Mindy Charski
Mark Laita
Giro Ionos bicycle helmetsare depicted as intimidating
extraterrestrials in new ads from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The ads
include the chilling line, "They come for our air." The new
ultra-ventilated helmets were designed to keep cyclists’ heads
cool.
"The idea demonstrates so clearly and easily the product benefit,”
says associate creative director Dave Swartz, who is based in the
agency’s Boulder, Colo., office. "By the nature of the way they
look – they look like little spaceship pods – the idea just lined
up with everything quite nicely."
The shop hired still life shooter Mark Laita to photograph the
high-end helmets. "We found backgrounds from stock and he shot in
perspective and he lit it just right,” Swartz says. "At the end of
the day it’s a product ad with a big helmet, and we had to make
sure that that thing looked really good and he was the right man
for it." Laita, who is based in Los Angeles and New York, has shot
work for Giro before.
Laita and his retouchers handled much of the compositing, the task
that posed the greatest challenge. "The trickiest part was making
sure the angle of the shot matched the perspective in the stock
photo," Swartz says.
The three ads, which target road cyclists willing to buy expensive
helmets, were fashioned as a sequence. Helmets are entering our
atmosphere in one, they fly at a lower altitude above Paris in
another (the product debuted at the 2008 Tour de France in July);
and they trek menacingly on land in the third. "We wanted to give
it three different levels of the story," Swartz says.
By focusing on the product, CP+B is diverging from the approach
it’s taken in Giro ads over the past couple years; those executions
often featured riders wearing the helmets. The client quickly
approved the new concept. "It wasn’t even a hard sell," Swartz
says. "[The ads] tend to stand out because they’re so visually
striking."
The campaign for the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based client broke in
thee Spring and runs through October. Publications include
Cycle
Sport, Road, Road Bike Action, ProCycling, and
VeloNews.
Space Invaders
Aug 26, 2008
By Mindy Charski
Giro Ionos bicycle helmetsare depicted as intimidating extraterrestrials in new ads from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The ads include the chilling line, "They come for our air." The new ultra-ventilated helmets were designed to keep cyclists’ heads cool.
"The idea demonstrates so clearly and easily the product benefit,” says associate creative director Dave Swartz, who is based in the agency’s Boulder, Colo., office. "By the nature of the way they look – they look like little spaceship pods – the idea just lined up with everything quite nicely."
The shop hired still life shooter Mark Laita to photograph the high-end helmets. "We found backgrounds from stock and he shot in perspective and he lit it just right,” Swartz says. "At the end of the day it’s a product ad with a big helmet, and we had to make sure that that thing looked really good and he was the right man for it." Laita, who is based in Los Angeles and New York, has shot work for Giro before.
Laita and his retouchers handled much of the compositing, the task that posed the greatest challenge. "The trickiest part was making sure the angle of the shot matched the perspective in the stock photo," Swartz says.
The three ads, which target road cyclists willing to buy expensive helmets, were fashioned as a sequence. Helmets are entering our atmosphere in one, they fly at a lower altitude above Paris in another (the product debuted at the 2008 Tour de France in July); and they trek menacingly on land in the third. "We wanted to give it three different levels of the story," Swartz says.
By focusing on the product, CP+B is diverging from the approach it’s taken in Giro ads over the past couple years; those executions often featured riders wearing the helmets. The client quickly approved the new concept. "It wasn’t even a hard sell," Swartz says. "[The ads] tend to stand out because they’re so visually striking."
The campaign for the Santa Cruz, Calif.-based client broke in thee Spring and runs through October. Publications include
Cycle Sport, Road, Road Bike Action, ProCycling, and
VeloNews.
A pro-bono campaign examines the issue of beach pollution by taking a close look at litter.
