Press Release from Harvest

When Harvest Films was approached by agency Carmichael Lynch to launch a multiplatform campaign "Mediocrity" for client Subaru, it was clear the experience would be anything but ordinary. The Mediocrity launch is a playful send-up of automotive advertising and a reflection of how the average consumer perceives car shopping.

The expansive campaign includes television and online commercials directed by Harvest Films' Baker Smith, and the agency produced website via Exoplis (www.2011mediocrity.com) with online games and tongue-in-cheek purchase options. A Facebook page, Twitter feed, and YouTube channel played an integral role. The Carmichael Lynch media team was also able to partner with automotive sites such as AutoTrader, Cars Direct and Edmunds to integrate spotlight pages and reviews into their sites. These sites would then reveal those pages to anyone shopping for a sedan.

"We did clinics with the new Subaru Legacy," explains Randy Hughes, Carmichael Lynch GCD/Senior Partner.  "Owners were passionate about the Legacy and couldn't imagine getting another make. And when non-owners were asked what they loved about their cars the most common answer was, 'I don't think about it.' We realized these non-Subaru owners were sleepwalking through the car-shopping experience. If we could show them a playful sea of sameness perhaps it would give them a wake up call."

Carmichael Lynch teamed with director Baker Smith to helm the TV/online spots that would be the cornerstone of the campaign.

According to the agency team of Matt Elhardt, Brock Davis, and Freddie Richards: "Baker Smith was the man for this job before we even had the initial phone call with him. His body of work is incredible. From the very beginning of this project, everybody's goal was to play things straight and just let the truth of the idea speak for itself. Baker understood that from the start, and then he took it to the next level."

They continue: "He has an unbelievable knack for directing actors and getting the performance on mark quickly. Harvest ran this shoot very efficiently and we were able to get all kinds of extra material to work with in the edit bay. Baker really plussed the idea and he came up with a lot of funny cutaways and stylistic nuances."

The spots were featured on the Mediocrity website and ran during national broadcasts of such programs as "The Closer," "Anderson Cooper," "Men of a Certain Age."

Baker Smith concludes: "The message of mediocre really spoke to my core values.' Smith then adds that 'Just getting by is a bygone value..."

For more on Subaru's campaign, please visit the website at www.2011mediocrity.com.

Information on Harvest Films is available at http://www.harvestfilms.com.

MEDIOCRITY CREDITS

Agency: Carmichael Lynch
ECD: Jim Nelson
GCD: Randy Hughes
GCD/ Art Director: Brock Davis
GCD/ Writer: Matt Elhardt
Sr. Digital Designer: Joe Kral
Director of Integrated Prod: Joe Grundhoefer
Director of Digital Prod: Pete Mertz
Sr. Integrated Producer: Freddie Richards
Sr. Digital Producer: Jennifer Helm
Account Director: Melissa Schoenke
Account Leader: Dan Hoedeman
Account Manager: Chelsea Moran
Sr. Project Manager: Jennifer Abbey

Production Company: Harvest Films
Director: Baker Smith
EP: Bonnie Goldfarb
EP: Scott Howard
HOP/Prod: Rob Sexton
Line Prod: Mala Vasan
DP: Jonathan Sela
Production: Designer: Fanae Aaron

Website Development: Exopolis

Editorial: Channel Z
Editor: Charlie Gerszewski

Music: Beacon Street