In the Hydra ‘Edit Suite’, Trace Adkins is recording. Gene tells the camera “Stephen invariably decided to have Trace do the voice-over.” I’m not sure what he thinks ‘invariably’ means, but he’s almost certainly wrong. Trace does have a cool, rumbly voice. However, I think it confuses the ad a little too much. You see Lennox Lewis, you hear Trace Adkins, and it’s very strange. For most people, they’re seeing somebody they sort of recognize and hearing a different person they kind of recognize. It’s like B-List Celebrity Mad Libs. But I didn’t play ‘Gutter Pup’ 20 years ago, so what do I know? Gene and Stephen send everybody else home, refusing to even discuss the ad or let them see it before the presentation. I know from experience that group editing is doomed to failure, but treating your team like hired hands is not the way to go about it. Stephen has a tattoo on the back of his neck, by the way. If I had HD, I could probably read it, but it’s definitely three letters. I think it says “ELO”, which is just weird. I guess he could be a really big fan.The women are editing as a group, which leads to a discussion of whether a dog is slobbering too much. Who could have possibly anticipated that a Saint Bernard would slobber? They shot a tag at the end with Marilu telling people to adopt a dog, and upon review, Marilu realizes she played it too big, and decides to do a voice-over instead. Yes, there’s an actress volunteering to reduce her camera time. Terry from Macy’s stops by at this point. (It’s not clear whether they, like the men, got a visit during the brainstorming. Did Ivanka even get a chance to share the men’s ad with her ‘sisters’? And by the way, even if she did, what were the women going to do? Come up with their own Lennox Lewis-themed ad?) Nely explains that Pedigree wants, creativity, authenticity, and a strong message. So, you know, exactly what every company in history has looked for in an ad. She’s a genius, I tell you!
