X-UP CASE STUDY

NORMAN: THE PUPPY THAT MOOS

Six TV spots + print, outdoor, radio, web, guerilla

THE CHALLENGE

Colorado Springs is home to Focus on the Family and James Dobson, one of leaders of the opposition to marriage equality in America.
One of the main tenets of the antigay movement is that people are born straight, and being gay is a choice. Any gay person who wants the right to get married simply needs to “choose” to become straight.
Tim Gill, one of the leaders in the fight for marriage equality, theorized that it would help the cause if we could shift people’s beliefs towards the idea that people are born gay. Gill gave us a $1M budget and 30 days to prove that it’s possible to move the needle on “born vs choose” in this conservative region.
The target was the “moveable middle”, with an emphasis on “soccer moms” 30 to 50, women who had little, if any, connection with the issue. The strategy: to give them a way to relate to the issue, with a strong emotional hook, and follow up with a factual rationale.

MEDIA PLAN & CREATIVE BRIEF

CO-CREATIVE DIRECTORS: MICHAEL FRANZINI, DION HUGHES, MARK JOHNSON

USE CONTROLS BELOW TO VIEW DECK

CREATIVE PRESENTATION

RELATED SPOTS FOR OTHER CLIENTS

These were for Freedom To Marry.  Definitely worth watching.

We shot this one year after Matthew Shepard was murdered.

Within 30 days, it became the most played spot in the history of MTV.

We produced these the following year.

Judy McGrath, then President of MTV, called these “the most provocative thing we’ve ever aired.”