ADS & Ends
Nanette Franco-Diyco
I CAUGHT an oh-so-simple, clever, and meticulously produced commercial on cable and the internet during the weekend that blew me away!
Pardon the puns. Let’s just say that it blew me to immediately hunt for the advertising agency and the director responsible for the 3D New Generation Fan 30-seconder.
3D Appliances used to advertise heavily in the 70’s and 80’s. If this brand new commercial signals a big comeback, the new 3D New Generation 30-seconder produced by Woo Advertising certainly delivers the demanded excitement. It definitely stands above the clutter of numerous electric fans commercials!
The commercial opens with a regular shot of a beautiful young woman with windblown hair and tight glowing skin. Of course, I swiftly mistook it for either a shampoo commercial or for some new skin cosmetics.
Don Sevilla, Woo Advertising’s executive creative director (ECD), described the ensuing frames: “The woman extols the virtues of her 3D Electric Fan’s longevity as a fan is switched off off-screen, cutting off the wind, revealing her to be a wrinkled old woman with sagging skin.” In 30 short seconds, the viewer’s attention is grabbed, and the attention is propelled fast to desire.
The ECD explained the creative objective of the commercial: “to push all the right buttons to deliver a simple and single-minded message in a whirlwind of 30 seconds.”
I loved the strong non-verbal message that the video trumpeted with great drama — from the woman’s youth to her geriatric years on earth, the same 3D unit was alive and well and keeping her cool.
Director Erin Pascual sprang from the agency’s storyboard: a pretty young girl transforms into an old lady. But for this to happen ostensibly right before your eyes and be credible — this was the absolutely difficult task of the director.
Director Erin revealed that for the transformation to appear real, he used prosthetics and make-up on the young girl. For details such as the length of the nose and proportion of the bridge to the eye, ultimately, he had to use bits and pieces of the video, cut into 11 pieces akin to a jigsaw puzzle, as he in turn matched the lola to her young self.
The director called it the magic of prosthetics, morphing, and compositing video on top of video. Director Erin in this commercial displayed sheer mastery in his craft.
Mr. Sevilla, during our interview, stated quite accurately that electric fans have been a staple in Filipino homes. He further pointed out that the term mahangin (windy) has often been used humorously by Pinoys to describe themselves.
“Tumatagal — kasing tibay ng Pinoy (It’s long-lasting — as strong as the Filipino)!” You can say the same for the commercial in terms of delivering a strong selling message with famed Filipino cleverness and humor.
Credits. Client-company: Northern Islands Company, Inc.
Agency: Woo — Don Sevilla III, Nina Jimenez, Gian Gonzales, Neil Fernando, and Lennard Buhay, concept team. Don Sevilla III, executive creative director; Lawrence Tan, executive business director; Hans Gahol, account director; and Pablo Suarez, producer.
Production house: Film Armada — Erin Pascual, director; Marijo Clauor, executive producer; Ike Javellana, cinematographer; and Jules Dacanay, assistant director.
Post-production house: Riot.
Nanette Franco-Diyco ended her 15th year advertising career as Vice-President of JWT, segueing into the world of academe, currently teaching communications at the Ateneo de Manila University.
