Sponsor (Oct-Dec 1963)

H'VIOR COMMERCIALS: -<7fini{ Piisirr to do humor loni \. \ohnilv nsk!t iin\ morr. 'Will iiorky' Today , I run point to /* of Irnrk rvrords in ibis iirrn. ndtorntf humor lonimrn iuls ■ ry production. Hut they tiill »i ■]/» Hork in almost viery caxe." II PRODUCTION FIRM: ' an hiisiiiilly iri'iiliiv consul •I ir p lire not interested in hrconi ~" -■-•pr. hi'cnuse qwilily would suf in assrmbh line. IT p are not ^ interested in becominft iin i< V and hiue. in fiut. referred V to nuenries uhen the\ didn't • >ne of their oun nlreiuh." V EST PANELS: ■•'It helnie in commercial or 1 test panels in nhich you ask ■ •> to criticize. W hat I Irv to '> create commerci'ds that not li iui nu-ords but sell products and •^ 'flillets. let people judge me bv 'k. It I iloii'l protliice. then '" me." W^OVED TV ■ 1I4I like to think tv advertising inn better. Hut the nnlv gond ' ials I see are at nicards shows. to find them on the air." F! illlllllllllilUIIS \\ liat N li.ip|)cmii'4 III tlic liiNt thr<.'f-(|iiarti"rs of lool.mcy W'rII. a hiac k-iloak«'(l liorscinaii. liMikinn lik*' Douglas Kairhanks Sr. pla\ ini; "Zorro," rides up to flic wall of a liii^c Spaiiisli-ts pc limisc. TJic riiltr cliMiKiiiiits, ilimhs tin wall, crossi'S a garden, climhs to a balcony liodrooin where a Ixaiififiil. dark-Iiaired seiiorita is eoiiiliiiii; lur liair. lie hounds tlironuh the window. She screams. He smiles. W ith his rapier, he marks a "Z" on the wall . . . ■The Mark of Zorro!" she cries in \ast alarm. The rider stiues. "No," he remarks inneniionsly, reaching under his cloak . . . (Where's the .sales message? Is l'reher<:, kUUliii':,? Wait, don't go tiwaif.) "It's the Mark of Zorninoes, actually," he explains, w ithdrawinj^ a box. "See here . . . it's a hrand-new game for children and adults alike. The idea is . . ." The girl, mcaiiwhil(>, is achancing upon the masked rider, her eyes gleaming. In pure delight she sighs: "Oh, \()u darling, you hroiiiiht me Zominoesl" Clinch, and Pan to product. Till campaign will roll, on the air. this fall in major markets. Metv religious approach Los Angeles-horn Freherg, whose father is a Baptist minister (his lather, incidentally, performed the wedding ceremony hefween .Sf.m and his attractive blond wife. Donna, once Frebergs Clirl Frid.iy and now his associate pnxlucer). has another current c.imp.iiiin of which lie is parficuIarK proiiil. .Vpproached two years ago b\ the I'liited Presl)yterian Church in the U.S. Freberg this summer recordtxl his first series of reliuious r.idio spots. They sell the concept of religion much as other Freberg spots sell jiroducts — liy indirection and with restrained humor. Members (»f the chiircli group, at one point, were hesitant about having a noted satirist prinluce a sjiot series, but IrebtTg helped win them over with .1 long, thoughtiiil letter which stated, in p.irt: It is possihlr to rttitli people through (itliertisiiifi teitiiout once hoUeriii'^ iit them or sintpUf horinn lh( III In ihiith. Tiie triek is to ilLs(inn them, through enlcrtaitwicnt of some sort. Then, once ijou hare (iipliireil their iitUntion, tell them uhiit yon hut e to olfer in the siinphst, most entertiiininn tiiiij possihh-. People tcill rnsh out anil Inn/ the jirodnet ont of sheer cratitudc if iiothiii'j, eise." The l'F(] campaign is sche<lnled to go national, in larye radio markets, when initial testing in three cities is comph-ted. Most «if the buying will be in popular-ap|X'al deejay shows. Freberg's comment: "It's a n«'w and contemporar>' ajv proach to tin problem of the Young American who pretends to get along just fine with little or no spiritu.il element in his lif«'." ( Footnote for posterity: the production budget for the I'PC] sjvits was finally .set at $10,000. Tlie total bills passed that figure by $.1,700. The differt-nce cam«* ont of Fr«'berg s pocki't. 1 .Mthough television I(M)ms with ever-growing imp<irtance in the plans oi most advertising acencies. Freberg. whose firm is not an agenc\' but obviously has to \->e prepared to do business with them. d(H's about fi(Kr of his c<immercial work in radio, and the remaining AiV r in tv and otx-asional print. ".'Vs a nu*dir.m, radio is a real challenne," he says. **l lik* • in sound. I lx'li«'ve in the j the sjxiken word. I'nfortimately, most I'.S. radi«» was kilU>d off in its prime. It's a shame, l>ecause radm is the theater of the mind. Tl»e sky's '.he liniit on creati\ity. "BememlH'r. it's the Siimc lo«idspeaker Jack Ik-nny and Fr> ' \" 1 came out of for years. The ; in railio is to create ctmimercials which c-an hold their own s,mdwichi-il in Ix-tween Nelson Bitldle