Confessions of an Ad-man XI: More Dueling With Mother Nature

“Why not put the sofa on the front lawn?”

Brian Gould was, and is, one of the best photographers on the planet (bgould@mts.net) and I always listened to him no matter how wacky his ideas sounded.

We were working for a very upscale furniture client and we wanted something different and arresting for a full page color ad in a national magazine. Okay, everybody wants different and arresting, for everything from tires to treadmills, but this was a case where different and arresting meant a little extra. It was the client’s first foray into magazine advertising. Up to this point he had done the usual, “C’mon down. We got the price, we got the quality”, radio ads like all the other furniture makers and retailers in town.

So when Brian said, “Why not put the sofa on the front lawn?” I tried not to look at him as if he had just arrived from the planet Nonsensicus and I listened.”

The idea was to have the client’s most beautiful sofa on the front lawn of a mansion in one of the classiest areas of the city. On the sofa would be sitting a beautiful woman in a long black evening gown (the sofa was off-white) with a martini glass in her hand. Walking towards her and the sofa would be a handsome man in a white dinner jacket, also holding a martini glass. It was fairly obvious where the evening was going and that it would not end on the front lawn.

We got permission from the owners of the house and engaged two very attractive models for the shoot. We were young and enthusiastic and didn’t bother thinking about minor details like the weather. If it rained, what would that do to a $4000 sofa? If it was dark and gloomy, would the shoot look like “Amityville Horror” in formal wear? Who cared? We were ad-guys and this was ART.

The day of the shoot dawned bright and clear. We had scheduled it for the warmest part of the day (about 4 pm, because in Winnipeg the common expression is, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” After all, it would be tough to disguise the fact that the models were trembling from the cold and there was no way the shoot would work if they were both wearing parkas and mukluks.

In any kind of visual advertising, whether it be video, film or still photography, what goes on behind the scenes is far more interesting than what you see on camera.

The people who owned the house were gracious enough to let us use their home for changing rooms, so the models didn’t have to get dressed on the lawn or in the photographer’s van, although that would have made the shoot far more interesting to the locals.

We all had our jobs. Brian would take the shot and direct the models. Our art director would keep the local kids from running into the shot. The client would make sure the furniture was set up properly and I, as agency principal and client contact representative, would stand on a rickety chair and hold a small tree branch above the camera so the leaves hung just in the top edge of the shot.

The sun was just starting to set and cast a beautiful rosy glow on the huge windows of the mansion. The female model took her place on the couch. She looked gorgeous. I wielded my tree branch with genuine artistry. The male model walked into the shot and took his position. The wind freshened just a little.

“Take it,” I said. “Pull the trigger. It’s perfect.”

“I can’t,” Brian said urgently. We have to put something in his pants.”

“The hell with that,” I exploded, my right arm beginning to cramp from holding the branch. “What he has in his pants is his own business. Take the damn shot.”

Brian looked at me pityingly. “Look at his right leg.”

I threw the branch on the ground. The wind had come up just enough so the male model’s trousers, while looking a tad baggy on his left leg, were pinned tightly to his right leg. He looked as if he were deformed or wearing a prosthesis.

I made an executive decision. “We’ll just wait for the wind to die down.”

Brian was always calm no matter what the crisis or calamity. “Dave, it will be dark in a half hour and even before that they are both going to have blue lips.” It was getting colder.

“All right, so what do we do, Mr. Photographer?”



“Hang on! I’ll be right back.” He ran to the van and came back with an umbrella.

Now I knew he had lost it. But I was wrong again, which is why I, as the agency principal, hired a professional to take the pictures.

Uncomfortable as it must have been, the male model, under Brian’s direction, stuck the rolled up umbrella down his right pant-leg.

We all got back into position, the clouds rolled away and I heard the satisfying click of the shutter. Brian showed me the Polaroid test shot. It was perfect. Two more shutter clicks and it was done. The female model, her teeth chattering, slipped into an overcoat and the male model gingerly removed the umbrella.

The photo turned out to be gorgeous. The ad was different and arresting. The client was ecstatic, and Brian, to his credit, resisted the urge to say I told you so.

I was proud - partly because we had done such a beautiful ad. I smiled inwardly because, although I didn’t mention it to anyone, I knew the real reason for the ad’s success. It was the way the tree leaves, hanging at just the right angle, framed the sofa and the models and made the shot look truly beautiful.

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