Media Campaigns Archive
HGEA media campaign celebrates "75 years of working together"
The campaign features two television spots, which were created by Hendrix Miyasaki Shin, a local award-winning advertising agency that HGEA has worked with since 2002.
The message of both ads conveys the struggles employees have overcome through the years, and serves to remind the public of the value of unions and workers.
“Seventy-five years is a wonderful milestone for any organization,” said Brad Shin, HMS creative director. “Given the longevity of HGEA, we wanted to remind people that the reasons for creating HGEA 75 years ago are still the reasons why we need HGEA today – to protect workers rights and ensure fairness, equality and opportunity in the workplace.”
April Rutherford, who is also a creative director for HMS, added, “In today’s world, the values that many fought long and hard for -- equality, fairness, the chance to succeed -- are often taken for granted. This anniversary is an important milestone and opportunity to remind people of what the union has accomplished and continues to champion year after year.”
The opening shot of the first ad begins with a crumpled piece of paper. Hands appear on the screen to open up and smooth the paper to reveal that it is a picture of a man. He suddenly comes to life, dusts himself off, leaps off the page and blows the paper away to reveal the HGEA logo. A female voice says: “Fairness. Equality. A decent wage to support your family. A chance to succeed. These are the simple desires every worker seeks. These are the values we protected for 75 years. Hawaii Government Employees Association – 75 years of working together.”
The second ad is a similar concept, except it features a woman on a folded piece of paper. A male voice says, “Pride. Determination. A sense of purpose. Sometimes, to succeed in the workplace, all people need is a fair chance. And fairness is what we fought for, for 75 years. Hawaii Government Employees Association – 75 years of working together.”
The ads were created using “stop frame animation” technology, which gives the ad an interesting, edgy look and feel.
Rutherford explained, “Stop frame animation allowed us to uncrumple and unfold the papers step-by-step, and then composite that with the real people jumping off the page. This was an affordable and unique way to achieve the goals we wanted to accomplish. We chose a ‘fresh and upbeat’ approach because we want the union efforts to convey a positive and contemporary relevance.”
The HMS creative team found it challenging to convey the message of fairness and equality, and came up with a creative way to do so through symbolism.
Shin explained, “Conveying fairness or equality is difficult to show in a TV commercial. What does workplace fairness look like? There’s no simple answer. Knowing that, we took a simpler, more symbolic approach. In the two commercials, the man or woman represents a worker, the crumpled or folded paper represents a workplace situation they are trapped in, and the pair of hands represents the HGEA providing help. Whenever you use symbolism, different viewers will interpret the commercial in different ways, which makes for very interesting viewing.”
Rutherford added, “We visualized and imagined what it feels like for employees who are treated unfairly, held back or trapped in a job where they feel powerless and without a voice. The viewer is taken from that crumpled, powerless position and then watches as the people begin to break free of their situations. We wanted people to relate to how good it feels -- the ultimate story of the union’s efforts. This campaign conveys the continuing values and roots from the past, and an organization adapting and moving into the future.”
To reinforce the television ads, there are also mall sign ads at shopping centers on Oahu, the Big Island, Maui and Kauai. A combination of television and mall signs will increase both the effectiveness of the campaign, as well as the number of people who will receive the campaign message.
Celebrating 75 years of working together
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Poster — No worker should be disposable - man
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Poster — No worker should be disposable - woman
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Poster — No worker should be disposable
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Lifeguard stands and librarians on street corners in Downtown Honolulu. Aquatic biologists at the Swap
Meet, bio-terrorism microbiologists in Ala Moana Park and clerk typists at the Aloha Stadium. Not your
normal everyday sighting, but that was exactly the intent.
It’s all part of HGEA’s innovative new media campaign for 2007 — to remind the general public about
the important work HGEA members perform each day.
“It takes a lot of work to keep our state and counties running safely and smoothly,” said Randy Perreira,
HGEA deputy executive director. “And behind all of this work are the government employees, our unsung
heroes and heroines. The work they do is critical to our well-being and an integral part of our lives,
and these TV spots are a small way of acknowledging their contributions.”
The new campaign, developed by advertising agency Hendrix Miyasaki Shin, features various government
positions juxtaposed against out-of-the-ordinary surroundings to draw greater attention to those roles.
“We wanted to remind people that there are more than 25,000 HGEA members in state and city government
positions who serve the public, and to execute this in a way that would make the spots stand out,” said
Brad Shin, the ad agency’s creative director, “being out in the public will provide a different twist
…it’s reality TV meets street performance meets TV commercial.”
There is a total of four TV commercials, and all will be filmed in various high-traffic
locations, which will allow the advertising agency to capture reactions from passersby that will be
incorporated into the spots.
To view the commercials, see the links below.
"Lifeguard" TV Commercial
Windows Media Player
(for Windows) |
Quicktime
(for Mac)
"Librarian" TV Commercial
Windows Media Player
(for Windows) |
Quicktime
(for Mac)
"Aquatic Biologist" TV Commercial
Windows Media Player
(for Windows) |
Quicktime
(for Mac)
"Bioterrorism Microbiologist" TV Commercial
Windows Media Player
(for Windows) |
Quicktime
(for Mac)
Poster #1 - Abordo
Media Type: Poster
Poster #2 - Arakaki
Media Type: Poster
Poster #3 - Hau
Media Type: Poster
Poster #4 - Lindsey
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Poster #5 - Lucey
Media Type: Poster
Poster #6 - Sciulli
Media Type: Poster
Hands
Media Type: Television
Poster #1 - Astronomy Instrument Technician
Media Type: Poster
Poster #2 - Government Clerk / Typist
Media Type: Poster
Poster #3 - Public School Educational Assistant
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Poster #4 - State Forester
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Poster #5 - State Highway Engineer
Media Type: Poster
Poster #6 - Public Librarian
Media Type: Poster
Poster #7 - State Nurse
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Poster #8 - City Park Recreation Director
Media Type: Poster
Poster #9 - State Vector Control Employee
Media Type: Poster
Television Ad #1 -
Media Type: Television
Television Ad #2 -
Media Type: Television
Poster #1 - June Davis
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Poster #10 - Dennis P. Branco
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Poster #2 - Tony Ho
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Poster #3 - Delphia Thomas
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Poster #4 - John Wadahara
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Poster #5 - Roy Kobayashi
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Poster #6 - Peter Hirai
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Poster #7 - Francene H. Aarona
Media Type: Poster
Poster #8 - Vincent J. Souki
Media Type: Poster
Poster #9 - Karleen O. Abalos
Media Type: Poster
Television Ad #1
Media Type: Television
Television Ad #2
Media Type: Television
Television Ad #3
Media Type: Television