Several years ago, a small carpet company came to our advertising agency. They didn’t have a very big budget and wanted to let the world know that they existed.
Kevin, a buddy at Destination Marketing, and I were aware of this low-budget approach being used by a car dealer in Cleveland. If we were to film the Western Carpet Center spots cheaply, we could always use that to reinforce the “low overhead, low prices theme”.
The store isn’t fancy. It’s a mom & pop operation run by a nice couple, Sue & Dave. But it was ME who got in front of the camera and along with the expert camera work and zany eye of Brian MacMillan, the Western Carpet Center legacy was born. Sue & Dave told us, “Just have fun and make sure they remember the store”.
Legacy? OK, we’ve made 12 very funny commercial…the three most recent being given the final touches even as I type this.
Now, it’s not finished…but here’s a first look at one of the spots
Click here
Our secret, OK? I’ll post the rest once we’ve made them perfect. Well, how about “acceptable”?
Probably the best, most memorable commercial we did was when we featured a hole in the ceiling and commented that it looked like Australia. People would stop by just to see the hole. Unfortunately, someone at the fire department got a bee in their helmet and the building’s owner was ordered to fix the hole and make other repairs. But there’s still a sign where the Australia hole use to be…and, despite the improvements, Western Carpet Center is still not a fancy store.
But, as we say, that means “no fancy store prices”.
I’ll let you know when the rest of the spots have hatched.
Tim Hunter
