Lampooning Y2K's cataclysmic predictions where contingency plans ruled the day as millennium madness struck, "Morning After" followed the exploits of a runner transfixed on his daily workout routine amid a visually collapsing world.

"It was one of those opportunities that comes along once a millennium," jokes creative director/art director Hal Curtis, who worked alongside McBride (now creative director at TBWA/Chiat/ Day in San Francisco) on the spot. Curtis also remembers the woes of wrangling the giraffe during the shoot: "We got to blow up stuff and I got to drive a tank around downtown LA, but the most memorable day came when we brought a giraffe wrangler on the set. After we shot the necessary scenes of the giraffe, it got spooked by a loud noise and ran off for at least a city block, dragging the wrangler close behind. As a giraffe wrangler, that has to be like the worst thing that can possibly happen."

Before the advent of this priceless scene, Jonze, McBride and Curtis brainstormed how to pull off the distinctly memorable spot. Jonze added some valuable input, allowing the project to mature creatively from the original boards by lending a keen sense of visual perpetuation to the commercial.

"Spike brought a lot to the project and gave us more opportunity for character development," says Curtis. "The fascinating thing about the spot is how it was originally conceived and how it ended up. When McBride and I came up with the idea, it was from the moment of the clock striking midnight; the spot was to open with a series of vignettes of things going horribly wrong. At the end, we had the alarm clock going off with the guy getting up and going out the door for his morning run as a giraffe flies by. But when we talked to Spike, he thought it would be more interesting if the guy was placed throughout the spot, allowing the runner to interact with everything going on around him."

McBride agrees that Jonze was a catalyst in creating the necessary humor throughout the spot.

"It was one of the more clean, cool projects I have been on because everyone worked together," remembers McBride. "Hal and I felt that Spike was the right guy for the job. We had worked together on a few other projects, and Spike was coming right off of filming Being John Malkovich, so we were really lucky to get him. Creatively speaking, he chimed in with some excellent comments. As a writer it's great to go in a different direction. Often in advertising you are set in one direction, but having Spike think about it more as a screenplay than a commercial made us look at all of the elements plotted, allowing us to figure out how we could play around with ideas. Sitting in Spike's headspace and making comedy out of the spot was a pleasure."

Once filming was complete, Jonze teamed with editor Angus Wall of LA-based Rock Paper Scissors where he conveyed a clear understanding of how the final product should appear. "The creatives and Spike were all very much on the same page of what they wanted," explains Wall, who spent a week editing the spot with assistance from Jonze. "Spike and I worked together closely when editing this project. He took me through the whole concept of the commercial as we pulled plates for the effects which we placed into the commercial as we were cutting."

Wall, who has just completed editing Madonna's new video, "Don't Tell Me," shot by Jean-Baptiste Mondino of French house Bandits, recalls good collaboration and solid communication between all creatives involved in "Morning After." "The spot was an amazing idea creatively by Wieden + Kennedy. It was a wonderful experience to have so many talented people working on all sides."

Web.files

Propaganda/Satellite Films> www.propagandafilms.com

Wieden + Kennedy> www.wk.com