Superbowl '08- Bob's House

[jay_moose]

PURCHASE, N.Y.— January 24, 2008 — If a television commercial airs on

Super Bowl Sunday and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

On Sunday, February 3, television viewers will be checking their volume

controls when PepsiCo airs a 60-second commercial filmed in American Sign

Language (ASL), with open-captioned text for the benefit of all viewers. The spot

was created by and features PepsiCo employees who are members of EnAble,

an employee network whose mission is to promote a more inclusive environment

for people with disabilities. Slated to air on the pre-game show on FOX, the

commercial features Pepsi-Cola and Lay’s Potato Chips, but its real mission is to

bring awareness of the American deaf community to a wider audience. PepsiCo

also will sponsor the closed captioning of FOX’s entire Super Bowl broadcast.

“The outpouring of support for this ad, both internally and externally, has

been overwhelming,” said Clay Broussard, PepsiCo employee and project lead

on Bob’s House. “This is one way we can give back through what we call

Performance with Purpose. It’s part of a larger effort to make PepsiCo the

defining corporation of the 21st century. By bringing the world an ad performed

by deaf employees in ASL, we feel like we’ve already scored the upset on Super

Bowl Sunday.”

Broussard and a handful of PepsiCo employees, each with their own

personal connection to the American deaf community, set off to create a

commercial with a deaf focus and broad appeal. Despite having little or no

experience in advertising, the group came up with the concept, wrote the script,

and then acted it out, sharing a demo tape with their colleagues. The demo tape

generated internal buzz and quickly gained support from PepsiCo senior

management, which immediately saw the commercial’s potential and decided it

needed a big stage. Naturally, they chose the biggest stage possible – Super

Bowl Sunday.

Broussard appears in the commercial along with PepsiCo colleagues

Sheri Christianson, Darren Therriault and Brian Dowling. Titled “Bob’s House,”

the theme is based on a popular joke in the deaf community. PepsiCo also

consulted with the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) to ensure the

message was on target.

“The NAD applauds PepsiCo for its strong commitment to diversity and

creation of this exciting ad in ASL with its employees. This ground-breaking ad

will heighten cultural awareness by millions of viewers during Super Bowl

Sunday,” said Bobbie Beth Scoggins, president of the NAD.

The commercial opens with two friends (Therriault and Dowling) driving

together in a car at night, on the way to their friend Bob’s house to watch a

football game. They are stopped on a suburban street where all the houses are

dark, with no porch lights or inside lights on. The driver (Dowling) is not sure

which house is their friend’s. Communicating in ASL, the two friends blame each

other for not knowing Bob’s house number. Suddenly, the driver has an idea.

He begins honking the horn repeatedly as he slowly drives down the block.

Instantly, lights flash on in all of the houses except one – Bob’s – the only house

unaffected by the noise.

“Bob’s House” was produced by Harvest and directed by the company’s

co-founder, award-winning director Baker Smith. It came to life thanks to the

cooperation of BBDO-NY, which supported the idea and agreed to create the

commercial for no profit, and OMD, which secured a valuable pre-game time slot

and accepted no commission for its efforts.

To see the commercial and a “making of” the video, visit

www.pepsi.com/bobshouse

 

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