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Sears-style family portraits officially uncool
While demonstrating John C. Reilly's uncanny ability to embody stupidity in a single look, the poster for Step Brothers also hammers another nail into the coffin of a once-cherished institution: the ’70s-style family-portrait photo of the kind perfected by Sears. (Sears Portrait Studio is actually still going strong, probably thanks to better backdrops.) The family portrait may even be better fodder for parody than the yearbook photo, which already took a beating in ads for The 40 Year Old Virgin and Altoids. But the yearbook photo does somehow provoke a level of embarrassment all its own. |
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There was a quite original and interesting component to this campaign. At the movie theatre, both actors were posed in a still shot typical of the card-stock slides in some pre-movie shows that don't have rolling stock. There was even convincing, typical typography about the movie floating in the same frame. Suddenly the two men start moving and jawing at each other, which had a nicely surprising effect.
Posted by: Gregory Solman | Jul 21, 2008 3:26:17 PM
They used the same good trick in some urban panels (ads that appear above subway stations in New York). Seems to be a still shot, till one of them sticks a finger into the other's ear. Very unexpected, subtle and eye-catching. Read the full post at http://allyouneedisagoodidea.typepad.com/all_you_need_is_a_good_id/2008/06/double-take.html
Posted by: Jay Heyman | Jul 24, 2008 9:36:14 PM
