Young & Rubicam’s tradition of strong storytelling earned it a heap of metal for its clever ideas, which were deftly executed by some of Canada’s top directorial talent.

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While it is challenging to evoke emotion in the brevity of a 30-second spot in a field rife with eye candy, Young & Rubicam senior vp and co-creative director John Farquhar says, ‘When it is done well it cuts through like crazy.’

‘I think every commercial should have an emotional element to it,’ says Farquhar. ‘It should be sad or uplifting, funny or charming. If you are not trying for any emotional element it is just kind of banal and falls into the great morass of things that you just nod your head at and say, `Yep!’ ‘

Stylistically, y&r tends to stick with commercials which are light on special effects but heavy on storytelling, with a strong focus on interesting people caught up in familiar human predicaments that audiences can relate to.

According to Farquhar, there is a greater willingness on the part of clients today to take chances and be bold. But bottom line, when it comes to producing award-winning creative, the basic position that has to be taken is whether the script serves the business needs of the client.

‘You just have to suck it up, be brave and pick the ones that will absolutely do the best job on air,’ which also tend to be the toughest to sell to clients, says Farquhar.

And while there may be a million ways to put an ad together, first instincts always tend to be right, says Farquhar. ‘You never know when you are done. You edit and put the music on top and put it all together, then the commercial goes away until about three weeks later I see it on tv and think it’s good. Thank God for airdates or you would just keep going at it.’

Simplicity sells Radio Shack

Radio Shack’s two winning spots were simple ideas that did not rely on expensive production values. In ‘Open Sesame,’ a young girl stands on the front lawn and watches her father freak out inside the house as the garage door opens and closes and the tv goes berserk, while ‘Location is Everything’ features a dog drinking out of a satellite dish.

Farquhar says the fast-paced spots are a ‘visual punch in the eye’ as 15 seconds does not leave much room for meandering about the point.

The mark of a good director is one who finds the core of the idea, keeps it simple and makes sure that all the money spent is seen in the commercial at the end of the day, says Farquhar.

Script wins it for ‘Scout’

When it came time to shoot at&t’s ‘Scout,’ the challenge was the location, making southern Ontario farmland and hockey arenas appear to be somewhere in Eastern Europe.

As a promotion for the phone company’s international calling card, the spot, shot in a fairly traditional style, features a hockey scout trekking all over Europe in search of some future Stanley Cup contenders.

Shewchuk says it was the great script that set this spot apart and made it a winner. And while he admits to knowing very little about hockey, he knows a great deal about different filmic techniques to tell a story.

Happy retuns for H&R

The H&R Block campaign involves everyday people talking about how they really feel about doing their taxes: they don’t want to do them and they don’t want to pay the government.

‘The concept of just putting up a super that says `Don’t do your taxes’ is something that people can instantly identify with because it is an obvious frustration.’ says D’Alessio. ‘I think it was just a clever insight that they preyed upon, and that’s what makes a great ad anyway.’

Prior to perusing the campaign’s storyboards, D’Alessio pitched the idea of shooting the spots in a very doc style, creating a strong truth so that the execution helped support the idea.

In the biz for 12 years, D’Alessio has seen the advertising industry in Canada evolve and attributes today’s abilities to create more interesting spots to the advances in technology. ‘We can do more interesting stuff just by virtue of the equipment that is out there in post-production.’

ALSO IN THIS REPORT

Winning isn’t everything. But it’s a really good thing.

Playback goes behind the boards on recent trophy-winning spots:

– BBDO puts the Doc Martens to truck touting, shows the doors to the pickup pitch, and subverts safe soup spots 29

– Burnett’s bait-and-switch gambit 31

– Marshall Fenn’s low-rollers gamble pays off 32

– PNMD bellies up to the international bar with milk boards 33

– Saatchi’s shadowplay and wordplay win for simplicity 35

– Gee Jeffery’s short-form meta-media features 37

The year is 2035, and executional enablers dig up a dangerous advertising artifact: Instinct. A cautionary tale by Randy Diplock 34