Bombshell

Background

At the annual An Post Direct Marketing Awards, the agencies which have been nominated for Agency of the Year are invited to make a short film about themselves before the award is presented.

They are given just one week to do this.

Idea

There is one scene in the 2004 movie “Downfall”, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, which is much parodied. The agency thought they would do one more version in which Hitler berates his lackeys for their crappy parody even if the idea is cheap, fast and easy.

Results

There was much kudos on the night and then approaches from two clients looking for ‘something edgy’. The agency is now working with one of them.

Our Thoughts

I’m often amazed that the Irish don’t enter more work than they do into international awards shows. Partly, I suppose, it must be the fact that the Celtic Tiger is now a toothless moggie of an economy, but partly, I suspect, because they don’t really give a damn about abroad. It’s a characteristic of an island race. But a lot of the work they do is very, very good. And shot through with native humour. This video made us laugh out loud at the editorial meeting. It’s the fact that subtitling ‘Downfall’ is a cliché that makes this funny - and makes it knowing. Knowing of its audience, that’s for sure. One of the team said something like, “But it only ran once. And it was just the agency having a bit of fun.” To which my response was, it may only have run once but that’s more often than many award winners. And it has already won Dialogue a client because in the business of trying to get noticed, fun is a marketable commodity.