Radio Shack - Gift Finder (2007) 0:30 (USA)

Agency: Arnold, Boston
Design & Animation: Thornberg & Forester, New York

Thornberg & Forester designed and produced a new 3D animated spot for Radio Shack and Sirius Satellite Radio that cleverly shows how consumers can get all of their holiday shopping done in one place—and also pick up something nice for themselves. T&F creative director Scott Matz collaborated with a team from Boston agency Arnold Worldwide on the commercial, to showcase the variety of entertainment features available through Sirius and a discount offer for the service offered by Radio Shack.

"The challenge was to show the versatility of the Sirius Satellite Radio while maintaining an energetic pace and strong production values," says Matz.

The spot, which was created predominantly in Maya, demonstrates that "Jack" has purchased a Sirius "Sportster" for his mom, dad, girlfriend and even himself. As the Sirius dog scampers around with a bit of wrapping paper in his mouth, the radio goes through a series of seamless transitions highlighting the service’s different music and sports features.

"We sold the idea for the spot to the client as a basic board, but didn’t know what it would look like until we spoke to Scott and Justin," says Chris Perry, producer for Arnold, Boston. "T&F were able to think on their feet when things changed in the middle of the job, for example, when we decided to animate the dog. Scott came up with a great solution by having the dog jump out of the screen and interact with the wrapping paper and it made the spot more compelling."

T&F capitalized on the existing Sirius branding by creating a dog-shaped gift box and a bow that echoes the dog’s star-shaped eye. "The spot begins with a syncopated unwrapping of a mysterious present to the familiar holiday tune "Jingle Bells." We were careful to give equal time to the Sirius and Radio Shack brands," explains Matz. "As per the client’s request, we created Radio Shack wrapping paper using their tagline “Do Stuff.’ We balanced that idea with the inclusion of the Sirius dog who became a playful and fun vehicle to weave in and out of the spot."

All elements were modeled and created by the T&F team. Such elements included 3D wrapping paper and gift bows, photoreal Sirius products and the CG dog that slips and slides as if on ice, bringing to mind holiday skating.

"This spot had to be interesting and satisfy a lot of client mandates as far as supers and what content had to be up for certain amounts of time," Perry emphasizes. "It was a challenge and T&F made it easy despite all the curve balls that were thrown at them."

Credits:
Agency: Arnold, Boston
CD: Paul Schauder
AD: Lauren Siegel
CW: Laurie Asnus
Producer: Chris Perry

Design & Animation: Thornberg & Forester, New York
CD: Scott Matz
Executive Producer: Elizabeth Kiehner
3D Animators: Christian Day, Nicholas Johnnides, Taryn McLaughlin
3D Modeling: Cavin Thuring

Audio: Soundtrack, Boston
Mixer: Mike Secher

Music: Music for Picture, NYC
Arranger: Peter Ducharme
Music Producer: Ben Davi