He took the tea kettle? Ouch, that Hertz!
This cute British spot from adam&eveDDB starts off sentimentally, as a middle-aged couple are saying goodbye to their son, who is moving out—with help from a Hertz rental van. But it soon becomes clear that the tears will come for another reason.
At least he left the kitchen sink.
"Yes it is a departure—deliberately so," agency creative director Steve Wioland tells Adweek. "We had a limited budget, so we had to do something to cut through. The team came up with a lovely insight: Stealing from parents is something many students are guilty of. We thought it was really funny."
Director Guy Shelmerdine employs an appealing documentary/home-movie style, and the understated, naturalistic performances are spot-on, helping to make "Cleaned Out" something more than the sum of its (purloined) parts.
"Key to the humor was getting the pace right," says Wioland. And the ad rewards replays because "there are a few things missing [from the house] that you may not notice on the first viewing."
Of course, the way things are today, that dude will probably move back home soon enough, reconnecting the satellite dish so he can watch TV all day long while chilling on a couch in the basement.
CREDITS
Client: Hertz
Vice President, Marketing, Pricing: Olivier Lecocq
Brand Communications Manager: Paul Wareham
Project: "Cleaned Out"
Agency: adam&eveDDB, London
Chief Creative Officer: Ben Priest
Executive Creative Directors: Ben Tollett, Richard Brim
Creative Directors: Matt Woolner, Steve Wioland
Copywriter: Frances Leach
Art Director: Christopher Bowsher
Planner: David Mortimer
Media Agency: Forward3D
Media Planner: James Ross
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Guy Shelmerdine
Editor: Andy McGraw, Stitch
Postproduction: MPC
Audio Postproduction: Andy Stewart, String and Tins
