Not all toilet humor has to be complete shit.

A little punny I know, but bear with me. All sexism aside, it’s no secret that women are the main target for laundry detergents and bleaches such as Clorox. Typically, they are the ones purchasing them. But what about the bachelors out there? How do you reach out to guys’ guys who believe that fresh underwear means turning yesterday’s Hanes inside-out? Chillin’ in previous night’s tidy whiteys might be OK for a Sunday afternoon spent sitting alone on the couch. Once in a while, though, you have to cut the crap (sometimes literally) and wash your clothes. This campaign pokes fun at the times when we don’t quite make it to the toilet, with toilet humor of course. It gets them thinking about products and problems that their moms normally have taken care of all their lives in a way that’s both funny enough to get their attention and relevant enough to work.  

While putting this concept together, I thought it would be interesting to allude to the “accidents” we sometimes have without making it too obvious. Being too literal would not only take away the fun of the campaign, but it would also be in poor taste and just crude. The concept is: Fighting stains without staining your pride while using toilet humor. The execution: Using signs we are all familiar with and spinning their meanings around in a funny way. It seemed easy enough at first, but getting a decently funny third ad and still making sense proved to be conceptual constipation.

Mayhem put into contextual perspective

We've all seen the great spots the people at Leo Burnett and Allstate brought to us that remind us to protect ourselves from unpredictable mayhem. The reality of owning a car, we learn as our good friend Mr. Mayhem destroys our daily drivers, is that some accidents are unforeseeable; which is why we get insurance in the first place (unless you're into cheesy early 90s style CGI "Generals" who conveniently poop out insurance cards through your Epson.) But the sad truth is that although some accidents are hard to avoid, sometimes mayhem is riding shotgun with us. Sometimes we need insurance because we are the ones that cause accidents, and that IS avoidable. These next few roughs tap into that reality and remind people to be better drivers right when and where it matters, on the road. Influenced by "don't text and drive" billboards, the "Be Contextual" chapter in Tom Himpe's Advertising Next, and Allstate's safe driver discounts; these billboards serve as reminders to keep distractions at bay when driving while also acknowledging the fact that the billboards themselves are distractions.

Casting the first coal.

While it ultimately comes down to polished execution (something that my book needs more of), every good piece of advertising starts with a good idea. Throughout school, internships and freelance gigs, as an aspiring copywriter I have been taught to start with ideas first when approaching projects. That's why whenever I do any concepting, whether it's for my book or for a client, I start with a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. The initial product usually isn't pretty, even with the help of more than capable art directors. But within the smeared doodles, crumpled up loose leaf and incomplete jumbles of chicken scratch there usually is a diamond in the rough hiding somewhere.

Although the purpose of this blog is to post up rough concepts as they come to me so I can get feedback, find help to execute or just show off a good idea I have; I'd like to kick this blog off with something else. While these doodles and notes are still rough, they were good enough to become realities.