Thursday, September 22, 2011

Exotica on the remake of a classic!

Photo credit: Beirut Drive By Shooting
There comes a time in the life of every successful singer when inspiration is low, or money is not coming in from previous effort, or an expensive divorce - the "remake album". So they go back and visit classics. Exotica is doing the same, albeit they are revisiting their own classic.
I think it was actually the original TV ad that placed Exotica on the map. It was shot in super low budget at the Leo Burnett offices (was it in 2004?) with the cast being the account executive on Exotica (I stand corrected but I am dead sure of the tidbit). On the background of a heartbreaking music, the girl was rearranging pencils in the cup that held her pencils, pens and crayons, sadly, absent-mindedly. and then she would start watering them. It all culminated with the line "when was the last time you gave her flowers?" (in other words, it is because she has no flowers from you that she is watering her pens because it is the closest thing she has to a "bouquet"!).
Well, I suppose there is a certain consensus that lately Exotica has been in soul-searching mode. So until a new direction is found, we are entitled to the "remake album" with a new twist on the old "when was the last time you gave her flowers?"... Because now instead of pencils, pens and crayons, she is watering toothbrushes...
But well, there's nothing wrong with going back to sure values knowing that they once sold and that they shall sell again!... For those wishing to see the original, please go here....

4 comments:

Beirut Drive-by Shooting said...

It's good that you've explained this ad because otherwise it's really sorta silly looking. The original tvc is great. So now we know!

Niessa said...

This caught my attention just this morning. Thanks for shedding light on the origins of this 're-make'. However, I would have to disagree with you; on that even if the idea is revisited ... That the meaning may have stayed the same. Or that the idea-progression stayed the same.  (Mind you, before I read this post, I didn't know that this ran in '04.) 

The original sets the girl in an office environment, making me believe that she's someone's gf or fiancĂ©. 7 years later, she moved in, got married ... Has a two year old ? The toothbrushes are an indication of ppl living together. 

So when was the last time you got her flowers? 

Even if it's a remake; it's true to its original. Smart & took us 7 yrs down that girl's life. 

Tarek Chemaly said...

Niessa, I never argued that the meaning was not the same. On the contrary, I was simply saying that they did it again - with the same idea, same rationale, same thinking. Yes, maybe she is 7 years older, but damn it, she never learned to buy her own flowers! :)

M.I,I said...

Still with leo?