Everything Old Is New Again in Some Television Commercials
It sure sounds like a new TV spot. The music and narration are brand-spanking new. To casual viewers, it could almost look like a fresh commercial, too.
But those who look more closely at Nike’s newest TV spot--filled with favorite moments from past “Just Do It” commercials--might think that they’ve seen it all before. And they’re right. The commercial is basically a mishmash of short scenes from past Nike ads. The octogenarian jogger. The athlete in a wheelchair. A younger Andre Agassi. They’re all there again.
“We didn’t do it with the intention of saving money,” Nike spokeswoman Liz Dolan said. “We did it because people keep asking us if they could see these scenes again.”
Whatever its intent, Nike saved a bundle on the ad. Ad executives estimate that it costs five times more to film a new commercial than to edit used footage into what appears to be a new ad. In this ad, they estimate, Nike may have saved up to $500,000 in production costs.
As advertisers continue to look for ways to cut costs, plenty are latching on to this seemingly simple formula: Make the old look new. Amusement parks, including Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Sea World, are increasingly splicing scenes from old commercials and pasting them into new ones. So are retailers, including McDonald’s, Lucky Stores, C&R; Clothiers and Home Depot, to name a few.
“Everyone is concerned about budgets these days,” said Phil Labhart, whose Los Angeles production company, Labhart Production Group, has shot and re-edited ads for Sea World. “It costs so much to shoot a commercial that it only makes sense to see if you can go back, re-edit it and get a new one for a fraction of the cost.”
Ad executives say they are increasingly being pressured by clients to save on production costs. And with good reason. It is sometimes more expensive to produce the commercials than the TV shows on which they appear. Many commercials require production crews of more than 20 people--including camera operators, art directors, lighting specialists, wardrobe and makeup experts.
“The tighter times get, the more clients expect this sort of thing,” said Miles Turpin, chairman of Grey Advertising’s Western division, which creates ads for Lucky Stores. “If you spend too much on production, you’re reducing the amount of dollars to broadcast your message.”
Grey keeps its own library of film from past Lucky commercials. It pulls out whatever short scenes it needs when Lucky runs promotional specials on grocery items such as produce. “These ads don’t run very long,” Turpin explained. “So they don’t justify a big expense.”
Sea World is among the biggest users of this sort of advertising. A TV commercial pushing nighttime visits to Sea World that has been running in Los Angeles and San Diego features footage that is several years old.
“We don’t have different model years of killer whales,” said Tom Olson, vice president of marketing at San Diego-based Sea World of California. “Certainly, with the rise in production expenses we’re anxious to use stuff we don’t have to refilm.” In fact, all four Sea World parks share commercial footage.
Ditto for Disneyland. Its current spot for the park’s 35th anniversary is filled mostly with 2 1/2-year-old footage of its famous nighttime Electrical Parade. “It wouldn’t make sense to spend a whole bunch of money to recreate that,” said Henry Caroselli, director of creative services for Walt Disney Co.
Instead, the company filmed some scenes of the parade’s new 35th anniversary float and edited it into the ad. “It’s essentially the same commercial freshened up,” Caroselli said.
And a TV promotion that Knott’s Berry Farm recently ran for Camp Snoopy was mostly filled with stock footage that the amusement park’s agency, Davis, Ball & Colombatto, had on hand. That probably saved $50,000 in production costs, said Brad Ball, president of the agency.
Perhaps no one believes more strongly in reusing old footage in new ads than Jack Roth, president of Admarketing. “I think it’s something that should be done all the time,” he said. Some commercials that Admarketing recently created for its client, men’s store C&R; Clothiers, not only feature new faces but also scenes with several men from its old ads.
But Roth insists that the motive wasn’t just to save on production costs. One striking model who appeared in past ads as a weightlifter is clearly a favorite among viewers. “If we hadn’t used his segment again,” said Roth, “there probably would have been a backlash.”
New Agency Cracks Open Egg Account
If Madison Avenue can make red meat sound healthy, why not eggs?
The California Egg Commission awarded its $4.5-million ad account to the agency Davis, Ball & Colombatto last week. “We’re going to attack the health issue head-on,” said Brad Ball, president of the Los Angeles agency.
The slogan “2,000-mile-old eggs” has been dumped, along with the agency that created it, Asher/Gould. By January, look for TV and print ads that address the cholesterol issue and promote healthier ways of eating eggs.
Certainly, California egg sales need a boost. They have slipped steadily for the past three years, said Robert Pierre, commission president. Ball, whose agency also creates ads for McDonald’s Operators of Southern California, thinks that he knows how his agency won the business. Before its presentation to the egg commission late last week, it served Egg McMuffins to some 20 executives. “I told them, if they didn’t eat eggs, how could they expect the general public to,” Ball said. Every McMuffin was gobbled.
C&R; to Sponsor Hunk Competition
C&R; Clothiers is looking for a few good men.
Sometime in mid-September, the Culver City men’s clothing chain will sponsor a Southern California competition for men to appear in ads. C&R;’s commercials feature hunks who might be lifting weights one second, then wearing fancy suits the next. They do this to the tune, “What a Difference a Day Makes.” The year-old campaign has resulted in a flood of inquiries from women who want their husbands, boyfriends and sons to appear in the ads.
“It’s become a phenomenon,” said Jack Roth, president of Admarketing, the agency that created the campaign.
The rules for the contest are yet to be determined--but entry forms will be available at C&R; Clothiers stores sometime in September. Winners will appear in C&R; commercials next spring.
Alas, no female contestants, please. C&R; only sells men’s fashions. Of course, there’s always Admarketing’s women’s clothing client--Clothestime.
Hot Account Prospect on Ice Indefinitely
The review for one of the West Coast’s most sought-after pieces of advertising business, the $30-million New Line Cinema account, has been indefinitely postponed.
“We do not expect to make any decision this year,” said Sandra J. Ruch, president of marketing for the film company that released the hit film “Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles” and most recently “Metropolitan.” For now, the media-buying account remains with New York-based Independent Media Service.
Nearly a dozen agencies--about half from Los Angeles--participated in the review. But New Line executives have more pressing things on their minds. Last month, New Line moved from New York to Beverly Hills. It has since hired a dozen new employees in its marketing department, and it has been busy preparing five new films for release.
Is the agency review dead? To that, Ruch says only, “We may not make any more changes.”
It’s Tahiti Revisited for L.A. Ad Agency
About the only thing better than winning a trip to Tahiti may be winning the Tahiti Tourist Board’s $2.5-million advertising account.
William C. Vogel has won both. His Los Angeles agency, Vogel Communications, which lost the account to Davis, Ball & Colombatto nearly two years ago, has won it back and will launch a new print campaign in September.
Gone is its recent ad slogan, “Two hours beyond Hawaii, 50 years behind it.” That will be replaced by “A vacation of a different color,” which promotes Tahiti’s attractions by labeling them with different colors: true blue, for example, for the sea and sky.
