Academy Award-winning makeup artist Barney Burman became a werewolf for the campaign.
Lodi, Calif.-based Clark Pest Control has teamed up with award-winning TV production company Hazy Mills Productions and performance media agency Nimmea Advertising to launch a new broadcast advertising campaign featuring some extraordinary pests. As the first broadcast commercials created by Hazy Mills, the producers behind “Grimm” (NBC), “Hollywood Game Night” (NBC), “History of Comedy” (CNN), and “Hot in Cleveland” (TV Land), the spots are sure to entertain with “supernatural” characters and just the right dose of humor.
The campaign is set in a quiet residential neighborhood in Anywhere, USA. As word gets out around the neighborhood about a trusted, friendly pest technician, “Clark,” he begins getting calls to treat supernatural infestations that have been making the rounds. One homeowner even opts to leave a killer clown unbothered in his backyard and instead asks Clark to get rid of his other unwanted house guest: his mother-in-law.
Viewers soon learn that while Clark can help these families with their “natural” pests, he’ll have to leave the supernatural variety up to other professionals.
“While most pest control campaigns feature actual pests – termites, rodents, insects – we wanted to focus on the infestation itself; the experience of living with unwanted things – or people – that continually pester us,” says Paul Velten, managing director of Nimmea Advertising. “We then took the idea of infestations to a whole new ‘supernatural’ level with the help of Hazy Mills, and created spots starring a werewolf, ghost, killer clown – even a mother-in-law – to get the point across.”
Special effects makeup for the “supernatural” characters in the campaign was done by Academy Award winner Barney Burman, who was the lead makeup artist for the “Grimm” TV series, produced by Hazy Mills. On the day of the shoot, each “supernatural pest” spent several hours in Burman’s makeup chairs – including Burman himself, who played the role of the Werewolf.
“For our first broadcast advertising campaign, we were fortunate enough to call on our old friends from ‘Grimm’ and Nimmea Advertising to create something truly out of this world,” says Todd Milliner, co-founder of Hazy Mills Productions. “And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Hazy Mills production without a killer punch line.”
Priding itself on customer retention, as well as building trust with new homeowners, it was important for Clark Pest Control to clearly communicate the core values that go along with being family-owned and -operated since 1950 – quality of work, friendly service, and being mindful of the environment – while also keeping the media delivery as relevant as possible to the end consumer.
“As we continue to grow, we want to generate more brand affinity and awareness among homeowners in our California and Nevada service areas,” says Nicole Keefe, director of marketing and advertising for Clark Pest Control. “Teaming up with Hazy Mills and Nimmea gave us an amazing opportunity to feature our services in a way that really captures the imagination.”
The three spots, “Werewolf,” “Ghost,” and “Clown” began airing on May 3, 2018 and are supported with a highly targeted media buy spanning cable, network television, digital, social media, and programmatic video. It was even the subject of recent coverage on AdWeek.com.
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