Hip.. Hip.. Hooray!

I'm not sure if I should have taken it as a compliment, but when I presented this idea to our clients, one of them told me: "You can really think like a little girl. A hip, little girl."

When the brief for this shampoo landed on my desk, my creative partner and I immediately got excited. For me, it was an opportunity do something fun and childish for a change. For her, it was a trip to her childhood when she loved playing dress up and pretended to be a model. Our two mindsets combined produced a chock full of initial ideas that we happily laid on the table and threw around.

The following weeks, we found ourselves looking at anything and everything that would qualify as "hip" in that age group. Like websites for my scene Barbie and watching "Totally Spies." Then came DVDs of "High School Musical," "Bratz," and more Barbie in her different incarnations. (Nutcraker, Fairy, Cinderella...) Of course, there was an immersion into all these Japanese fashion magazines for kids. Yes, Japan has magazines made especially for toddlers and preschoolers, and the fashions they sell would make them fit in Shinjuku effortlessly. (These Japanese kids are more than just hip. They're Ferosh!)

When the shampoo foam cleared, there were 3 ideas that we had a lot of heart for. In our minds, whichever they choose would be an idea we'd be proud to air. But of course, we each had our favorites, and thankfully, my clients and I had the same one. It was a product called Fashion Girl, so it called for a fashion show.



The commercial is as fun as the thinking process and the actual production. During this shoot, we found out that the catty-ness behind the catwalk isn't exclusive to supermodels. There was a lot going on behind those twinkling eyes, sweet smiles and perfect hair. If only that ramp could talk, it would say a mouthful.

While having lunch, we were laughing at the goings on during the shoot. This led one of the production people said: "I was never like that when I was a little girl." To this I replied: "But these aren't just little girls. They're hip little girls." And that makes all the difference.