In This Report

BEHIND THE SCENES WITH TOP SPOTS WINNERS:

Direction/cinematography B3

Editing B4, B6

Art Direction B7

Animation B8

Sound B10, B11

Performance B12

THE YEAR IN SPOTS SURVEY:

Canadian commercial production houses B14

Canadian animation houses B20

* * *

After three prospective spots for client Ralston Purina’s new Chicken Meal and Rice Cat Chow fell wide of the mark in research, Lowe sms associate creative director Bill Martin (now senior writer at Vickers & Benson) took to the streets for inspiration.

The Brief: The goal was to introduce the new formula and what Purina was looking for from Martin, with whom they had worked on several occasions in the past, was a catchy commercial that would sing the praises of their new feline feast and focus on its special features.

With the deadline fast approaching and still no creative at hand, Martin climbed into his Volvo and went cruising down Toronto’s Ossington Avenue, where out of the blue he came upon the magic ingredient that would make his spot sing.

It was Europop of the worst kind resonating from a boom box inside an export store. Martin listened with a keen ear, taking note of exactly where the ‘Chow, Chow, Chow’ refrain would fit into the tune, and immediately purchased the tape.

The Concept: On Saturday he took the tape to the office, and by Sunday, Martin and associate creative director John Speakman had come up with two concepts built on low-tech animation and the contagious jingle.

The spot, which was made on a healthy budget, sports thousands of cats, animated by Bob Fortier at The Animation House, in an array of colors dancing in unison to the sounds of the Chow, Chow, Chow song.

The client liked the concept, and with that affirmation, Martin took his Portuguese disco beat to Jody Colero at The Einstein Bros. to collaborate on something ‘slightly out of whack yet pleasant.’

At one point the plan was to buy the song from the original band who were playing in Lisbon, but as the process dragged on, Colero and partner Tim Tickner decided to come up with their own version of the Europop tune.

Martin, who coincidentally is the maestro who ‘made beef sing’ in an HP Sauce spot featuring a crooning cow, took what was once a small pneumonic gimmick and turned it into an anthem for cats. Martin confesses he’s not a big fan of jingles, but says this idea was too rich to pass on.

Sound is critical in television, says Martin. ‘Music is such an emotional element in television, it is one of the most subjective areas and we happened to find just the right piece,’ he says. ‘Nobody isn’t affected by it; it goes straight into your head.’

While technically the recording session was straightforward, Colero and Tickner did have some fun trying to come up with the right style and voice for the track, starting off with an Elvis rendition, moving on to a Perry Como interpretation, and finally settling on a subtle Julio Iglesias version of the song sung by David Blamires.