	Katherine Pryor Edited Butterball Spots in Adweek's Best of Nov. '06 Adweek, 12/12/2006 -- Introduction by Eleftheria Parpis, Adweek Creative Editor The yearly onslaught of commercials with jingling bells, Christmas carols and "heart-warming" gift-giving scenes is enough to make anyone a Scrooge. Elves were in abundance in November's new spots-even a guy who surgically gives himself elf ears to hear his mobile calls better. So were Santas of many kinds: a skinny Santa whose beard is askew, a Santa scolding his elves for stealing gifts, a Santa that even builds a car. The oddest addition to the usual Christmas characters was a holiday hawk from Sierra Mist. Advertising its seasonal Cranberry Splash, the spot features two of the improv Mist-Takes comedians, but the star of the spot is the hawk. Michael Ian Black and Jim Gaffigan sit on a bench talking about the product and how it only comes out once a year and then it disappears, like "the holiday hawk," says Black. Gaffigan doesn't believe him until a hawk lands on his head... and proceeds to sing "Jingle Bells." Trust me, it's funny. But my favorite holiday campaign actually came from an unexpected place: a thanksgiving-themed campaign from Butterball turkeys. It is their selling season after all, but these ads, homemade video greetings to family members, are more about bringing people together than they are about poultry. Many of them feature children sending their love to their grandparents. Watching them, you can feel the warm and fuzzies snag you. Sounds like the ads would be schmaltzy, but instead they come across fresh, endearing and even funny. In one spot a guy won't stop talking turkey until his mother sends him her stuffing recipe. Delving into the dark side of the holidays, a new TLC ad introduced its holiday Life Lessons figurine collection to help make the holidays "bearable." The ad features each collectible with a scene of the mirth and merriment. For the "if you're not in the holiday spirit, just fake it" statue (a guy wearing an "I love Scrooge" T-shirt with elves crawling all over him) an office worker walks over to a colleague's desk and crushes the annoying dancing Santa on her desk. Another, "never let your in-laws see you crack," is demonstrated by a holiday family dinner gone wrong. A father-in-law's polite request, "Can you pass the gravy?" is met with a cheery, "Yeah, can you keep your dandruff off my table?" It's about all the stuff that you hate about the holidays. It ends with a return to the unhinged office worker, who is now being escorted out of the office by a policeman. The fired employee suggests, "this holiday, don't be angry, be merry with TLC's Life Lessons." I guess we'll try-or else fake it. Guest Critic: Jason Gaboriau, Creative Director / Founding Partner, Amalgamated, New York Thank you, Adweek, for inviting me to be this month's Guest Critic. It was a great month for work. There were some fun Thanksgiving-specific spots, some interesting new campaign launches and some surprising extensions of existing campaigns. I had a lot of fun reviewing them. Apple iMac continues to do smart work with its, "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" campaign. This is probably one of the best directly competitive campaigns of all time. "Gift Exchange," which side-steps the smugness is one of the more charming of the recent ones. What it has going for it is a highly amusing holiday sweater and a nice touch of meta-advertising that uses the photo album of still frames from the campaign's past ads. I was surprised at how the Butterball campaign turned me into a big, weepy pansy. This spot is a modern-day version of the "Wish you were here" postcard, with more sincerity, but still saying "Look how much fun we're having with turkey, and without you." The people are genuine, the situations are real, and in the YouTube age it makes videotape actually seem nostalgic. The one weird thing is that the ads acknowledge how hard it is for people to be together for the holidays, but then demands absolute Martha Stewart-like perfectionism anyway, with cranberry sauce. Just when you think they can't keep the caveman from becoming an over-saturated bore (like Britney Spears' poonani), Martin comes up with another funny and strategically smart twist on selling GEICO car insurance. Here, he encounters a subtle bit of anti-caveman-ism from his own therapist, and calls her on it. The dialogue is sharp, the acting is perfect, and the closing line about his mother is, for this New Yorker, right on target. MasterCard's latest spot, "Diehard Peyton," stars Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts as a pep-talking, supportive coach of all the fumblers in his daily life. In advertising, casting is everything. I would suggest that next time, McCann go with Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, a true American, a fine actor, and one of the best QB's of the modern era. Nike's "Pool," starring LeBron James in several different roles, is one of their most original spots in a while. It's the-best-of-Nike-meets-the-best-of-Eddie Murphy, and it barely feels like an ad. Its tone is utterly perfect thanks to great comic timing, a super-cool location, a fantastic soundtrack and an enviable pair of fake legs. When this ad comes on, you don't go to the bathroom, you hold it in. When the Miller High Life ad "Bistro" comes on, then you can pee. Not long after giving us some of the best-written spots of the last 10 years, like "Foxhole" and "Deviled Egg," they now come up with (maybe appropriately, for the beer) a watered-down version of their real-man message. Would a place that sells $11.50 burgers even offer $2 cans of High Life? But I forgive them. I'm just a little cranky because I'm writing this at a café, waiting for my $50 foie gras burger and $11 bottle of Chimay to arrive. Best Spots of November 2006 Butterball "Ian & Anna" Leo Burnett/Chicago Consumers submitted homemade videos for this holiday campaign. Here, young kids Ian and Anna jump up and down on the couch as they tell Gamma and Pappy they'll miss being with them for Thanksgiving. The perfect crowning touch is Anna's "gobble, gobble" signoff. Creative Credits Executive CD/Art Director: Paul Hirsch Executive CD/Copywriter: Josh Denberg Executive Producer: David Moore Agency Producer: Karen Reid Production Company: Silent Partners Films/Chicago Director/DP: Todd Klein Editor: Katherine Pryor/Optimus, Chicago Online Editor: Rob Churchill/Filmworkers Club, Chicago Colorist: Michael Mazur/Filmworkers Club, Chicago Audio Engineer: Jeff Van Steen/Chicago Recording Company, Chicago

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