Duncan/Channon Scares Up Laughs for DriveTime

San Francisco agency Duncan/Channon has a new campaign for client DriveTime, or “the number-one used car chain for the credit-strapped.” Building on last year’s “Rescued” campaign, the agency again called on the comedic directorial duo Adam & Dave from production company Arts & Sciences to entertain and inform you about the client’s services.

The first spot “Hold the Lemon” involves a bit of old-school freestyling and almost recalls Reno 911!:

Two more below.

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Y&R NY Celebrates ’5 Second Filmmaker’ for Dell

For the latest in the brand’s “Learning Meets Doing,” Y&R New York teamed up with Über Content and director Adam Gunser to create a mockumentary celebrating “5 Second Filmmaker” Marty Goldberg.

Goldberg is the (fictional) king of the the 5-second film, taking home the “Cinco” award year after year and employing “The Goldberg Method” while grooming his assistant and protege. Seemingly targeting the growing popularity of the short-format Vine, the mockumentary mostly seems to be trying too hard and its humor never really hits it mark and struggles to find a cohesive tone. Most of the time, the spot seems to be mocking Goldberg, but elsewhere seems to celebrate his working methods showcasing Dell technology. Also worth noting is that the brevity-mocking video feels long at 2:15. Goldberg could have done it in five seconds. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Duncan/Channon Mines Dorky Humor for DriveTime

San Francisco agency Duncan/Channon have a new campaign for DriveTime that attempts to mine buddy comedies and old cop shows to make funny spots about buying a car with poor credit.

The two new spots, directed by Adam Brodie & Dave Derewlany, feature a team of two adorably dorky women (I’m intentionally avoiding the term “adorkable” here) driving around a homemade rescue vehicle. When the two see credit-crunched car shoppers they come to the rescue, bringing them to DriveTime where they can expect low-priced leases and loans despite poor credit. In one of the spots, the couple rescue a woman denied a car loan at a dealer; in the other it’s a man crammed into a packed bus who thinks he “can’t afford a car.” With DriveTime’s low-priced leases, he “can’t afford not to get a car” the two say at the same time.

Its brand of cutesy humor isn’t anything new, but it is kind of a fresh approach for selling this type of brand, usually populated by more downbeat messages about how you no longer have to let bad credit stand in your way. As such, the spots are welcome, even if one of them (“Keepin’ It Real”) falls flat on its face. “Next Stop Freedom” (featured above) is a little more successful thanks to an unexpected bit thrown in at the end. There’s potential for the approach to go places, and at the very least it moves away from the tired “Do you have bad credit?” opening spots we’ve all seen a million times. I’m interested to see where Duncan/Channon take this in the future. Credits and “Keepin’ It Real” after the jump.  continued…

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