Commercials

High rises and high ranges in the TOPIX/Mad
Dog Ricola spot.

Attik test drives the new game from Infogrames.

Seeing Spots: TOPIX/Mad Dog clears the air for the newest Ricola ad. Produced for ad agency, DKB & Partners, a 30-second spot entitled "Reflections" was created to promote Ricola's new line of herbal health dietary supplements. TOPIX/Mad Dog created the reflections of the Ricola Matterhorn on windows, soap bubbles, sunglasses and cars. The spot was produced at TOPIX/Mad Dog by Diana D'Amelio and the senior Flame artist was James Cooper. . . .San Francisco-based Attik has brought to the finish line the spot for the Infogrames video game Test Drive 6. In the 30-second spot entitled "Movie Trailer," director Simon Dixon placed a live-action driver in the seat of the high-speed graphic environment. Clips of the real life racer are intercut with game footage. The senior producer on the project was Lisa Laubhan and the live-action producer was Doug Lay. . . .New York-based Quiet Man souped up two spots commemorating the labels on Campbell's Soup cans. In "Mega Noodle," nautical noodles amaze a young girl with a synchronized swimming routine in her bowl. In "Video Game," two boys pause their video game keeping a knight and dragon in limbo. As the boys enjoy their soup the two game characters wonder aloud when the boys will return. The 30-second commercials were directed by David Shirk and produced by Amy Taylor. Quiet Man produced the spots for ad agency, BBDO of New York. . . .Ring Of Fire roasts with two new spots for the Washington Apple Commission. Produced for Seattle-based agency McCann Erickson, the 30-second commercials highlight the heroic deeds of Apple Guy. In "Car Trip," Apple Guy revives a family of four with apples before they drive their car off the road. In "Hikers," Apple Guy rescues two campers from a crumbling rope bridge. To keep the fast pace of the spots up, Ring of Fire used a blurring technique they call "snap zoom morph" to transition from various shots throughout the commercials. Creative director and visual effects supervisor on the spots was Jerry Spivack and John Myers was the executive producer. . . .

A shot from one of Passion Pictures' four spots for Giant Buttons Chocolates. Courtesy of Passion Pictures.

London-based Passion Pictures popped open four 10-second spots for Cadbury's Giant Button chocolates. Director Chris Hauge brought to life the animated little girl Giant Button, voiced by Noddy Holder. In "Boy Bands," she advises young fans that if a favorite boy band breaks up just "find a new one." In "Parents," she advises youngsters to emigrate to a desert island if their parents become too embarrassing. In "Boys," Giant Buttons avoids a nerdy boy's kisses and says, "Boys -- always play hard to get, cos they'll love you even more." Finally in "Fashion," she advises young girls that "if you can't decide what to wear to a party...take everything" as she bounces out the door with her whole wardrobe! The spots were produced by Hugo Sands. . . .Charlex, a visual effects post-production house, helped the National Football League thank their fans with a 60-second spot aired during American football's biggest game, the Super Bowl. Headed by Alex Weil, Charlex founder and director, the Charlex artists used a mix of film, digital effects, graphics and editing to create the look of the "Thank You 2000" spot. The commercial begins on a shadowy checkerboard. Suddenly light floods into the room as a uniformed football player makes his way to an old projector. George and Ira Gershwin's "Someone To Watch Over Me" plays over the scratchy highlight footage of football fans filmed over the last four-and-a-half decades. "We were trying to capture that special, nostalgic magic that's been particular to pro football all these years," says Weil. "We were after a sort of Cinema Paradiso feel. Between all the great football moments where the players are glorified, amidst all those scenes that we've grown accustomed to, we wanted to show the fans.". . .Director Dick Buckley of Flying Tiger Film and visual effects director Alex Seiden of Cyclotron@Post Perfect N.Y. rounded-up the e-Cowboy's for the Super Bowl debuted LastMinuteTravel.com spot. Produced for New York-based agency, Burkhardt & Hillman, the 30-second commercial is a modern spin on the Sergio Leone spaghetti western. Reinforcing LastMinuteTravel.com's message that great things happen at the last-minute, the e-Cowboys find themselves quickly departing on a cyber-booked vacation, to escape an approaching tornado. Buckley is the Cannes Gold Lion award-winning director for Tabasco's "Mosquito" campaign. Prior to joining Cyclotron@Post Perfect, Seiden was a director and visual effects supervisor for Industrial Light & Magic with credits including Jurassic Park, Star Wars Episode 1, Dragonheart, Terminator 2 and Judgment Day. . . .Ring Of Fire made the crippled walk in Nuveen & Co.'s Super Bowl spot. Andrew Douglas of Satellite was brought in to direct the futuristic spot where paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve walks to a podium to receive an award. The super feet was done for Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ad agency Fallon McElligott. Ring of Fire's founder, Jerry Spivack, served as creative director and visual effects supervisor for the commercial. Ring of Fire isn't new to creating outstanding Super Bowl spots, their 1999 "Separated at Birth" commercial for Budweiser was voted best Super Bowl spot in a USA Today poll. The commercial featured two Dalmatian puppies -- the first rides with firemen, while the other rides with a Clydesdale-drawn Budweiser beer wagon. Who do you think has the better fate? . . .Denmark-based A. Film has rapped on a 35-second commercial for Kellogg's Cereal. The spot was directed by Craig Frank and produced for the Leo Burnett agency. The classic 2D animation spot launches a new image campaign introducing Kellogg's Town, where 8 popular Kellogg's figures like Cornelius, Tony the Tiger, Coco, Chocos, Loopy, Snap, Crackle and Pop live. The spot will air in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.