Scrapped, Panned Ads Among 5 Vying for Emmy

A Miller Lite ad from a campaign scrapped because it failed to sell beer and a Discover Brokerage Direct commercial condemned by securities regulators are among the five nominees vying for best commercial Emmy on Saturday.

As the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announces the winner, its decision is certain to spark debate over what makes a good commercial: an ad that sells or one that entertains.

Observers say that, judging from the nominees, the academy favors entertainment value.

“I doubt the Emmy judges are losing sleep over whether a product gained market share,” said Advertising Age critic Bob Garfield.

Los Angeles casting director Sheila Manning, a representative of the academy members who nominated commercials, agreed, “This is not an award for what sells.”

The Miller ad, created by Minneapolis-based Fallon McElligott, showed an overweight man dancing with a dog. The campaign has been discontinued, and the agency has been replaced.

The Discover spot, created by San Francisco-based Black Rocket, was criticized by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt for playing up the potential for riches while ignoring the possibility of losses. In the ad, 400-pound Canoga Park actor Travis McKenna played a tow-truck driver who used his online trading profits to buy his own tropical island.

Manning said the Miller ad, produced by @Radical Media of Los Angeles, breaks convention. “The standard [ad] doesn’t show a fat guy in shorts dancing with a dog,” she said.

The Discover Brokerage spot, she said, “is a brilliant acting piece. . . . The tow truck driver’s extremely likable, and you’re pleased for his success. And even though it’s a sales pitch, you never feel that.” It was produced by Santa Monica-based Tool of America.

Other nominees were:

* Fox Sports.com for an ad that shows a man diapering his child with his feet so he can surf the Fox site. Agency: Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York. Production company: MJZ, Los Angeles.

* Volkswagen of America for a commercial in which the movement of the windshield wipers on a Jetta set the rhythm for action taking place on the street. Agency: Arnold Communications, Boston. Production company: HSI Productions, Los Angeles and New York.

* Snap.com for an ad in which a boy uses the Internet to learn sign language. Agency: In-house. Production: Gartner, Los Angeles.

“These are all mini-stories, complete within themselves,” Manning said. “The sell is gone. It’s all branding now.”

This is the third year the television academy has awarded an Emmy for commercials. About 70 members--directors, producers, agencies, writers, composers and cinematographers--narrowed the 206 entries down to 25. Then 40 members in New York and 65 in Los Angeles voted for the top five. The top vote-getter will receive the Emmy.

Entries fell this year from 260 in 1998 and 300 in 1997. Manning said that the decline doesn’t reflect a lack of interest.

“People are just starting to understand what kind of commercial has a chance of winning,” she said.

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Times staff writer Ryan Cormier contributed to this report.