How not to get a super-wedgie

Posted September 17th, 2006 at 9:07 pm by Allen Olivo, Global Brand Marketing

 11 Comments / Filed in: Behind the Scenes

When our ad agency, Soho Square, came to me with new ad creative that involved wedgies, I was pretty sure they were onto something. This Thursday, Yahoo! will launch its first major brand campaign in two years, with a variety of television, radio, cinema, and online spots. But today, dear reader, we offer you a sneak preview (complete with outtakes). And yes, there’s a super-wedgie involved.

The theme of the campaign is that life is just a little better with Yahoo!. (OK, maybe more than a little better.) The campaign highlights our new home page along with a few other recent arrivals, including Yahoo! Answers and the Yahoo! Mail Beta. It also uses our classic “Do You Yahoo!?” tagline, which was born alongside our signature yodel in 1996.

Produced in partnership with Soho Square and OgilvyOne Worldwide, the new spots will debut on season premieres of “My Name Is Earl” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on Thursday night (save the bathroom and snack runs until later). They’ll also air elsewhere on NBC and ABC as well as on Fox, E!, TBS, MTV, and Comedy Central. The campaign will run in major U.S. radio markets, web sites in 14 countries, and in movie theaters across the country.

We twist the old problem/solution angle in our usual quirky way — showing people in scenarios like gardening, confronting the school bully, and wrangling defective airbags, with and without Yahoo!. I won’t say any more. Go see the TV spots for yourself (click on each of the images below) — and then come back and finish reading…

OK, are you done yet? Since everyone loves a little insider skinny, here’s some trivia about our television ads:

• They were directed by Craig Gillespie, who won a 2005 Emmy for “Surprise Dinner,” last year’s hilarious Super Bowl spot for Ameriquest, that features a woman jumping to conclusions when she sees her significant other holding a knife and her marinara-covered Persian.
• All of the spots were shot in Los Angeles. “Bully” was centered in John Burroughs Middle School, “Garden” was filmed in Studio City and “Recall” (the spot involving the faulty airbag) took up 10 residential blocks in Sherman Oaks (yet only a few neighbors loitered to watch bodies being catapulted through car windows… hey, it’s L.A.).
• “Recall” was particularly challenging to produce because it involved computer-generated imagery to connect four different shots: the airbag deployment, the dummy exploding through the window from inside and then outside, and finally the driver standing up and dusting himself off. The window was made of “sugar glass” and took 30 minutes to reinstall each time we shattered it. There were a few comical mishaps, like the time the CO2 cartridge fired the airbag and nothing happened, and when the dummy’s cord snapped through the window leaving the dummy sitting behind the wheel.
• We had a bunch of animal wranglers on the set during the filming of “Garden.” The dog was specifically trained to emerge from his “grave,” although he forgot to shake his first time out. Fred, a Cairn Terrier with his own embroidered blanket, was very well-behaved, showed up on time, and ate the lunch we provided without complaint.
• There were more parents than children on the set for “Bully.” That’s to be expected with anything that involves Fruit of the Loom. But the moms were happy.
• The car in “Recall” is a fictional “Hybris J7.” And no, you can’t buy one.
• W.C. Fields warned, “Never work with children or animals.” In “Garden” we did both and survived.
• We asked our agency to come up with a few alternatives to the phrase “butt-toucher” but somehow “booty-grabber” and “wedgie-guy” didn’t have the same ring. The spot tested phenomenally well with 18- to 24-year-olds; not so much with the older crowd. But we’re trying to connect with a bunch of age groups.

Let us know what you think of the spots. Oh, I almost forgot! This Friday, in appreciation of the millions of people who start their day with Yahoo!, everyone who makes Yahoo.com their default homepage can head to the local Dunkin’ Donuts for a free cup of iced coffee. Just print your voucher and redeem it between 9 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. (or close of business) at all participating locations while supplies last. A fun promotion on our home page will remind you. Enjoy!

Allen Olivo
Vice President, Corporate Marketing

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11 Comments Add your own

FinnishGifts | September 18th, 2006 at 10:27 am

Funny and clever - I found them very entertaining.

Ashlee | September 21st, 2006 at 6:57 pm

I just wanted to let Yahoo know, that, the new commerical with the “fertilizer”, is shocking. Do you realize how many children are going to think this is possible?

Ronny | September 27th, 2006 at 7:28 am

The ‘fertilizer’ commercial should not be shown on TV. It can be very upsetting for young children.

Dave | September 27th, 2006 at 3:18 pm

Cool to see my house on TV in the opening shot of Recall, technically we are still Studio City but Sherman Oaks is one block away so I guess they decided to show both cities some love.

Patti | October 3rd, 2006 at 4:00 pm

Very funny commercials! I really like them all, especially the “wedgie” kids. Great ad campaign!

Rich Van Pelt | October 5th, 2006 at 6:21 am

When I saw your “Garden” Commercial I just about fell off the couch. I could not stop laughing when the “deceased” family pet jumped out of the flower bed. I’m a dog lover, and I know some people complained, but it was hillarious! Where can I download the commercial to share it with friends?

Allen Olivo | October 5th, 2006 at 12:57 pm

Rich - You can point your friends to our campaign microsite..

Johnnie | October 5th, 2006 at 4:09 pm

The airbag recall is the best. I don’t laugh at too many ads but this one had me rolling! Great work!

Mitch | October 12th, 2006 at 6:28 pm

The commercial was hilarious. I bet “Miracle Gro” is wishing they would have put their time and effort into it. “Garden” was entertaining and well done visually.

Ellen | October 30th, 2006 at 9:18 am

The “dead dog” ad is truly tasteless and unpleasant.

colten matheny | December 13th, 2007 at 11:51 am

yeah dude it was cool