Warpaint director Damien Toogood’s V/Line “Guilt Trips” campaign out of McCann Melbourne took home the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness at Cannes Lions this week. The campaign and its attendant Toogood-directed spot highlight the Australian train’s effort to let parents send prepaid train tickets to their kids. Toogood’s hilariously relatable spot uses deadpan humor to showcase how parents ‘guilt’ kids into returning home for a visit.
To capture this idea with maximum authenticity, the director set out to a small town in the Australian state of Victoria to talk to real people whose children were loathe to visit home. Toogood wanted a “street cast” to mix with a professional actor who carried a majority of the narrative. For Toogood, this “on the ground” approach was first inspired by the existing V/Line “Guilt Trip” print ads with distinctive typography and a familiar message. The script and “Guilt Trip” story really evolved for the director, though, once he became immersed in the town talking to people with his nimble, documentary-style crew.
Damien Toogood
Toogood’s composition is clean and unobtrusive, so as not to impede the deadpan humor. Says Toogood, “For this campaign, the camera is just an observer of circumstance, not getting in the way. And anything funny comes from the script and casting, so I was looking for people with natural comedic timing—both real people and the one professional.” The town also serves as a character in the story, as it does in some of the finest documentaries.
“What we loved was the insight was so fresh and so universal,” jury president David Sable, global chief executive officer of Y&R, told reporters at a press conference. He went on to mention how easy to expand the campaign could be. “You could sell this to every train company in the world,” he said.
Pat Baron, ECD of McCann’s Melbourne, said “Damien’s belief in the campaign and the idea of a ‘Guilt Trip’ when it was print, and his efforts and collaboration on turning it into the script it became, are very much a part of this Grand Prix success. Damien is an amazingly gifted director who gives his all to his projects. Thank you Damien. You invested and bought into this idea in a way no other director could and we are proud of you.”
[youtube http://youtu.be/ASu24U2eMQw]About Warpaint
Founded by award-winning filmmaker Morgan Spurlock in 2012, Warpaint instantly created a home for an unparalleled group of innovative filmmakers and creative visionaries to create groundbreaking advertising and entertainment experiences across every platform imaginable. Founding partners include Keith Calder, Jeremy Chilnick, Shannon Lords and Morgan Spurlock.