AA You’ve Got A Friend
The AA (Automobile Association) in the United Kingdom is telling the British public that they’ve got a friend in their yellow-jacketed patrolmen. The Carole King song, “You’ve Got A Friend”, is sung by a choir of men on their way to stranded motorists.
A baby is crying in a white people mover, broken down on a bleak misty day on a remote road. A soloist in yellow AA visibility jacket walks toward the camera along a city street, singing…
“When you’re down and troubled
And you need a helping hand
And nothing…”
A van is parked precariously on a busy street corner with a flat tyre. Inside are folk musicians singing, “nothing is going right.”
AA patrolmen now join in the chorus…
“Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest nights.”
Now comes the choreography, as patrolmen dance, march and run through the night.
“You just call out my name,
And you know whereever I am
I’ll come running, oh yeah baby
To see you again.”
In a scene almost reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, patrolmen come running over the hill to rescue the stranded motorists in the people mover. A brief shower of snow provides emphasis for the last verse…
“Winter, spring, summer, or fall,
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You’ve got a friend.”
The AA ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ campaign is linked with a website, www.youvegotafriend.com.
Credits
The campaign was developed at creative agency DLKW (Delaney Lund Knox Warren) by creatives Malcolm Green and Gary Betts with producer Susie Innes. DLKW host the ad in streamed Windows media format.
The AA You’ve Got A Friend TV Ad was directed by Tony Kaye (also DOP) at Wanted Films with producer Amy Appleton-Smith. Post production was done at The Mill, London. The video was edited by Pete Goddard at Poppy Films, who host AA Friend as a 1.336 mb quicktime video.
GMB Twist
Since the ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ campaign broke, the GMB Union have provided their own twist on the slogan to expose the changes brought about by the new owners of AA UK. Paul Maloney from GMB National Office says that profits have been doubled to £200 million by increasing charges, downgrading services and sacking 3,400 of the 10,000 workers supplying services to motorists. The final straw for the union was when a leak revealed that the new owners planned to borrow £500 million to pay themselves a special dividend. “With friends like these venture capitalits who needs enemies?”.
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Posted in Inspiration, TV Ads Cinema and Online Videos
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(4.92 out of 5)
This ad is typical of the nauseating, near-patriotic rubbishy advertising style which should really be left to the Americans. It’s almost as if the AA are portraying themselves as a religious cult on a recruitment drive. You’ve Got A Friend? Really? Considering the AA rates pretty low on the scale of some people, the slogan is definitely not literal.