Are you using the right scouring pad?

I was pretty lucky that they were shooting the commercial for 3M Scotch-Brite scouring pads on the one day of the week I go to Taipei. They shot the commercial at a studio, where the production company Fish Film Productions was running the show. When I first walked into the large, dark room, I was greeted by a man wearing a green mask with a green rim around his face to look like a plate. He stood in front of the camera pretending to scrub his face with a sponge. Yes, this was a cool commercial. Basically the plate-faced guy uses the wrong scouring pad and his pan-faced girlfriend has to teach him that there are many varieties, and a special one just for him. This commercial is intended to convince the audience that their household needs to have four different types of scouring pads for the many cleaning tasks they put up with.

The set with all the perfectly placed lighting was at one end, with a row of cameras and equipment in front. Then there was a table for the production company to watch from, followed by a table for the creatives and one account executive to make sure everything was done just the way they envisioned it.

After watching the fun for a while, I took a little tour of the studio to see where post production is done. This commercial required a lot of computer effects to change people into plate heads, and the upstairs was where it all happened. The top floor housed the huge mother computer, very cool indeed.

One thing that has always been visible in the U.S. is the number of hip, young people working in advertising. There's no difference here, and the office is full of fun, creative people. It really makes for an exciting experience every day, which you have to have when most of the people here work very long days, some even from around 9-8 and even later.

Well, the sun is about to rise, so I think I'll head over and get some breakfast! Two weeks until I'm leaving my low 80's for some below freezing temperatures. I'll leave you with an excerpt from Danielle and my lovely vacation. 墾丁非常漂亮