Wednesday, October 15, 2008





In this Jimmy Johns mini-story, the viewer is taken to a corporate board meeting. The scene is grey and lackluster. The only colors in this scene are located on a TV screen, which is next to a young man (co-hero) who is trying to sell an idea.

The characters are all wearing grey suits and sitting at a long black table. At the far end is an old man, presumably the president of the corporation (the villain). His arms are crossed; he looks angry, unimpressed and hungry. Standing at the other end of the table, next to the TV screen, the co-hero nervously explains an idea for an anime-like “Transformers.” He doesn’t speak English. On the television screen appears a big green robot flying with “1,500 MPH” written next to it. Then, the viewer is taken to the president’s point of view and we see the men in suits shift their heads from the young man, in an almost Nazi lock-step fashion, to the president, awaiting his approval. The camera goes back to a shot of the president, arms crossed and still unimpressed. The heads turn all at once back to the young man.

The young man tries again to sell his idea by switching the type of robot on the screen to a blue one that travels 2,500 MPH. The men in suits shift back to the president. Judging by his scowl, and his arms folded tighter still, he is still not impressed. The men shift back again in unison to the young man. Again, the young man changes the robot to a red and yellow one that travels 5,000 MPH. We see the president. His arms are crossed so tight and his face is so cramped with anger that he looks as though he is ready to explode.

The young man is desperate. He has run face-first into a wall and needs to please the president quickly. A thought bubble or Batman-style signal appears over his head, and a Jimmy Johns ribbon pops up and says, “Jimmy Johns, Jimmy Johns!” The young man quickly calls Jimmy Johns delivery service. Before the call is disconnected, a delivery service man (the hero) arrives with boxed lunches, like a transformer moving at 5,000 MPH. The hero flies around the table placing red and black boxes in front of each person, including the president.

The scene is transformed. The president cups his hands together and cheers. The others break away from the Nazi lock-step to stand and cheer. The president elatedly shakes the hand of our Jimmy Johns hero. The co-hero puts his arms around both the hero and the villain. The viewer can conclude that the young man’s idea is now accepted by the villian, and the co-hero triumphs. A ribbon concludes the ad, proclaiming, “Jimmy John’s world famous delivery!”

3 comments:

Matt B said...

I worked for Jimmy John's for several years and although I sometimes despise them, their ads are great. This one particuarly is one of my favorites. The acting by the crotchety old CEO man is perfect...his facial expressions of disapproval are priceless. Your description of the ad is very well done. Jimmy John's commercials stress the fact that their delivery is much faster than the competition, in this case arriving at the door before our hero can even hang up the phone.

Their new "hostage situation" ad is equally effective and kind of shocking. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2e5Ybt3rK8

AMayfield said...

I have noiced many of these no that are all in diffrent languages and they are all pretty amuseing. Ive seen one in french i belive werethe woman answers her door right after she got out of the shower and only had a towel on, when she went to brab the sandwich it fell off and the guy just stool there. It was funny even though i did not know what was being said, although there wasnt much dialoge in this it was still really funny even though i wasnt sure what was going on at all.

melissac said...

Nice pick. You did a good job analysing the commercial and dexcribing the myth in this commercial.