Ever try speaking to a dentist while your mouth is full of dental paraphernalia?
The result might sound something like this: “I ike oing ooo tah entist nohw.”
That is, if you were so eager to praise the dentist that you couldn’t wait till you could once again speak straight.
The phrase above is one of several so-called “in-chair reviews” that Glastonbury, Conn.-based creative agency Decker has come up with for Mendota, Minnesota-based Mendota Heights Family Dental.
And, if that itself sounds strange, this client-agency relationship developed because Decker creative director Dom DeLoya, also this campaign’s clever copywriter, used to live in Minnesota.
“We’ve all been there, sitting in a chair while our dentists work on our teeth trying to answer their question about how our vacation was or what you’ve been up to,” DeLoya says in a campaign announcement. “This leads to some amusing conversations. We turned these conversations into ads — testimonials…right from the chair.”
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Other DeLoya-penned reviews in the campaign include “I ehfinitely echommend thi cwinic” and “Ahazihng saff.”
Such praise “can help us stand out as a fun and approachable practice that truly cares about its patients,” Mendota dentists Dr. Asha Ghassemlouei and Dr. Dana Gunderson commented in a statement.
The campaign, designed to reach new patients, has used organic social, advertising in the local newspaper, mailers, posters and out-of-home on the dental practice’s own property, which faces the highway, Decker senior vice president Andrew Kesin tells Marketing Daily
The current creative will be used through March, with plans for new creative into the spring and summer, Kesin adds.
RHODE ISLAND’S AMUSING FAKE PHARMA AD HAS THE BEST PRESCRIPTION FOR STAYING HEALTHY
Nail Communications spot pitches ‘StayingHome™’ like a drug—though this time, the side effects aren’t unwanted
By
Ethan Jakob Craft
Published On
Jan 12, 2024
Editor’s Pick
Ads for prescription and over-the-counter medicines are ubiquitous on American TV, and at the height of flu season—which is currently being compounded by another wave of COVID-19 infections—they may seem especially prominent.
But in a new public service campaign, the Rhode Island Department of Health is putting its own spin on the classic drug commercial genre, stepping up to promote a remedy so simple that it’s often overlooked—staying home when you’re ill.
The humorous spot contains all the hallmarks of a typical drug ad: authoritative narration, bubbly music and B-roll of people either suffering from symptoms or living a healthy active life.
But after the voiceover warns of common symptoms such as chills and stuffiness, it suggests viewers try StayingHome™, trademark symbol and all, an all-ages solution to illness. Side effects include naps, comfy sweatpants and “finishing that show you’ve been meaning to watch.”
The spot even gives a subtle nod to official drug nomenclature, underwriting the StayingHome™ logo with its comically formal name: “Si Infirmum Manere Domi Meliorem Mox,” which is Latin for “If you’re sick, stay at home and get better soon.”
The campaign was created by independent Rhode Island agency Nail Communications.
Stephen Fitch, Nail’s strategy director, said the agency had to calculate how to resonate with a COVID-fatigued public that’s been bombarded by public health PSAs for nearly four years. In his view, such messages have lately “hit the wall of a population that is ‘over it.’”
The campaign gave the team a chance to “have a lot of fun parodying the genre and featuring some of the most enjoyable side effects you can have,” added Alec Beckett, a creative partner at the Providence shop.
The 30-second spot is running on connected TV and social video in Rhode Island.
When Joe Berkeley wanted to create a true-to-life portrait of New England for Quincy-based insurer Arbella Insurance, he figured he should have real people essentially playing themselves in the TV spots.
If you see an Arbella TV ad featuring motorcyclists helping a driver with a flat tire, those bikers aren’t actors. Neither is the lobsterman who rescues a golden retriever from the water in another TV spot, filmed around Hull in July. That’s captain Chad Mahoney, piloting the First Light, with his son James Mahoney helping out.
“It’s easier to teach a lobsterman to act than to teach an actor to be a lobsterman,” said Berkeley, who wrote and directed the ads with the help of art director/production designer Tim Foley.
Berkeley did have to bring some professionals aboard: The dog owner who gets reunited with her pup, Jihan Haddad, is an actor — as is the dog, Jagger. The Mahoneys have a golden retriever, Oakley. But he didn’t make the cut.
“Oakley demands affection but does not take direction,” Berkeley said. “People feel like Oakley should have gotten the role. I would have loved to have worked with Oakley but I don’t think we would have had a commercial.”
Two new commercials from agency Joe Berkeley for client Arbella show people selflessly helping others. The first, “Friend in Need” has a lobsterman and his son rescuing a dog who has swum too far from shore before the crew reunites the dog with his human companion.
The commercial was made in Hull, Mass., and the spot features captain Chad Mahoney and his son, sternman James Mahoney, aboard the Fishing Vessel First Light. The camera boat, the Fishing Vessel Windemere, was helmed by captain Peter Mahoney, Chad’s father.
The second spot features motorcycle riders helping a mom with a flat tire. As one member of the motorcycle group changes the tire, the other two introduce mom’s kids to the joys of motorcycling. Soon enough Mom, the kids, and the bikers are back on the road.
The team cast real motorcyclists who rode their own bikes and wore some of their own clothing. It was set on a rural road in Sherborn, Mass.
Hull’s Joe Berkeley calls his latest television commercial featuring local lobstermen “a love letter to small-town living.”
Berkeley wrote and directed a spot for the Quincy-based Arbella Insurance Group featuring a Hull lobsterman and his son rescuing a dog that swam too far from shore and reuniting him with his human companion.
PUTTING ON THE DOG. THE CREW PREPARES FOR THE SCENE IN THE COMMERCIAL WHERE JAGGER THE DOG SWIMS IN HULL BAY, WHICH DOUBLED FOR THE WATERS SURROUNDING BOSTON LIGHT. CAPTAIN CHAD MAHONEY IS AT RIGHT; HIS SON JAMES IS AT LEFT. THE LIFEGUARD ON THE PADDLEBOARD WAS THERE TO MAKE SURE JAGGER WAS SAFE. [JOE BERKELEY PHOTO]
“It’s not often that a client gives you the ability to work in your own town with some of your favorite people at such a great location,” Berkeley, owner of Hull-based creative services company Joe Berkeley, LLC, told the Hull Times. “I also love dogs, so how could I go wrong?”
The “Friend in Need” commercial features Hull residents Captain Chad Mahoney and his son, sternman James Mahoney, aboard the fishing vessel First Light. The camera boat, the FV Windemere, was helmed by Captain Peter Mahoney, Chad’s father, with the film crew aboard.
Originally Golden Retriever Oakley Mahoney was considered for the role of the lost dog. However, following an “interview” with him, it was clear that while he “is beautiful and commands affection, he does not accept direction,” Berkeley explained. “Captain Chad was not surprised.”
The staff at Sunshine Pet Parlor in Hull, where Oakley is groomed, agreed. “Oakley is the worst dog who visits here. He always knocks everything over,” they good-naturedly reported.
Instead, Jagger, who is not a local, played the part, accompanied by a professional animal wrangler who was off-frame coaching the dog and looking out for his safety.
“Jagger is a beautiful dog with a great smile and tail wag,” Berkeley said.
Hendrix, another Golden Retriever, was the backup on the “set,” so that if Jagger had a bad day, he was ready to step into the role.
ON THE WATER. STERNMAN JAMES MAHONEY AND JAGGER THE GOLDEN RETRIEVER STEAM THROUGH HULL GUT PAST PEDDOCKS ISLAND. [JOE BERKELEY PHOTO]
The commercial celebrates people doing the right thing, “with the implication that Arbella will do the right thing by you, not because they have to, but because they want to,” Berkeley said.
This assignment was one of the favorites of his career so far.
“It wasn’t some difficult shoot in a faraway place trying to sell a breakfast sandwich, but a beautiful story close to home,” he said.
This spot was one of more than a dozen commercials for Arbella that Berkeley has produced through his company. In the past, Berkeley has shot about 100,000 images of Boston Light and another 20,000 images of Captain Chad. That work was part of his passion project, “Humans of Nantasket Beach,” on Facebook.
With First Light and the filming location in his back yard, Berkeley was able to shoot 32 days of footage before the full crew shoot. The effort proved to be more than worthwhile because when that day arrived, Boston Light’s iconic beam was shut off for maintenance. Fortunately, Berkeley was able to put the extensive amount of footage already “in the can” to good use.
To capture the best shots, Berkeley would meet Mahoney at the town pier between the Hull Yacht Club and the Nantasket Beach Salt Water Club at 3:30 a.m. and film him walking around the boat.
“Then I would film the boat leaving the dock and then go back to the Point Allerton seawall and film him going past Boston Light at 4:15 a.m.,” he said.
Berkeley couldn’t have had a better film crew.
“Chad worked with me a lot to make sure the commercial was authentic. It was important to me that lobster boat people look at it and say the details were right,” he said.
James Mahoney, who rescued the Golden Retriever, used to be a lifeguard on Nantasket Beach and “saved some lives,” according to Berkeley.
Being in the television commercial with his dad was “a great experience, and Joe’s really good at his job. You just had to listen to his direction,” James said.
Filming on the ocean can be complicated, but because Captains Chad and Peter knew each other well and worked well together, they were able to provide Berkeley with “exactly what I wanted in the sense of action. Because of their teamwork, I was able to do my job safely and well.”
His theory is that “it’s easier to teach a lobsterman how to act than for an actor to be a lobsterman.”
Chad Mahoney told The Hull Times that he enjoyed working with Berkeley, his father, and his son in his own backyard. “It was a very different and fun experience.”
Mahoney and First Light also were featured in an earlier television commercial for a rheumatoid arthritis treatment after Berkeley’s photos of his lobster boat captured the attention of the advertising team.
Peter Mahoney found the experience rewarding.
“The commercial is another way to put Hull on the map, he said. “It was fun for us as lobstermen who perform our daily activities on the water to see the commercial on television. It put a completely different light on what we do.”
Berkeley was “very understanding” and sought information from the Mahoneys. “He took our suggestions to heart,” he said.
Countless photos of lobster boats that are part of Berkeley’s “Humans of Nantasket Beach” exhibit informed the research behind the commercial.
The commercial was edited by Hull resident Shondra Burke, who in the past has done editing work for Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris.
“It is an honor to work with Joe, who so thoughtfully put Hull on the map in the ‘Friend In Need’ Arbella Insurance fall 2023 commercial and included Hullonians in the spot and on the crew,” she said. “We are very fortunate and extremely thankful. It is opportunities like these that make memories for a lifetime and allow our beautiful town and accomplished residents to shine.”
Her daughter Siobhan, also a Hull resident, served as production assistant.
“I am filled with gratitude and enthusiasm that I had my first commercial production assistant job with Joe Berkeley. This opportunity provided me with invaluable insights and knowledge about the industry,” Burke said. “It brings me such joy and pride to be able to contribute to Joe Berkeley’s Arbella Insurance commercials, showcasing the beauty of New England and my hometown.”
It’s important to note, Berkeley said, that most insurance companies running commercials in New England aren’t based here.
“Arbella’s employees live and work in the communities they serve,” he said. “To me, it’s more meaningful when Arbella says they will do it right than when a national company with headquarters in some faraway city says it.”
The town “was hospitable and made us feel welcome, although there was a lot of good-natured ribbing on the town pier from lobstermen wondering why they weren’t in the commercial,” according to Berkeley.
In addition to working with Captain Chad and the others, Joe Berkeley LLC has collaborated with New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, former presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, and former Patriot Tom Brady on his famous post-Super Bowl “Roger That” commercial.
-Nail Communications partnered with The Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island to promote the famed Newport Mansions. The dramatic lives of the wealthy families who resided in them gets a movie trailer for a film that doesn’t exist. Dubbed “Live the Drama, the unconventional marketing approach was proposed by Nail to engage new audiences with the properties. For The Breakers, the grandest of the Newport Mansions, that meant introducing the inimitable Vanderbilts through a trailer, billboards, landing page—all the trappings of movie marketing. Filmed entirely on the grounds of The Breakers, the campaign trailer alludes to several historic storylines that affected the course of the Vanderbilt legacy.
