybe they didn’t go overboard enough. The ads that are directed by Tim & Eric push the boundaries even further, and the concept enters into the territory of bizarre and slightly uncomfortable.

Here’s a compilation of the Old Spice ads directed by Tim & Eric and starring Terry Crews, which I find disturbingly delightful (be prepared for some yelling and weird stuff):

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Renton campaign – Final

We had a lot of fun working on the Renton campaign. Thanks again to Elizabeth Ogle for her awesome help with the photography, cinematography and editing!!

So, without further adieu, I could not be prouder to introduce the final TV commercials for the Renton campaign!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKruYTnRPrY&w=560&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUq5QKCVq-8&w=560&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y11mNfaLcko&w=560&h=315]

As you can see, I also did a logo redesign using typography and graphic elements that mimic the History Museum building.

And here are the final posters…

That’s it for now!! What a fun project. I can’t wait to do more!

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Renton Campaign – video shoot

Well, we survived our Renton Redneck video shoot! The ads are busily being edited, but I thought I would post a few pictures from the shoot.

The fabulous and terrific Elizabeth Ogle scouted the most amazingly appropriate location that could not have been closer to my original ad comp. When I first showed her the below comp, she was like “hey! I know a place that looks like that!” Here’s a reminder of what we started with:

And what we ended up with:

The original idea was to have a guy and a girl who were playing a couple, but our female actor had another commitment. We thought we would have to settle for one guy for the shoot, but we found him a buddy!

The video is hilarious and I couldn’t stop laughing while we were shooting. What a fun time we had.

For now, feast your eyes upon a few stills… video to come soon enough!

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Renton Abbey

I heard this morning during the Bob Rivers show that the Almost Live folks are back with a show called The 206, which features a sketch called “Renton Abbey”. In keeping with the Almost Live tradition of butchering the hell out of a joke, these are sort of gross and not very funny. However, I decided to include a couple of them here, as it shows the set decoration I hope to achieve with Renton campaign. I pray to the heavenly Gods that my videos will be funnier than this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQBb1wXzbBY&w=560&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALIBNmYiRyo&w=560&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awwT9zA0BHM&w=560&h=315]

We will begin shooting video as well as still shots this weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the results!!

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Renton Campaign – ad comps

I am happy with how this project is developing! I have secured a photographer, Elizabeth Ogle, who is very excited to be contributing to this project. I wanted to collaborate with her because of her use of bright colors, animated, gestural poses and most importantly, humor in her portfolio (www.elizabethogle.com). And since humor is at the core of my concept, I knew that I needed a photographer who understands the joke. Luckily for me, she accepted the challenge!

Elizabeth and I met last Saturday morning at a cute little coffee shop in old downtown Renton (Common Ground Coffee & Cupcakes), and I shared my ideas with her for the photo shoot as well as the video. We battled the blustery weather over to the museum and met some of the people who work there, who are always super friendly and full of wonderful information. We drove around and did a little location scouting afterward and I took her to the Cedar River to see the salmon spawning.

Turns out, Elizabeth knows some people who might be interested in acting in the video and being models for the shoot. They are unemployed and keen to be compensated with six packs of PBR tall-boys. We have requested their participation and are awaiting their reply.

Here are some further refinements of the ads for the Renton campaign, with some comps of what they would look like in actual advertising scenarios.

The video component of this project would consist of 2-3 short, 30 second television commercials, which would air on JoeTV in the evening from 6-8pm alongside Vern Fonk, The Jewelry Exchange and other local commercials. The ads would show the beauty of Renton, juxtaposed with the humorous perception that people have of the community. The interviewer would be off-camera, asking the actors questions about the history of Renton and the Renton History Museum, and the actors would reply with ridiculously inaccurate responses. This is my rather simplistic storyboard for the concept of the ad.

We won’t likely be able to start shooting for another week or so, but we are both chomping at the bit to get started on this. I think the outcome will be hilarious.

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Ad campaign: Renton. It’s not what you think.

Here is my mood board for the my promotional campaign for the City of Renton.

We did our initial planning shoot today and I got some video (the audio isn’t good, but it’s pretty funny and captures where I would like to go with this project):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYrEIyB2nkQ&w=420&h=315]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mgaLe94ZZk&w=420&h=315]

I would love to do a short TV ad, as well as a poster campaign. I am not sure about the third piece yet. I have a photographer lined out who is very excited to work on this project.

And here is my initial shot at layout:

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Revitalize Renton!

It started as a joke.

A couple of years ago, I was driving past the Renton History Museum with my dad. I said, “I’d like to go there someday,” to which my dad responded, “The Renton History Museum? What do they have in there? A bunch of really old 6-packs of Rainier Lager?”

And we laughed and laughed… but I never did visit the museum.

I was intrigued by the architecture of the building, which has a distinctive Art Deco-style and is very old, but well-maintained. It looked really cool. It’s located in old downtown Renton, which is super retro and quaint. I thought about going down there many Saturday afternoons, but never did.

Last week, we picked our clients for our advertising campaign. We have been tasked with creating an integrated cross-media concept for a civic or public service cause. My choice was clear: I would promote the city of Renton, old downtown Renton and the Renton History Museum.

When I ran it past my teacher, he said the idea was hilarious.

Lets face it — Renton’s reputation ain’t so spiffy.

Honestly, I don’t like to tell people I live in Renton. When I tell people where I live, they generally laugh or say sorry.

Since moving here two years ago, I am ashamed to say that I haven’t gotten to know my city very well. I like my apartment, I like my neighborhood, and I like that parking is plentiful and stuff is cheap, but that’s about where it ends for me. Before yesterday, I don’t think I have ever spent time exploring downtown Renton. And the reason for that is the same as it would be for anyone else: FEAR.

This fear is based on a pretty widely held perception that Renton is, at worst, violent and dangerous, and at best lame as hell.

At one point, I was so desperate for local social activities that, inspired by Fight Club, I seriously entertained the idea of joining Alcoholics Anonymous just for the social interaction.

This is a shame, because in my travels yesterday, I experienced some wonderful things. First of all, the old downtown Renton is really cute. There are some great coffee shops, old malt-shop-style restaurants and antique stores. There are lots of outdoor hangout spots. The Piazza is an outdoor space that hosts a variety of amazing community events like farmers markets and festivals. The sense of community is palpable.

What shocked me the most was learning that the crime rates in Renton are actually lower than in Seattle. Aside from it being a little “rapey”, all the other stats are considerably lower than I expected them to be. If you compare Seattle to Renton, Renton actually comes out safer.

Being a history buff, my favorite part about downtown Renton is that it is like stepping back in time. The shop fronts on 3rd (which is basically the “main drag” of old downtown), are the same as they were in the 1950s, and not in a bad way. Seriously, this place has everything! Restored old buildings! Original doorways! Sewing machine stores!!! There is something to be said for areas where everything hasn’t been torn down and rebuilt to look like every other place in the world.

It’s kitchy and quaint and has amazing potential to be a pretty cool destination.

3rd Street borders a very cute residential neighborhood full of war era houses, and some of the houses have been converted into businesses. Having been raised in a small town, I always delight in seeing a law office that looks like this:

Anyway, I finally did make it to the Renton History Museum, and it did not disappoint. I arrived in early afternoon, and there was a children’s event taking place in the middle of the museum. Jennifer, the volunteer greeter at the door, assured me that if I wanted to have a look around it would be fine, but I might want to come back after the pirate show had wrapped up. I ventured forth, supplied with pamphlets, hand-outs and a ballot (the museum is hosting a community photography contest, and I was asked to vote) into the screaming belly of the museum. I thought to myself, this is not how I pictured this AT ALL. It was noisy. It was alive.

After the show, parents and children milled about and ate from the platter of homemade cookies that were supplied by the museum. I caught myself wondering: ‘where do these people come from? Surely not gross old Renton’. It was fun and friendly. People were eating. Kids were touching stuff. People approached me and started a conversation. It certainly didn’t seem like any museum I had ever been to before. Then I realized, this is community. This is a gathering place.

Turns out, Renton has a rich tapestry of history. Like, enough to fill the whole entire book that I brought home. Who knew? I’m not going to go into the history in detail right now, but my favorite fun-fact is that the Art Deco-style museum building is the last remaining structure in the area built under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Oh, and also, Captain Renton (yes, there was a Captain Renton) was originally a Canadian. BOOYAH. SUCK IT TREBEK.

Captain William Renton (1818-1891), ca. 1875
Courtesy Renton Historical Society

I realize I have my work cut out for me. I am swimming up-stream, against a reputation that has been around for decades. But I feel like there are enough residents interested in creating good community in Renton that it can be done. I met quite a few of them yesterday. I am sure that Ian from Rely on Renton (relyonrenton.com) will be a valuable contact, as will be the folks at the Renton Historical Society. My target market will be the community of Renton, I’m basically marketing Renton to Renton. We’re gonna bring out the good! Push out the bad! It’s go time!!

Yes, that’s a zombie photo tent. And I’ve been told that zombie guy is running for office.