A video circulated around the agency community last week showing a supposed freelance art director smashing his computer after a heated client call. Some debated whether the phone-shot video was real or staged. The truth has now surfaced.
The video, which first emerged on YouTube and can now be viewed at AsylumArtists.com, was shot at Toronto agency Red Lion Solutions as part of a scheme orchestrated by Asylum Artists president Don Dixon with help from Red Lion president Brett Channer. The video has roughly 5,400 hits so far.
The freak out video is the first of five components designed to promote Asylum’s production services. Subsequent elements include a full-page ad in Applied Arts, a banner ad on the magazine’s website and an e-mailer that will drop May 8.
Dixon explained that he created the video because his shop targets ad agencies. “We’ve created a new model for a production company, gearing our services specifically to online agencies. Nobody was creating high-quality content for them. They were always pulling content from TV or still photography,” he said.
Asylum offers still, motion, CG and 3D imaging, and post-production services.
Toronto agencies have been subject to a few other gags recently. Earlier this week, Jigsaw Casting released hidden-camera video pranks targeting creative directors to promote its services as well.
