I am creating an ad writing portfolio and need 3 prints for 3 spec ads for Barbasol, the shaving cream company.
The tagline is: "Because your insane father used it. And because you love your insane father."
The idea is to show a man, a father, using Barbasol in strange and inappropriate ways.
I am looking for something colorful, fun, and a little crazy.
Here are some spec commercial scripts to give you an idea of the tone I'm after, as well as some ways a crazy man might use Barbasol:
Spec commercial #1:
It's a summer's day, near dusk. Very beautiful. Very peaceful. We hear summer sounds: birds chirping, maybe the sound of a lawn mower a way's off, etc. Then we hear the sound of people playing catch with a baseball. We see a boy and his father playing catch in a backyard. The boy catches the ball.
Father (O.C.) Nice catch, son.
Boy: Thanks, dad.
Father: You're a real natural.
The boy smiles. He throws the ball back. The father catches it.
Father: See if you can handle this.
Boy: Ok, dad.
The father removes a can of Barbasol and sprays shaving cream on the baseball. The boy looks confused. The father throws the ball back to him. The boy puts his glove out to catch the ball. The father throws it. Some of the shaving cream flies off the ball and hits the boy, lands in his hair, on his face, etc. The boy begins to whimper. He looks into his glove. The baseball is covered in Barbasol shaving cream.
Father: Now throw it back, son. Come on. Really make it sing.
The boy, whimpering, throws it back. More barbasol flies off the ball. Some of it lands on the father. The father catches the ball. Smiles.
We look at a neighbor mowing his lawn. He says, yelling as he does so:
Neighbor: "Barbasol. Because your insane father uses it. And because you love your insane father."
Spec commercial #2:
It's a summer day's, near dusk. Very beautiful. Very peaceful. We hear summer sounds: birds chirping, maybe the sound of a lawn mower a way's off, etc. Then we the sound of man's voice and of a boy's laughter.
We see a father teaching his son how to ride a bike on their driveway. There are safety wheels on the bike. The father gently pushes the son as the son rides the bike to the end of the driveway. The father cheers him on. The boy, reaching the end of the driveway, stops. With a smile, he looks at his father.
Boy: (re: training wheels) I think I'm ready.
Father: You do, do you?
The boy nods.
Father: (excited) Ok then. If you say so.
The father removes a can of Barbasol from underneath his shirt and spays it on the safety wheels, covering them in the white cream. The boy is disturbed, puzzled. He begins to whimper.
Father: Go ahead son. Give it a shot. I'll be right behind you.
The boy, whimpering, peddles down the street with his training wheels covered in shaving cream. The father follows him, ready to catch him if he falls. Some of the cream flies off the wheels and hits the dad in the face. He doesn't seem to notice.
We look at a neighbor, a man trimming his bushes with an electrical trimmer. The neighbor shouts over the trimmer.
Neighbor: "Barbasol. Because your insane father uses it. And because you love your insane father."