It’s hard for a TV commercial to get my attention, hold my attention and make me remember it. That’s because I’ve not only seen so many commercials but I’ve also been a part of so many commercial productions that I think I’m a little jaundiced about spots.

So the other day while just changing channels, I came across this Bayer Aspirin commercial having never seen it before. It totally drew me in and got my attention and I’ll tell you why I think it worked so well.

GREAT WRITING IN 7 SECONDS
You innocently watch a guy at a sporting event, enjoying himself. Some paramedics come towards him, which confuses him because he has no medical issues. But as they tell him, he soon will. WHAT?! That’s a great commercial hook. Bam! 7 seconds!

GREAT COMMERCIAL ACTING
Make no mistake, it’s not the voice-over that impresses in this spot, it’s the actors. Our protagonist not only delivers his set-up line well but his facial expression after he’s told he’s about to have a heart attack is spectacular, it’s real and it’s honest. But let us not ignore the great simple performance of the paramedic who firmly but calmly informs her soon to be patient that he’s going to have a heart attack.

SIMPLE EDITING IS NEVER SIMPLE
From the establishing shot to paramedics entry and conversation shots, it all flows really nicely and innocently until the viewer is as smacked awake as the protagonist when the heart attack line is delivered. The editing is simple because there seems to be nothing especially dramatic unfolding. Until it does.

Maybe you saw the ad and it didn’t grab you like it grabbed me but it was so impactful to me as the viewer I wanted to share it with you. There enough NOT so impressive spots out there that I think we should celebrate the really good ones.

What do you think about this spot? Great? Or did it seem like just another TV spot?

Tags: commentary, commercials, tv, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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If you saw the Super Bowl, one of the ads you probably watched was for Ram Trucks and featured one of my true broadcasting heros….one of the people whose talents I would quickly exchange for mine, Paul Harvey. Even after his death his talent – which is one the greatest successes in radio and possibly ALL of broadcasting – still resonants.

One small example comes every Friday on Facebook when my friend and great voice talent Vance Elderkin posts “Hello, Facebookians. It’s Friday,” in a tribute to Harvey who every Friday would open his broadcast by saying “Hello Americans. It’s Friday!”

Another more recent example is the recent Meme that has grown from the famous Harvey speech upon which the Ram Truck ad was built – many jobs have been substituted for the Farmers in this Meme so I suppose it should have come as no surprise that voice acting would have its Meme day.

Except there WAS a surprise.

There was a surprise for me in the personal impact I felt experiencing the great writing, quality audio production and perfect performance by John Taylor who clearly sneezes away more talent during allergy season than most of us can hope to attain in our lifetimes. The great ones always make it look and sound easy.

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have.

Tags: announcers, commentary, commercials, video, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Congrats to Voice-Over Actor Dave Fennoy following his D.I.C.E. win as Outstanding Character Performer as Lee Everett in The Walking Dead.

Probably best known for his recent work as the voice of HULU.COM, Dave’s promo work has also been heard on ABC, The WB, Fox, CBS, Showtime, Starz, ESPN, The Disney Channel and TV One.

His commercial voice-over credits include Lexus, McDonalds, Corona Beer, KFC, Toyota, Chrysler, and ATT, Time Life Music R&B/Gospel and Southern Company.

In addition to The Walking Dead, gamers enjoy Dave’s voice work on STARCRAFT II, Metal Gear, That’s So Raven, Ultimate Spiderman, Delta Force, Star Wars, Laura Croft Tomb Raider, and many others.

Dave’s narration credits include programs for National Geographic, Discovery Channel and Science Channel’s popular series, “When Earth Erupts”.

Dave did a great interview a while back with my friend and fellow voice-over talent Andy Boyns…take a look.

Tags: commentary, commercials, video, video games, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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If you live in New York State, you likely have heard of Darien Lake, which is the Empire State’s largest theme park. Rides, shows and some amazing concerts in addition to multiple hotels, lodges and camp sites.

Oh and a very nice water park.

It’s really quite a place so I was very pleased when I got the call to be the voice of their 2012 Season Pass campaign. It was fun and unique recording session that you’ll have to remind me to tell you about sometime. A brief hint, I was in Missouri at the time.

So in case you are out of state, here’s their nifty spot with a little voice-over boost from yours truly.

Tags: advertising, commentary, commercials, tv, video, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
1 Comment »

Make no mistake…NOBODY was expecting this and not only was it that amazing “what the…” moment that advertisers hope to elicit moment from an audience, but it was also exceptionally well produced in every possible facet.

Freaking perfect! A+

Tags: commentary, commercials, NBC Television Network, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
10 Comments »

Maybe it’s because I talk for a living.

Whatever the cause, when I was in an ISDN session this week (and I don’t do too many of them, much to Dan Friedman’s chagrin) the commercial producer at the other end had me do my line readings (literally two lines) in sets of threes and sixes (or until I lost count) and then turned off the mic after saying she’d get right back to me. So I stayed on hold, in the announce booth, waiting.

Why they didn’t have the instrumental version of “The Girl from Ipanema” playing in the background while I waited, I’ll never know.

All I heard was….silence. For minutes.

While I made small talk with my ISDN host, in my mind, I’m imagining a conversation across to the other codec as the silence continued.

Producer: Why was this guy chosen again?
Assistant: We can probably still get some of the other voices, it’s not too late.
Engineer: Can we just fire him so I can go to lunch now?

Now, in fact what they were likely doing was listening back, matching my reads with the female voice talent whom they recorded earlier, Catherine Sheehan, whose sentences I was finishing as part of the script.

Mr. Everyman Voice wins again!

Anyway, then everything was fine and they said thanks and I went on my merry way.

But for a brief moment, inside this only occasionally paranoid voice actor’s head, the silence was deafening.

Did this ever happen to you?

Tags: commentary, commercials, isdn, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
14 Comments »