The Autists 2012 Ad Campaign Inspired by Great Stories

The above print ads are running in the Toronto Star and National Post newspapers (thanks Jeff Wills of Wills & Co. for once again getting us so much donated media). The two ads riff off true stories of famous Autists, aka those with autism and a gift, who overcame their difficulties to impressive effect. The catch: Each must still live with various and curious impairments to normal existence. The ask: That you come party with us to support Geneva Centre programs that help kids, youths and adults with autism get training to help them thrive in life and career.

These Remarkable Savants Are:

Temple Grandin, the American doctor of animal science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior

Daniel Tammet, a British writer and autistic savant, and writer of the best selling 2006 memoir, Born On A Blue Day, about his life with high-functioning autism and savant syndrome

Bram Cohen, an American computer programmer, author of the peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol, as well as the first file sharing program to use the protocol, also called BitTorrent

Each of these individuals is open and vocal about their triumphs and troubles. Our ads  celebrate the this is what I am, so take me as I am personas of these superachievers.

The Autists Eblast

This year, we nixed the DM to save our forests and our money, and Laura and I went all electronic for the invitation. That’s this piece:

The Autists Radio Ad

The radio ad was a collaborative effort inspired by friend and co-conspirator Kent Deuters, written by me, and produced by one of our gala Committee members Tony Cicero and a few of his friends. It includes the third scenario about inventor Bram Cohen. Click this link to hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es3hVzokLWw&feature=g-all-s

The link takes you to The Autists Gala YouTube Channel, a new idea we just launched, which celebrates all humans with autism and a gift — one of the founding principles of The Autists.

Thanks all

So thanks to all the above folks who helped me out this year, and also to my sister, comedy writer Anne Fenn, who came up with the ‘Revel With A Cause’ anchor line used on all our materials. Though it is a pun, it’s not as cheesy as so many of the ones we Fenns seem doomed to spew, so I’m proud to use it.

Here’s to Seeing You at The Autists 2012, May 24th

Thursday May 24th is the big day at Corus Quay at Sugar Beach — the above eblast has the details, or go here for more info and to buy tickets ($99/ea, $175/pair, $800/10). There’s gambling and free booze and food and DJ and circus acts involving silk and fire.

One hell of a night out for a great price, for a great cause.

Last year’s bash centred on a major live art auction, and wanting to flush out Toronto’s art collectors, we focused the direct mail and ad campaign (above) on the art we had to auction. I worked with messenger CD Laura Wills, writing up the print ads, each celebrating a work for auction. The first ad didn’t run, as we failed to receive the painting (a good, unshortenable, long story); the others did run in several major newspapers.

The Autists 2011 Direct and Print Campaign Awarded

But we got the Applied Arts award (pro bono category, link to our listing to come soon), and I’m proud that it was for this work and not, say, for one of my anti-chronic constipation campaigns, although, it’s pretty good too.

Here is the gorgeous direct mail package Laura designed.

The Autists returns on May 24th. Come

The Autists 2012 hits town on May 24, at 7:00 p.m., down on the waterfront at Corus Quay (at Sugar Beach). It will be more fun and wild than ever, so come have a free drink or ten with me.

Tickets are $99/ea, $175/pair.

You should attend.

I was recently asked by Jib to work up some tagline options for innovative Swiss manufacturer GlassX.

Glass X actually lives up to its tag

GlassX’s architectural-grade product uses a phase-change material, salt hydrate crystals, which have thermal and solar properties, to reduce a building’s heating and cooling load. It grabs exterior heat in winter and radiates it inward, while repelling it in summer.

Well, the tag, Thermodynamic Glazing, eventually wrote itself, after a few other ideas came and went.

But I’ll still take all the credit, because I’m like that.

I was put in charge of cake

I went down to local bake shop par excellence, Frangipane Patisserie, and asked if they’d build me one like Rome‘s Coliseum, since Annie’s man, film and TV editor James Bredin, is taking her to Italy as a birthday present, and we were doing Italian food that night. “Sure,” replied the cake lady, “for 700 bucks.”

“Oh,” says I, “How about a compromise? Say one column from the Coliseum in cake?”

“That’d be 500.”

“Okay then, let’s see, she’s a screenwriter, so a laptop? Kind of tacky…” On I droned, until arriving at an old-school typewriter, with a script still in it, and the script having something to do with the party.

It had to flatter

So I did what women do — I lied about her age.

The price was quite reasonable, especially considering they made the screenplay edible and even got the font right (Courier).

Intact to the end

It also happens to be the first screenplay I’ve written that made it through to production without a word being changed.

And she seemed to like it.

I’m calling it my best writing gig ever.

I worked with Scott Reid’s team at shopper marketing firm Mars | Philter on St Lawrence Market’s first TV ad in its 200-year history.

The commercial, produced by Serge Constantinou and edited by Sugar Media, was the final piece of the agency’s rebrand of the Market.

I pitched several concepts

Among them was one with a chicken standing and delivering on a bar stool, but budget limitations meant shoppers did all the talking this time.

On shooting day, I stood cheek-to-camera, firing questions at those passers-by who’d agreed to tell us why they shopped at the market. They got to make a little advertising history.

I also came up with the tag, ‘What are you in the market for?’

All in, we came in on budget, the client was thrilled and the ad wasn’t too shabby.

We didn’t win it, but I couldn’t bin it

Below, some roughs I worked on, produced by art director Ryan Fox.

As often happens with this man, I came up with the art direction ideas, he the copy.

Smart parking, aka Smarking

We also created several pieces promoting Green P as the smarter way to park. They even have an app for it.

Some radio

‘Smarking I’ – 30”

(Two cheerful men in a car, looking for parking, SFX: engine, traffic)
Hamish: Risking presupposition, it would appear our parking prospects do not give rise to optimism.
Raphael: Afraid I must assume a degree of culpability, for I had earlier neglected to mention one Green P smartphone application.
Hamish: And what, oh ever-sagacious one, is that?
Raphael: It is no less than an inspired scientific marvel enabling one to prelocate Green P parking facilities prior to exodus.
Hamish: Rather a smart approach to parking, I should say.
Raphael: Smart parking, indeed!
Together: Smarking!
VO: With the Green P smartphone app, you’re no longer parking, you’re smarking.

‘Smarking II’ – 30”

(Two guys driving, SFX: music, traffic)
Rick: Wow, is she wearing skorts with her windblazer?
Dave: Yup, she’s packing massive ladytude!
Rick: You’re so wittarious today.
Dave: Mayhaps, but I can occasionally be doofiotic.
Rick: Hey, why so scritical?
Dave: Because I forglected to download the Green P smartphone app. It lets you chout all their parking areas, preparture.
Rick Wow, talk about smart parking.
(SFX pregnant Pause)
VO: The Green P smartphone app. It’s not parking, it’s smarking.
Dave: Okay, intellinouncer!

‘Casanova’ – 30”

Woman: (smooching sounds) Mmm, you kiss like a god.
Man: Thanks, you’re pretty amaz— Oh no!!
Woman: What?!
Man: Gonna get a parking ticket! Be right back!
Woman: But… (sigh)
SFX: Door swings open, left banging on the wall, footsteps echo off into distance.
VO: Announcing the Green P smartphone app. It let’s you pre-plan where you park, and set yourself an expiry reminder, plus you only pay for the time you park. You’ll never have to interrupt anything again.
Man: (rushing back, breathless) OK, where were we?
Woman: Sorry, your time’s up here, too, buddy.

‘Assistant’ – 30”

(SFX: Street sounds, man and woman walking quickly)
Mr Abernathy: Okay, got the briefs?
Jane: Check.
Mr Abernathy: Got the concepts?
Jane: Check.
Mr Abernathy: Excellent.
Jane: Um, I also took the liberty of pre-parking us, Mr Abernathy.
Mr Abernathy: What?
Jane: That’s right sir. I downloaded the Green P Parking app onto your smartphone and found the closest Green P lot to our meeting. On arrival, I’ll set an expiry alert to beep us so we don’t get a parking ticket!
Mr Abernathy: Well done, Lisa.
Mr Abernathy: It’s Jane, sir.
Mr Abernathy: It sure is, Jane.
VO: Download the Green P parking app for your smartphone. It’s got your back.

UCC thanks the Globe and Mail for Failing Boys

UCC wanted to second the emotion in a Globe series, ‘Failing Boys’, investigating how Canadian education is leaving too many boys behind. This is the ad I wrote.

Boarding Forever campaign

A few years back, UCC almost killed off its boarding school component, but a spirited counterblast from old boys saved it. Thing was, UCC’s boarding facilities were in need of total renovation, so $14 million had to be raised.

I developed the line ‘Boarding Forever: The Global Call’ to anchor the international fundraising portion of campaign. The idea was to incite a hearty sense of the old boys’ and the school’s passion behind it, coupled with the reassurance that boarding would remain a UCC institution.

The rest rolled out from there.

International mentor recruitment campaign

The Common Ties mentor campaign was also a substantial undertaking. Additional collateral that went along with this ad was similar to the above.

…and an Xmas card here and there.

Kingspan commissioned my client Jib to create this website, pathtonetzero.com. I was asked to write it up.

It speaks volumes for itself, so I need not.

SOFA leases fully customizable private showroom spaces to manufacturers who use them to market products to the design and architectural trades.

I’ve worked with SOFA for a couple of years, writing the website, print ads and collateral for their team of very hardworking women. It’s a fairly new destination and not in the most glamorous of locations — Airport Rd — so it’s not the easiest of sells. But these girls hustle and are getting it done.

Jib created a papercraft architecture competition for Irish construction materials company Kingspan to pump up SEO and draw prospects’ eyes to their insulated metal panels. These are high-end panels used as cladding on prestigious architectural projects.

We launched with print ads in architectural trade publications, DR and eblasts announcing the competition and directing people to an intriguing microsite created for it, legaciesarebuilt.com.

Woven into the program was a story about the ‘Unknown Architect’, a fictional visionary from today times whose works are unearthed by future archeologists long after a rather nasty apocalypse. The key idea was that legacies are built of strong stuff like Kingspan. The winner got a university architecture bursary created and named in his honour.

A Marcom award is won

The campaign won Platinum at the Marcom Awards. My hat goes off to senior designer Ben Allison of Jib for coming up with the idea and handing it to me, which made the writing pretty much self-execute.