Colangelo's new TV ads for Trojan are refreshingly quiet and subtle, with adults and a male teenager alluding to sex without snickering or blushing. That said, the subject behind the dialogue-driven ads, which break today and were directed by Gavin O'Connor in his commercial debut, is never in doubt.
In "Big Date," the teen, in an interesting role reversal, plants a condom in the shirt pocket of his middle-aged dad who's leaving for a date. "Miss You" shows a boy longing for his traveling dad as much as his mom misses her man, only to smile when she finds a Trojan present from him in a dresser. "Happy Birthday" is the only ad set in bed, with a thirtysomething couple celebrating some early morning action. But hey, they're relaxed about it, so you don't feel creepy watching them.
Indeed, this campaign is more mellow than naughty, so much so that TV networks will air the ads earlier in the evening than they have in the past, according to Dave Clemans, Colangelo's executive creative director.
The tagline, underscored by three simple piano notes, is "Real. Good. Sex."
CREDITS
Client: Church & Dwight
Brand: Trojan
Agency: Colangelo
Executive Creative Director: Dave Clemans
Creative Directors: Chris Stevenson, John Wagner
Art Director: Wendy Shapiro
Agency Executive Producer: Ilene Richardson
Managing Director: Jim O’Neill
Group Account Directors: Elizabeth Geary, Dan Liu
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Production Company: Saville Productions
Executive Producer: Rupert Maconick
Head of Production: Michelle Traviniski
Producer: Jay Spangler
Director of Photography: Mandy Walker
Editorial: The Cutting Room Films
Editor: Brian Sanford
Editorial Executive Producer: Melissa Lubin
Editorial Senior Producer: Eytan Gutman
Color: Light of Day
Colorist, Online Editor: Joe Wenkoff
Flame, Visual Effects: Colin Stackpole
Sound Mixer: Walter Bianco