crackunit.com

I’ve just been called a douche on Twitter (http://twitter.com/andrewmackenzie/status/18553562836) for not specifically mentioning the Old Spice art director and copywriter in an article that was written here: http://www.fastcompany.com/1670314/old-spice-youtube-videos-wieden.
I know I’m not supposed to rise to things like this on the Internet. It’s rule one, on page one, chapter one of Social Media 101. But I hate it when I get called a douche. Because my mother says I’m not. And I trust her.

But at the same time I also feel bad if people think the team aren’t getting the props that they deserve – for they deserve many more props than I am able to proffer. The art director, copywriter, creative directors, crew and Isaiah are tirelessly turning out amazing / hilarious / surprising / fresh videos time after time. World class humour at a pace that defies belief. Without this content there would be nothing. No responses. Nothing to put on the Internet. Literally a void of nothingness.
If you want to find out more about the team who’ve managed to write nearly 200 ads in 48 hours – they’re mostly listed here: http://www.canneslions.com/work/film/ – and if you want to see and hear 2 of them, there’s an interview with Eric and Craig on YouTube here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDk9jjdiXJQ (link kindly supplied by Mr Douche-Caller).

Their contribution is as unquestionable as Isaiah and his towel. I had assumed that would have come through loud and clear.

But aside from the creatives, the crew and the performer, this seemingly ‘simple’ thing is the product of a team of people who came together in a way that I’ve personally never witnessed before. The social media guys who figured out the who and where, spotting the opportunities, pulling out the gems and putting them cleverly back into the world. The tech guys who pulled together a super smart workflow system which underpinned this production. The editors who edited all that stuff as it happened. All the people around the set. The account people. Planners. Media folk. PR. All working in real time to produce and distribute internet-primed content of amazing quality. And you’d imagine that this kind of thing would require a great producer to pull off. And you’d be right.

And of course it’d be impossible to talk about this without mentioning P&G. Without a client brave enough to work in this kind of compressed time frame again there would be nothing. That relationship of trust and understanding has been built up over time by a team of people working here at W+K and P&G, turning out great work and learning from it every step of the way. Something I’ve been 100% uninvolved with until now.

I could ramble on about this thing all day, but I’m not going to.

This was an amazing team that had a lot of fun doing something that I felt honoured and privileged to be a part of. And it seems like other people are enjoying it too. Which is nice.

If that makes me a douche. I’ll take the hit.