Funny

I love these two new ads for OfficeMax. From the expression on the guys face on the “He didn’t do it” boards to the father’s exclamation of “I love coil bindings,” these are funny. Not only that, but both of these ads do a great job of telling a story. Rarely do funny ads actually convey their intended message across to the viewer. Kudos go out to DDB Chicago for putting this series together(Bill Cimino as Group/VP CD with Mark Olson producing). Both of these were edited by Bryan Buckley from Hungry Man with audio work done by Another Country(great name + props for the killer funk riff at the end of Boyfriend).

You can now(3/2/07) view the ads here: Boyfriend and Jury.

UPDATE: Edited per request to remove youtube link

This is what happens when you have a great ad that has a horrible voice-over. Interesting concept, however when it gets to the voice-over, instead of sounding Asian, the voice sounds Eastern-European. As someone on adsoftheworld stated, “the narrator sounds like Arnold Schwatzenager!”

They should have found Gedde Watanabe from Sixteen Candles/UHF fame to do the voice. He, or someone sounding similar, would have been perfect for this piece.

BBDO Atlanta is the agency on record with Marcus Kemp as ECD. This is a fairly new account for BBDO having been awarded it just last April after beating out Fitzgerald + Co. The spot was directed by Kohl Norville from Blue Planet with Shawn Conrad being credited for “sound.” This is the same team that brought you the holiday Georgia Lotto spot – Leonard …”The man’s a bullrider.”

UPDATE: After re-watching this ad and having a few conversations via email with other bloggers/readers, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is a lot more wrong with this piece than simply the voice-over. Overly utilizing stereotypes of this nature makes this ad somewhat racist. I can’t imagine it was done on purpose, however as with most campaigns, if an ad makes it to the screen, that means a good amount of people had to sign off on it. Poor judgment on all their parts.