Aluminum shows its mettle

Stunning photography. Captivating images. Aluminum.

One of these things just doesn’t belong, but TAM-TAMTBWA has been retained to change all that and give the Aluminum Association of Canada a much-needed profile facelift.

The series of three full-page newspaper ads, which ran in Quebec dailies like the Montreal Gazette and

Le Devoir recently, was meant to raise awareness about aluminum’s contributions to Quebec’s economy, culture and society. The ads feature a violin, a plane and a juicer – photographed by prominent Montreal artist Normand Robert – in an effort to get people thinking about how aluminum affects their everyday life.

‘There was no awareness for this association, so we started out with things people know about,’ explains CD Hugues Choquette.

The campaign, which is the client’s first, also included postering.

client: Christian Van Houtte, president, Aluminum Association of Canada

strategic planning: Brigitte Mittelhammer

CD/copywriter: Hugues Choquette

AD: Michelle Petitclerc

account executive: Mélanie Beaudoin

media director: France Aumont

print production: Michelle Turbide

photography: Normand Robert

Dove raises more than self esteem

Hates her freckles. Thinks she’s ugly. Wishes she were blonde. These are all sentiments expressed by real girls in a powerful new TV spot by Dove launching its Self-Esteem Fund.

This is Dove’s next step in the Campaign for Real Beauty (see strategy’s November issue for more details on the campaign), and it takes the brand deeper into social action territory by raising more than just awareness. The fund will support eating disorder educational initiatives.

Aside from the obvious goal of challenging the way we think about beauty, the ad aims to reinforce Dove’s image as an honest, well-loved brand. ‘What we really want to illustrate is that Dove fosters and supports self-esteem among Canadian girls,’ says Dove’s marketing manager

Erin Iles. ‘We want to represent a more real standard of beauty.’

Three hundred girls responded to the Toronto-area casting call for regular kids; 17 were chosen. ‘We talked to every one of them about their feelings about being a girl,’ says Ogilvy & Mather CD Janet Kestin. ‘They agreed, very bravely in my opinion, to expose their deep insecurities to the world.’

The spot runs from mid-February to the end of March on TV and in movie theatres across Canada, and can be viewed and e-mailed from the campaign’s Web site, www.campaignforrealbeauty.com.

client: Erin Iles, marketing manager, Dove

CDs: Janet Kestin, Nancy Vonk and Martin Belanger

copywriter: Chris Dacyshyn

AD: Tim Piper

producers: Brenda Surminski, Jeff McDougall

account manager: Aviva Groll

prodco: New New Films

director/DOP: Michael Rowles

editor: Michelle Czukar, Panic & Bob

music shop: Grayson Matthews

music: Cindy Lauper ‘True Colours’ (English version), Arianne Moffat (original music for French version)

From divorce to death in 120 seconds (X9)

Let’s talk about death. And divorce. And fiscal responsibility.

Not fun topics. But, Montreal agency bleu blanc rouge has tackled all three and more in a series of engaging TV spots for its client Chambre des notaries du Quebec. They’re taking an unconventional approach and broadcasting nine original two-minute TV spots during

Radio-Canada’s Tout le monde en parle, airing weekly beginning Feb. 6.

This is the first time the agency has done two-minutes spots. ‘We thought: wouldn’t it be great to do a show within a show?’ says Francis Armstrong, bleu blanc rouge communications partner. ‘We had a locomotive that could carry us through two minutes.’

The locomotive is popular Quebecois comedian Pierre Légaré, who the campaign’s CD Normand Vaillancourt likens to George Carlin and Larry David. Légaré has been the company’s spokesperson for almost five years, and he doesn’t just read the scripts – he helps write them.

‘We write a boring ad, and he makes it come alive,’ says Armstrong. The spots feature Légaré talking about life-changing events that notaries can help you get through smoothly, like the birth of a child or the break-up of a common law relationship. ‘He takes a subject that is difficult and makes it easy to understand,’ says Vaillancourt.

The ads are based on the insight that most people don’t want to think about potentially unpleasant life transitions, and aim to make them realize they need to be prepared for such events – and that their local notary can help.

While the nine two-minutes spots are being broadcast one time only, the agency has taken three popular segments and pared them down to 30 seconds. These can be seen on Quebec airwaves for the next few months on regular networks and several specialty channels. The original ads are featured on the client’s Web site (www.cdnq.org), and supporting print ads and inserts ran in major Quebec newspapers like La Presse and Le Soleil.

client: Antonin Fortin, communications manager, Chambre des notaries du Quebec

CD: Normand Vaillancourt

copywriter: Pierre Légaré

ADs: Harold Girard (print), Pierre-Yves Dupuis (TV)

client services: Francis Armstrong, Catherine Patry

director: Claude Desrosiers

prodco: Qu4tre par Quatre

producer: Joseph Hillel

DOP: Ronald Plante

editor: Claude-Antoine Guibord, Qu4tre par Quatre

sound: Audio Z

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Bos brings the interweb to life

Are you satisfying your computer’s innermost desires? Or is it hitting the streets when you’re not around, lusting after the speed you’re denying it

– a speed only Videotron can provide?

Bos extrapolates on the odd relationship we have with our computers in a series of TV spots, that launched in January, featuring anthropomorphic monitors. The first ad presented the computer as man’s best friend, complete with wagging tail.

The latest spot, which is running on major networks across Quebec, depicts a dreamy computer longing for speed. It aims to position Videotron as the fastest Internet service provider, and to present a more human

side of the company. The wistful monitor is seen enviously watching

speed-skaters, planes and fast cars, and finally finding what it’s craving at a storefront display for Videotron’s high speed Internet service.

‘It’s a very rational approach, played in an absurd way,’ explains Bos copywriter André Paradis. The ad has a broad target, based on the insight that consumers of all ages are becoming more and more tech savvy and very (perhaps unnaturally) attached to their computers.

client: Marc Poirier, director, advertising & communications, Videotron

CD: Roger Gariépy

copywriter: André Paradis

AD: Scott Park

agency producer: Manon Auger

account executives: Manon Auger, Martin Sansregret, François Mailloux

prodco: Jet Films

director: Patrice Sauvé

DOP: Bruce Chun

editor: Michel Groulx, Bureau de Post

music: Normand Corbeil

sound: Andrès Norambuena, Studio La Majeure

You are cordially invited to submit your new, dead clever and

previously unrevealed campaigns to: editorial director Mary Maddever at mmaddever@brunico.com and creative director Stephen Stanley at sstanley@brunico.com, co-curators of strategy’s Creative space.