180-Degree Thinking

A college buddy sent me this montage of Ameriquest commercials. Yes they're a bit old in advertising years (3), but they no doubt attack the business problem from an angle that would be absolutely uncanny in earlier days.

And in today's media-saturated, blitzed and bombarded culture, doing the unexpected and hilarious for something as boring and confusing as a mortgage company is absolutely necessary.

The cat one made me laugh out loud.



Our newest assignment is for WeAreEllisIsland.org. It's a website dedicated to raising funds to repair and restore 30 decrepit buildings on Ellis Island's South Side, abandoned for more than half a century.






















My art director partner Chris and I—from the very beginning—knew that we wanted to do something different for this one. While we wanted to take an emotional stance (it's the most important U.S. landmark in the ancestral roots of nearly 40% of Americans), we wanted to do so in a way that wasn't what you'd expect to see. We wanted to do something surprising. Something that would make people take a look at their lives and stop taking their American heritage for granted.

Easier said than done.

While in the first couple of days we were able to hash out a few nice (but expected) lines and executions, we are still working at trying to do so in a way that will be completely different, yet at the same time smart, clear, and cool.

Stay tuned.

dubs. out.