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CREATIVE   LEO BURNETT TEMPO

Hot : Tempo "Nerd with a Fetish"

I'm a fan of slapstick, cliché and in-your-face comedy. The best is when they embrace the things that are truly funny and try not to water it down to avoid offending the viewer. The cliché of the office nerd having the hots for the office bombshell and then a delightfully sick series of enjoyment scenes of his stolen prize makes the whole journey a giggle from the get go. The casting, editing, styling all work well and don't intrude upon the storytelling. The commercial in essence is a setup for a product demo at the end, but in this case I wasn't distracted by it because it was a fun buildup and a seamless integration into El Sicko's world. Refreshing to see a bit of naughtiness not being watered down along the path from storyboard to air.

Not : Tempo "Bouquet toss" Seems sad that Tempo can get something so right with a previous commercial then totally lose the plot in the next set. As clichéd moments go, a bouquet toss during a wedding is about as obvious a scene setup as a stock shot of businessmen giving high fives to each other, so the comedy that ensues must be very surprising or outrageous to win the audience over. This particular spot misses on all fronts ranging from timing of the comedy, editing and even casting. Put aside the comedy factor, I had to watch the commercial a couple times to catch what the objective was. If there is any advice I can give to help future spots, it would be to look at the previous work and capture that bravery of showing things with a bit more edge. Also watering things down even if it is just small things like the support casting can sum up to a forgetful and ineffective ad.