The Norfolk Southern railroad is looking to score real political points with a new ad campaign, timed to the national conventions, centered on a magical world of make-believe.
A new spot from Maryland's RP3 Agency and the digital masterminds at The Mill (which also directed) aims to position Norfolk Southern—and freight rail in general—as a continuing force for economic growth for America. The commercial opens with a young boy playing trains in his bedroom. After the boy goes to bed, the train's flickers once again to life, and the whole bedroom becomes like a scene from Toy Story. Dolls and stuffed animals emerge from their hiding places, and a whole city is formed—with skyscrapers, factories, highways and a port. "Wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk Southern. One line, infinite possibilities," the voiceover says, as the camera pulls back to show the whole bustling scene—as the boy wakes up and stares in wonder.
Norfolk Southern wants to bring this message of relevance directly to politicians and voters during the national political conventions. The spot breaks today and will air on broadcast and cable until the end of November. Norfolk Southern will also have a strong presence at both the Republican National Convention (Aug. 27 and 29) and the Democratic National Convention (Sept. 4 and 5), including sponsorship of CNN's election coverage.
The spot is a visual delight—par for the course for The Mill. "Children and adults have strong emotional connections to trains. Using CGI allowed us to convey the imagination and wonder so many of us as adults still have for trains from our childhood play," says RP3 cd Jim Lansbury. "Both in fantasy and in reality, railroads are a source of awe."
"One of the neat things about 'City of Possibilities' is its optimistic tone," adds Frank Brown, assistant vp for corporate communications at Norfolk Southern. "We aren't fancy, but the transportation services we provide are critical to industry at home and American competitiveness globally. We help our customers and communities grow, and that's a continuing success story."
CREDITS
Client: Norfolk Southern
Agency: RP3 Agency, Bethesda, Md.
Creative Director/Copywriter: Jim Lansbury
Associate Creative Director: Chris Sheldon
Producer: Donna Schoch-Spana
Audio Engineer: Steve Rosen/Sonic Union
Original Music and Sound Design: Human
Production Company/Effects: The Mill
Directors: Angus Kneale & Ben Smith
Executive Producer: Ian Bearce
Producers:
Nic Barnes (Live Action)
Boo Wong (VFX/Post Production)
Editorial:
Ryan McKenna (Editor)
Alex Trierweiler (Assistant Editor)
Director of Photography: Bill Pope
CG:
Chris Bernier (Project Lead Artist)
Jeff Lopez (Animation Lead)
Tom Bardwell (Lighting Lead)
Joji Tsuruga (FX Lead)
Zang Chen
Alex Cheparev
Maxime Cousseau
Sam Crees
Sean Curran
Justin Diamond
Stanley Ilin
Nicholas Johnnides
Christina Ku
Justin Kurtz
Jeffrey Lee
Paul Liaw
Iván Luque Cuellár
Laurent Makowski
Justin Maynard
Ross Scroble
Navdeep Singh
Hassan Taimur
Olivier Varteressian
Sauce Vilas
James Williams
John Wilson
Zhenting Zhou
Compositors:
Kyle Cody (2D Lead Artist)
Erin Nash
Shoot Supervisors:
Naotaka Minami
Corey Brown
Telecine:
Damien Van Der Cruyssen (Colorist)
Design:
Tim Haldeen (Lead Artist)
Tom Losinski
Gap Sangpattharamatee
Jae Kim
Bryan Louie
Jane Ro
Morgan Schweitzer