THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408260290
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Do pigs fly? Is the Earth flat? Are people who endorse products on television sincere?
Well, porkers are wingless and our globe is round - though not perfectly so - and at least some of the Jane and Joe Averages, who grinningly praise pills, food and drink are - gasp - prompted.
Some of us saw evidence of prompting last Monday, watching commercials being made in Suffolk by Jones Films of New York City.
Hampton Roads men, women and kids lolled about on a grassy knoll in front of Comfort Inn on U.S. 58, anxiously waiting for a chance to get into a TV spot.
They wanted recognition, they wanted a director to point at them, to give them the opportunity to speak glowingly of fast food - Hardee's, to be exact.
They were participating in the fourth shoot of Hardee's current advertising blitz - the first one outside of New Jersey - which compares their burgers, buns, etc., to those of their competitors.
The ``us versus them'' mentality is big on television these days. In Suffolk, McDonald's was the target.
One man who was involved, a mustachioed gent who did, indeed, look like a fast-food fan, praised his sandwich - enthusiastically, but not enthusiastically enough.
The dissatisfied director came up with a brainstorm, telling the diner that cursing might bring forth the necessary enthusiasm.
The people involved in Suffolk's sunup-to-sundown shoot came from various areas of Hampton Roads. Some were cast through local talent agencies; some happened to be at the right place at the right time.
``Walking around and checking people,'' said Ben Fernandez, associate creative director of the advertising agency Deutsch Inc. of New York City, ``we pick those who look real. If a person looks interesting, we talk.
``When we get them in front of the camera, we look for reaction to the product,'' he said.
``Kids,'' said Laurel Harris, a second assistant director, ``are encouraged to respond about their feelings.''
One of the kids was Anna Stevens, an experienced-before-the-camera Suffolkian last seen in an anti-violence spot for Christian Broadcasting Network.
The 14-year-old, who was recommended by her agent, impressed Fernandez and his crew.
She was asked to be a principal - an individual selected for the praise chair, several notches up from being a backgrounder.
Anna got the job in spite of - well, in spite of mentioning McDonald's, instead of Hardee's, during the audition.
She did note, later, ``I really do eat at Hardee's.''
Anna got a close-up while she told one and all that her sandwich ``is as big as my brother, who weighs 290 pounds.''
Actually, Taz Stevens, a member of the Driver Volunteer Fire Department and Bennett's Creek Rescue Squad, is a mere 250.
Jennifer and Jeremy Garber, 12 and 7, of Portsmouth, had another idea.
``I ate a roast beef sandwich and teased my brother,'' she said. ``He took the sandwich, then gave it back to me.''
Daniel Meade, a Virginia Beach teenager, provided a fascinating scenario. He was filmed wearing a Mickey-D outfit while chomping on a Hardee's sandwich. Later, he returned to his regular job - at Burger King.
Proximity of fast-food restaurants is a prerequisite for a filming site.
In classy Suffolk, where three Hardee's cater to fast-food fans, the U.S. 58 location was selected because the golden arches - an arch enemy of Hardee's - is across the highway.
``We challenge other fast-food places,'' said Fernandez, whose interview responses were more like commercials. ``We tell people what we've got and what they don't have.''
And the talk has to sound genuine.
The enthusiastic blue-tongued man, the ``whoops-I-said-McDonald's'' youngster, the Portsmouth brother and sister, the Burger King employee: Will they be on the tube or return to a world of non-commercial anonymity?
Keep watching.
Some of the commercials filmed in Suffolk are scheduled to begin around Labor Day weekend, the others at the end of the month. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Anna Stevens, a Suffolk resident, takes a break before appearing
before the camera in a Hardee's commercial.
by CNB