Voila: an American Express ad for The Members Project, resulting from a collabo between Lost Planet and Martin Scorsese, via Ogilvy. It is surprisingly likable.
Poking fun at self-satisfied cause-whoring like Gap (red) and Kenneth Cole’s Are You Putting Us On?, the spot includes Ellen, Andre Agassi and Sheryl Crow, sitting against a generic backdrop and admonishing the sympathetic to go forth and make a difference.
For those whose ears automatically perked up at Scorsese’s name, there’s no gunning-down for the cause. But amid the usual vagaries about doing your part, a casually-dressed guy (Tim from the office next door!) suddenly walks across the shot and points out the importance of keeping Lake Winnipesakee clean.
This sparks confusion between the stars and a general, if hesitant, admission that Lake Winnipesakee is probably worth keeping clean.
The spot ends with an empty stool and the usual closing jibjab about submitting your idea to website X. The winning entry gets not $10,000 (the going idea rate) but a whopping $5 million, which may mean this contest is actually worth someone’s while.
