Another year of working three days a week for Dave by day and performing songs in dingy bars in North London by night.
BAA Car Parks: Place names
One of Dave's clients was BAA carparks (at airports) and so I created a campaign based entirely around place name puns.
The VO we used for the BAA radio ads was John Glover, Mr Cholmondeley-Warner from our Harry Enfield Mercury ads
BBC Radio 4: Lent talk
For Easter 2007, I was asked to deliver one of BBC Radio 4's Lent talks, thanks to the work I'd done for the Churches' Advertising Network. The topic I was given as an "adman" was Jesus and the money changers.
Church of England Paper
On the back of my Lent talk for the BBC I was interviewed by the paper about advertising the church.
Jumeirah Campaign
I helped win the Jumeirah pitch for Dave. The idea was that whatever you require for your hotel stay, Jumeirah can provide it. The work won gold at the 2008 luxury awards and was shot in Dubai, London and New York. Created with Russell Holmes and James Denman and shot by Kristian Schuller. This is the helipad of the iconic Burj al Arab in Dubai.
This is the lobby of the Essex House on Central Park. The panther was drugged and we weren't allowed to ask questions. It was so dodgy, and knowing what I know now about the big cat industry in the US, I feel even more uncomfortable.
This was the Bab al Shams resort, about 70km from Dubai. The model promised she could ride but couldn't. We had to find a small local jockey and superimpose her head onto his.
The Venice inspired Madinat, Dubai. Trying to shoot an orchestra on a gondola in 40 degree heat with minimal crew was an ordeal. The boats needed to be pushed by hand and in the end I jumped in and helped push.
The Carlton Tower, London. I think they could have chucked in more roses
0.01
The Dubai shoot should have been a lot of fun. Instead, the male model we were meant to be shooting in Dubai got caught with 0.01 grams of hash on him and was escorted straight to jail. The fallout was so spectacular that I wrote a book about it. Download it from amazon here
Ladybird Boys and Girls
Ever since my BBC Internet book in 2000, I kept in touch with Ladybird. And became an avid collector. By 2007, Ladybird finally realised that they were sitting on a goldmine or nostalgia. They brought out this book and asked me to write some chapters because I had already written a Ladybird book. Better still, they bought my entire collection of over 600 Ladybirds which was last seen in the V&A.
Blackcurrant Tango: Film Four
In 2007, Film Four voted St George the best long form commercial on British TV bin the 20th century. The trophy itself fell apart shortly afterwards but the memory is still there.
King.com: 20p
Because I was only three days a week at Dave, I could still freelance elsewhere. This was for Big Al's - one of the few bits of work of mine for them that got made. I wasn't involved in the shoot but the script is mine.
Church ad: Second Life
2007 was the year of Second Life and anyone who was anyone had an avatar. Churchads was one of the first church organisations to colonise Second Life and we created a 1st century AD island complete with amphitheatre. This had a giant screen on which this animation was playing. Happily it proved popular in the real world too. Music by Justin Hawkins, animation by Peter Muggleston, VO by Bobby Clayman.
At the same time, we recorded a bunch of radio ads where people who had hurt others asked for a second chance. A break from our usual comedy offering at Christmas.