"We open on an early '90s Hollywood Hills party, where fake breasts abound," whispers TBWA\Chiat\Day, San Fran, creative Eric King. "Everyone is dancing to C & C Music Factory as we cut to a girl with obvious implants. As we go off camera, there's an audible explosion, with implant shrapnel flying through the air."

'Fake boobs shaped in October' was one idea bursting with appeal that didn't quite make the grade for the "Beware of Things Made in October" campaign for Fox Sports. But King teamed with Jeff Labbé to instill fear through three other instances of baseball-affected manufacturing: "Leaf Blower" turns a yard implement into a deadly flame thrower; "Nail Gun" goes off like an AK-47; and "Boat" speeds out of control - all because assembly line workers were glued to their TV sets watching Fox Sport's MLB coverage in October instead of paying attention to the job
at hand.

The campaign collected Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Clios, a Silver at D&AD, four Silvers at the Art Directors Club of New York awards, two Silvers at the One Show, an Andy Award, plus Best of Show at the International Broadcasters Association. As a result, King and Labbé slide into fourth place in the Boards tally for art direction this year, further extending the record of strong creative for client Fox Sports, an account previously formed by respected powerhouse Cliff Freeman & Partners.

"Cliff Freeman created phenomenal work for Fox with Eric [Silver SVP, creative director at Freeman], setting the bar for us to leap over," explains Labbé. "[But] there was a lot of trust from Fox. It helps when you have an experienced client who has done a lot of advertising."

"They consistently do A-level work," adds King on the history of award-winning Fox spots. "So, you try to live up to the mass of great work that they've done." King says they didn't set out to top anyone, but were certainly conscious of possible comparisons. "If you do something slightly bad," he observes, "then it's exponentially compounded."

Now at Leo Burnett as a senior vice president/creative director alongside former W+K creative Kash Sree (see Boards, August 2002), Labbé joined King and copywriter Scott Wild for the Fox project. Chuck McBride worked as exec creative director. "[Labbé is] one of the most passionate people I've met in the industry," says King. "An intense creative from the concepting stage right through to the execution. Plus, no one has a better creative filter than Chuck."

The campaign was shot in three days by Baker Smith through Santa Monica's Harvest with DP John Stainer lensing. "Baker is incredibly collaborative," explains King. "We worked out what to do from an observational standpoint to make it realistic. Plus, his casting sensibilities are incredible. Casting is at the core of great work, especially on an ambitious shoot with a lot to do in a short period of time." Casting in "Boat" was especially rewarding - as was shaping the attire for a flabby driver whose bewilderment at losing control of his boat is a classic sight. As the boat lunges forward, pudgy belly bobbles wildly and both wife and daughter fall from the rear of the vessel.

"We worked well together," answers Labbé on the rapport during the shoot. "Eric's good at keeping the energy on set, but someone needed to stand on the sidelines and make sure everything was cool. Eric wanted to direct and hang out with Baker, while I hung out with Chuck, as directors have many things going on in their minds - the next shot, looking at the wardrobe, what's happening tomorrow. I just made sure we kept continuity and didn't fuck it up."

Hank Corwin and Paul Martinez of bicoastal Lost Planet added vital cuts to the tight spots, slicing handsomely to collect the humor captured by Baker. Colorist was Steve Rodriguez of Company3, Santa Monica, while Jerry Steele of Steele Visual Effects did online/Henry work. Audio mix was done by Jeff Payne through Eleven.

WEBFILES:
TBWA\Chiat\Day> http://www.tbwachiat.com
Harvest> http://www.harvestfilms.net
Lost Planet> http://www.lostplanet.com
Company3> http://www.company3.com
Steele Effects> http://www.steelevfx.net