Well, it’s Winter in Minnesota – yeah, go ahead, make your jokes. Chances are we’ve heard them all ‘neath our snow glazed pilings of hats and ear muffs. And, hey, if you can? – Tell us with that “Fargo” accent.
We never hear enough of that.
Yes, it’s cold. The only thing that makes Winter more unbearable for us is hearing someone else complain about their particular clime, like…”My God, it’s like 50º here and we’re shivering to death”
A typical Minnesota couple chilling out on a Bahamian Beach
50º? Shivering? Hmmmm. Okay. Trade! No Backs!
Such was the case in early February when we were hunkered down in our Minneapolis recording studios with huge clutches of frost climbing our windows like mutant Arctic ivy. And where were these other folks who we’re facing “cryogenic crisis?” – The Bahamas.
Sniff. Whimper. I’m wiping a frozen tear as I write.
All this good-natured kidding happened while recording, editing and mixing some pretty funny radio ads for The Bahamas with writer Paula Maki and producer Amanda Revere from Minneapolis ad agency, Fallon. This radio campaign’s theme,”The Tourism Bureau of Everyday Life” was derived from “Escape From Everyday Life”, which has been the tag line for the Ministry Of The Bahamas.
According to Paula, “Every piece of work we do, from tv to a simple poster, must speak to that tagline. However, The Bahamas has a secondary strategy…that they are a multi-destination country…they’re more than just sun, sea and sand…This is what can separate The Bahamas from any other “need to get away?” island destination. Jamaica simply doesn’t have as much stuff to do. So when I was thinking about a radio campaign, I wrote “Escape from everyday life” at the top of a piece of paper, but kept “variety” in the back of my head. The “Tourism Bureau of Everyday Life” idea seemed like a natural fit,… an area ripe for sarcastic observations from the everyday doldrums of modern American existence”.
Nailing down that sarcasm fell to voice-over artist Angela Whitaker from L.A., whom we recorded from Margarita Mix in Hollywood via ISDN Digital Patch. We actually tried recording a couple of other styles with her too, from “bitchy satirical” to “something kinda Steven Wright” – both of which worked but, in the end,”syrupy sarcastic” paid the most dividends.
The announcer at the back of these radio ads is Kevin Strakan from The Bahamas, aka “Mr. freezing to death”. Kevin’s got that unmistakeable Bahamian sound but, y’know, recording from an island is always an adventure – unless it’s England. First you gotta find a studio. Then, forget about using ISDN Digital Patch or Source-Connect to record things clearly. Your stuck with a phone patch; slightly better than tin cans and string… but not much. Once you put down the reciever you’re left marooned, rolling your fingers, waiting for the takes to arrive via a web connection speed that rivals carrier pigeon. But, let’s be honest. This is why one goes to The Bahamas – to avoid the stress of expectations, and the world of instant everything. Our January Babble-Blog can attest to that.
The music for this campaign was its own enigma. It had to be cheesy, yet sincere. However, some production music designed for this application just comes off as deliberate or silly. We didn’t want that. So, I dug around for a tune that was originally done in the 70’s that, at the time, was soooo sincere. (I’m convinced these guys are the real artists.) We slugged it under Angela’s voice-over and it just felt right.
“Our target market is people around the age of 35-40, who work full-time jobs, …are stressed out all the time, and… are the kind of people that brag about not taking vacation days,… These people must be saved. Not in the Pat Robertson Evangelist sense, but in the vacation sense. If The Bahamas can tug on their heart strings for even a brief minute while driving down a construction-filled highway, maybe they’ll realize, ‘Wow. I totally need to escape from my life for a little while.'”
Here are the three spots in the Bahamas radio spot campaign, “Activities”, “Attractions” and “Destinations”. Also, we thought we’d share a snippet of the alternate approach we considered with the “something kinda Steven Wright” voice.
Angela Whitaker can be booked through her casting agent, International Creative Management, Inc., LA. Kevin Strakan act as his own agent and representative through his own business, Fifth Avenue Models.