Mock-u-Mercial
November 16th, 2007
We have a WINNER!
When our first Mock-u-mercial contest ended this year, we were deluged with requests to extend the deadline. “I need another week!” “I was going to do it this weekend!” “When is the next contest? Do I have to wait a whole year?”
So we decided to have the 2007 Mock-u-mercial Contest: Round II.
And the results are in!
Thank You!
It is our customers that make this job so rewarding. It really is as simple as that. You guys (and gals!) constantly amaze us with the energy you project back at us.
So first and foremost: THANK YOU for your photos, videos, stories, and enthusiasm. It keeps us ticking!
On to the Winners…
Last time we voted on Mock-u-mercials we took over the Owl & Thistle bar. This time, Steven & Jenneviere (and baby Yosha, too!) threw the Mock-u-mercial Voting Party at their house. A bunch of Utilikilts employees and friends got together for food, drink, and socializing. While drinking the wonderful range of Schlafly beers from the St Louis Brewing Company, we gathered in the living room and watched all the MuM entries projected larger-than-life on the wall.
The judging was especially difficult, this time. There was a wide range of subject matter and treatments from full-on comedy to quiet and serious, to a remake of the Blair Witch Project!
The top entries all changed places many times, which is a GOOD problem to have! “Gee… all these entries are SO GOOD, which one is the best?!?” Everyone weighed in with their opinions, and this morning, a select few sat around the living room of Steven’s house and determined the awards…
GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
I don’t know how Mei, Mau, Khoa, Sa, or the rest of our sewing team would respond to the thought that they are “Celtic maidens”, but that is just one more gut-bustingly funny thing about Joshua’s entry!
Yeah, his entry is funny, but it is funny on so many levels! Turn the volume off. Watch his movements and his body. Hilarious! Turn the volume on, and close your eyes. Everything he says is frikkin’ hilarious too!
Ok… yeah, we know… the Original model he is wearing is made of a cotton/polyester blend, and not “duck cloth” (that’s the Workman’s model), but who cares? IT’S HILARIOUS!
For being so utterly committed, laugh-out-loud funny, and for his overall production, Joshua wins the grand prize of $2500 credit in the Utilikilts Store!!
He will also be getting one of the Special Edition utility kilts.
SECOND PLACE:
For several years now, Doug Cox has been a dear friend of Utilikilts. A fun customer, a crew member at Utilikilts booths and events (including at MAGIC earlier this year), and all-around goodwill ambassador for Utilikilts, Doug’s sense of humor and support has consistently reminded us to have fun while we work.
We awarded HIM second place, because both his entries were so mind-bogglingly good!
“Call Me” is by far our favorite of the two entries. However, it never actually shows him in his kilt! Yes, you see an image on a billboard of a kilt on a guy, and you see the edges of his kilt, but it never actually shows the kilt! So imagine you are a first-time visitor to the Utilikilts web site… some guy on a bike, some weird fabric covering his belly, and some girls (and a hairy biker-dude!). Does it make sense to someone who doesn’t know what Utilikilts are?
“Don’t Ask”, on the other hand, STARTS with a shot of him in his kilt. The minor camera focus problems in his closeups are a slight distraction, but the middle part of the video always elicits belly laughs from the crowd. Watch it 10 times in a row, and you will still laugh!
Both of his entries to the contest were quintessential Doug: witty, fun and high quality.
So Doug wins the Special Edition kilt, of course, and a $1500 shopping expedition in the Utilikilts store!
THIRD PLACE:
The best of only two stop-motion videos we have ever received, Matt is breaking new ground here, and he does it well! I expect (hope?) others will be inspired to do the same thing.
Witty, fun, pants-munching, and a funny soundtrack. It is all there, especially the boxers getting stripped off at the end. I hope to see more entries from Matt as he continues to improve his skills with the technology. Stop-motion is a rich area of possibility for kilts, and Matt has thrown down the gauntlet!
For all that, Matt wins third place and takes home the Special Edition utility kilt, and a credit worth $750 in our store.
FOURTH PLACE:
It is no secret that Utilikilts feels that bribery is a Good Thing, and we encourage it whenever possible! (Heck… we just like getting free stuff…!)
So when Stephen sent us a sampler of the fine products he makes at Schlafly Beer (actually he sent us 12 bottles each of every one of the ten beers he makes!!), our Bribe-O-Meter was almost pegged!
Fortunately, “The Kegerator” was an excellent entry, and no bribery was needed! (But don’t tell Stephen… we’re gonna tell him we need a LOT more of that Pumpkin beer…. ;-)
The story is of a wimpy older guy, working alone in brewery, unable to lift even the smallest of kegs. Soon he is rejuvenated and given superhero-like powers by his beer and a Workman’s kilt. The production is great (maybe a tad long), the music is triumphant, but that last image and the look on his face is totally priceless!
Stephen has earned his Special Edition kilt and a $400 credit in the Utilikilts Pioneer Square store, for paying homage to a demographic that just doesn’t get much attention in the rock-and-roll world of Utilikilts!
The Other Contestants:
Of the 30 people that entered the 42 Mock-u-mercials, it looks like 21 entries are high enough quality to be accepted into the contest. Therefore their creators will receive a Special Edition utility kilt in appreciation for their time, effort and commitment:
- Adam Duke - “Serenity”
- Amalia Leigh Boris - “All Natural”
- Alan Malpass - “Independence”
- Charles McQuary - “Kilt Fairy”
- David Epley - “Freedom and Respect”
- Emilia Kozemchak - “Good Girls”
- Eric Flagg - “Funeral of Freedom”
- Hiroshi Takahashi - “Footwear”
- Joseph Feuille - “Carried Away (Boss)” & “Carried Away (Wife)”
- Larry Raddatz - “Heed The Call”
- Leighton Paquette - “Kilt Check”
- Paul Vegors - “The Trouserwitch Project”
- Russ McKell - “Kilt Girl”
- Scott Keyes - “Reason #223 - Protection”
- Sheldon Norberg - “Kilt vs Dress”
- William Baptista - “UK-TEAM”
And again, we give our heartfelt thanks. The fact that we had over 40 entries to choose from was a humbling experience. The effort, the energy, the love that you guys (and gals!) showed us was deeply moving. Thank you.
(And when yer done reading the Newsletter, you can go to the “Utiliclan” section of the web site to see a complete archive of all our Mock-u-mercial entries.)
So what is a “Special Edition Utilikilt*”?
The Round I Special Edition kilt
Check it out! Wade Pallister, second place winner in the Round I MuM contest wearing his Special Edition kilt!
So what is the Special Edition kilt this time? Good question! Steven is hard at work in his secret kilt development facility, and we know he’s going to come up with something amazingly cool yet again.
Stay tuned…
The Future Awaits…
Britt’s print ad concept
Round I of the Mock-u-mercial contest had a couple of entries that were *not* videos. One of them was a print ad campaign from Britt Godwin called “Room To Swing”. He made a t-shirt, bumper stickers, and a high resolution PDF poster for his entry. It was great stuff, but we couldn’t figure out how to measure a video entry against a print campaign…
Steven and Britt talked on the phone this week, and we decided that we are going to have a couple of Mock-u-mercial contests next year: One for Print Media, one for Video, and one for Radio!
So stay tuned to this here Newsletter for more information in January….!
