Parodist Director Goes ‘Live’ With Funny Ads

It is late Saturday night. You are home in bed eating pizza and watching “Saturday Night Live.” When the opening skit is over, a TV commercial flashes on the screen.

In the ad, several actors are waltzing around in a trance-like state. Oh no, you think, it’s another ad for Calvin Klein’s Obsession. You almost turn off the TV. But wait--this is no Obsession ad. These are “Saturday Night Live” actors mumbling something about Calvin Klein’s “Compulsion.” And this is no costly perfume, a narrator says, but “the most expensive cleaning fluid in the world.” Remarks one actor, “Ah, the price of it.”

This, of course, is a parody of a real commercial. And the man who has directed more of these “Saturday Night Live” commercial parodies than anyone else--James Signorelli--has just signed on with a New York production house to begin filming real commercials.

“I’d be hard-pressed to say that I haven’t sold out,” said Signorelli, who has agreed to direct ads for Pfeifer/Lopes Productions. “But it’s not as if I’ll be producing ads promoting nuclear war or in favor of famine. Hopefully, I can do real ads--and do them better than just about anyone else.”

For a few days last week, it looked as though Signorelli would have some competition from another big name in comedy--Second City. Last week, the Chicago theater and TV company that specializes in improvisational comedy said it was setting up a new unit called the Second City Comedy Marketing Group.

For years, the stars of Second City and “Saturday Night Live” have appeared in advertisements. Rich Hall starred in a series of ads for Pizza Hut, and Joe Piscopo has been featured in a campaign for Miller Lite. One of the most popular commercials aired during this year’s Super Bowl was an American Express ad that featured “Saturday Night Live” stars Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz.

But “Saturday Night Live” and Second City have built their reputations, in part, with biting parodies of silly TV commercials. Now top creative talent from these two big names in comedy have been asked to be the brains behind some of the same commercials that they have spoofed.

“These guys made a bundle making parody ads,” said Barry Weintraub, publisher of Comedy USA Newswire, a comedy industry newsletter. “Now they’re gonna turn around and mock themselves?”

Clearly, there is big money to be made in creating funny TV commercials. So, the new Second City marketing division spent thousands of dollars mailing out flashy videos to top advertising and marketing executives nationwide. A brochure accompanying the videos said that Second City was going to create, produce and supply actors for TV commercials.

Then, several hours after an interview with a reporter, the president and executive producer of Second City called the reporter back and said he was calling the whole deal off.

“You come to Hollywood and you get bombarded with all sorts of ideas that aren’t right for you,” said Andrew Alexander, who moved to Los Angeles earlier this year to set up a Second City comedy club in Santa Monica and to work on several film and TV deals. “You have to be careful about the moves you make. I guess I wasn’t careful enough with this one.”

Alexander has turned down all kinds of lucrative offers for Second City sponsorships. Several beer companies have waved big bucks to have their names appear prominently at Second City comedy clubs. Most recently, the makers of Coppertone also presented a substantial offer to Second City. But when a New York marketing firm, LF&M; Network, proposed setting up a commercial marketing division for Second City, Alexander agreed.

“Then I realized, if you start moving on both sides, where does that leave you?” said Alexander. “How can you be saying one thing on stage, and another thing in TV commercials? So far, we’ve had a good record of being independent.”

Some experts in comedy marketing say that Alexander--and others like him--have every right to sell their skills to advertisers. “These guys are all great talents and that’s what major advertisers are looking for,” said Richard Fields, whose publicly held company, Catch A Rising Star Inc., operates a dozen comedy clubs nationwide. “Why shouldn’t these people produce ads?”

Comedian David Steinberg co-owns a Hollywood production company, Highlight Productions, for which he has produced and directed a number of commercials, including several of the Jell-O ads starring Bill Cosby.

“It’s a very lucrative business,” said Steinberg, who was in Hawaii shooting an ad for Health & Tennis Corp. that features singer Sheena Easton. “Because I shoot commercials,” said Steinberg, who also aspires to direct feature films, “I can be more selective in my choice of feature scripts.”

The man who has signed Signorelli to produce real ads said it’s all a matter of talent. “Advertising has lost all of its color and personality. Clients are fit to be tied,” said Charles Pfeifer, president of Pfeifer/Lopes Productions. “Then along comes this guy. Kids love his stuff. So why can’t he use that same science to make advertisements that he uses in his parodies?”

Each year, Signorelli directs about 15 parody ads for “Saturday Night Live.” These parodies cost $20,000 to $40,000 each to produce--which is about one-fourth the cost of conventional commercials.

But the parodies take up only a small portion of his time. Signorelli is also a film director who has two features to his credit: “Elvira,” a comedy that starred the buxom hostess of horror films, and “Easy Money,” which starred Rodney Dangerfield. Both were box-office flops.

“Commercials are high pay and short duration,” said Signorelli. “They are the perfect way for feature directors who are working to cash in quickly.”

Will creating commercials harm his image at “Saturday Night Live”?

“I’m certainly not going to lose my tenure because I direct a commercial,” said Signorelli. “Whether its a real ad or a parody, it’s all about entertaining the audience.”

Venice Ad Firm Wins Quaker State Account

It took a lot longer than a 10-minute lube job. But after a four-month review, newly merged Chiat/Day/Mojo on Monday won the $10-million advertising business for Quaker State Minit-Lube.

A new campaign for the Salt Lake City company should break by January, said Jeffrey J. O’Neil, president of the 365-store chain of quick-lube services. The ads were formerly created by Evans Communications of Salt Lake City.

Even with this win, Chiat/Day/Mojo remains hungry--very hungry--for a type of client it can’t seem to hang onto: fast food.

After all, the Venice firm has won--and lost--the ad business for three different pizza chains over the past three years. It has created ads for Shakey’s, Pizza Hut and most recently Dallas-based Pizza Inn--a $7-million piece of business that it dropped last month.

The agency made a stab for the Burger King business earlier this year, but the hamburger chain showed little interest. So, Chiat/Day/Mojo is one of the only $1-billion advertising agencies in America that doesn’t have even one morsel of fast-food business.

But if Bob Wolf has anything to say about it, that won’t last long. “Sure, we’d like to get a Wendy’s or Hardee’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken,” said Wolf, who is president of the agency’s Los Angeles office. Amid speculation that D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles might not be able to keep clients Burger King and Denny’s both happy at the same time, Wolf said that Chiat/Day/Mojo would be interested in Denny’s, too.

Yet Chiat/Day/Mojo won’t jump for just any fast-food business. The agency was recently approached by the In-N-Out Burger chain when it was reviewing ad shops. But Chiat/Day/Mojo declined to even enter the review. Said Wolf, “They’re too small for us.”

Frozen Yogurt Chain Takes Hot Fudge Poll

What do you get when you mix penguins with hot dripping fudge?

That is the exact question that a production crew spent a recent weekend asking people at Venice Beach, Melrose and along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Some of the oddball answers to the question will be aired later this month in a series of TV commercials for the Penguin’s frozen yogurt chain.

“This was a walking Rorschach test,” said Larry Bridges, who directed the ad filmed by his Hollywood company, Red Car Productions. One Los Angeles hairdresser compared various hair styles to Penguin’s desserts. And a UCLA drama student recited dialogue from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” but kept substituting the word “Penguin” for Juliet.

While filming the ads, which were created by Mendelsohn/Zien in Los Angeles, the production crew was booted out of several grocery stores and shopping malls. Said Bridges: “We were kicked out of some of the best places in town.”