Saatchi & Saatchi Cape Town creative director Conn Bertish looks like a male model best suited to commercials, but the boy’s got brains to match his good looks.
Bertish’s creative streak has secured his agency the International Gold Flame Award at an annual ceremony held in Mauritius for the best international low-budget commercial flighted on television. Entries are received from all over the world and are judged on creativity and message by the advertising association of the island.
Saatchi’s Biggie Bear advertisement was commissioned by Parents for Responsible Viewing, a group founded in 2001. It consists of parents who joined together to further the interests of “responsible parenthood”.
The group believes in highlighting the effect that some television programmes have on young children. It is a non-profit organisation that does not receive government funding and does not solicit funds from the public. “As a parent, I felt passionate about the message,” said Bertish, adding that the advertisment is not a “finger-wagging exercise” but aimed at getting parents to “consider and rethink their children’s television habits.
“It is simply [from] concerned parents who want other parents to think twice before plopping their little kids in front of the television. It has used flyers and posters in the past,” said Bertish.
This is the first time the group has had an advertisement on television. On a shoestring budget of R13 000, a host of people, from actors to the production house, contributed their talent and facilities to see the commercial come to fruition.
The timeline for such a project is normally two months, but everything was completed within three weeks and the actual filming of the advertisement took about half a day.
The brief to the agency was to show parents how little kids really see television and how children cannot discern between educational entertainment and adult television.
Saatchi’s Biggie Bear commercials are based on a fictitious children’s character called Biggie Bear whose innocence turns to violence, sexual promiscuity and drugs, with a final pay-off line asking, “What is your child learning from television?”
In the first commercial, the introductory line is “Biggie Bear says hello”. Here Biggie Bear meets a furry friend and they get involved in a scuffle that sees Biggie Bear shoving a gun down the throat of the rabbit, bringing home the message of violence on television.
The second advertisement is tagged “Biggie Bear has a surprise”. Here Biggie Bear enters with a Dalmatian who is feeling sad. Biggie Bear offers him a narcotic and proceeds to inject him to make him happy again. The message concerns the use of drugs on television. Then there is a third instalment in which Biggie Bear meets a pussycat and, of course, they have sex.
The commercials were entered in the Vuka awards for public service announcements and were awarded as finalists, which meant the spots were flighted on DStv for a month. The commercials ran after 10pm, since the content is aimed at parents, not kids. Furthermore, the commercials have won acclaim in the United States where they have been shortlisted as finalists in the international Clio Awards held in Miami recently.
This accolade, says Bertish, “is testament to simple, provocative advertising that gets noticed throughout the world, not for its expensive production values but its bold thinking and clarity of communication”.