Bill
Cochran

Social video work for one of the country's most recognized battery brands. Reminding people that in a world full of idiots "outrageously undependable people", Interstate Batteries remains an "Outrageously Dependable" choice.

Whether we had a spot in the game or not, Avocados From Mexico loved to insert themselves into Super Bowl conversation — with spots, live social pivots, and a jingle that refuses to leave your head.

Inspired by 2 Corinthians 9:7 — "God loves a cheerful giver." Give with Joy celebrates the energy that comes from generosity. It was a joy to present, a joy to produce, and our friends at Shindig Music helped us create a catchy song to boot. Oh, and Post Malone was involved.

Sure, there was a brief. Sure, this was a campaign to help a brewery come out of Covid with a smile on their face. But, at the end of the day, if the name of your business is Braindead, we had to lean into it.

A deep run across the NA beverage portfolio. Snapple had been around for years before anyone pointed out their fruit flavors actually taste like real fruit — we brought that story to life through digital and social. Also worked on Dr Pepper, 7Up, and Straight Up Tea.

Yes. This spot is a spec spot. A certain company that boasts adding "nothing" to their product turned it down. So, there. I have nothing to hide.

Bridgestone ran Super Bowl spots for a few years, and I was fortunate enough to sell two of them. There's a heck of a story behind Reply All — check out the ABC 20/20 segment.

FCA looks at a gazillion spots and only airs a small handful. Both of my spots were called to the starting line, but neither made it to broadcast. That tiny detail doesn't change how much I love them. Also included an internal brand video — because who doesn't love a good X and Y axis chart?

Chuck E Cheese came to us saying they needed a total refresh. We handled everything from redesigning the character to developing his new "voice" — a fully rendered rock star with a big heart. That voice turned out to be the lead singer of Grammy-nominated band Bowling for Soup. We had a blast making Chuck E rock.

Guitar magazine even picked up on how authentic new rock star Chuck E was in an article about his new guitar.

One challenge we faced when launching an entirely new character was, you couldn't see him inside their stores. We created an AR app that allowed customers to take pictures with the "new" Chuck E at various locations throughout their stores.

Who is Chuck E Cheese? It was a fun surprise to see the Chuck E backstory that I had written as part of a Jeopardy answer.

Yep — published children's book author. My first book, The Forever Dog, deals with the death of a beloved pet. HarperCollins wanted me to be "the guy who writes about tough topics," so my next book tackled divorce. I wrote The Forever Dog after my golden retriever Mo died while she was still very young. I also met my wife at a book signing at Barnes & Noble. I have much more fun writing advertising than books about tough topics, but the letters from grateful parents are pretty tough to beat.

I combined my borderline freak-show obsession for track & field with my love of writing by launching a track & field T-shirt website. I sold shirts all over the world, but closed the shop because I was making far too much money. (Okay — I closed because Covid shut down the entire world of track and field.)

I helped develop The Whynauts — an original, award-winning, live-action educational television series for the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. We shot eleven episodes based in STEM education for elementary school children, with code-switching Spanish language throughout. All these years, I finally felt ready to take my 8th grade science exams.

What happens when you've created award-winning Super Bowl commercials and your son plays on a travel hockey team? You make sizzle videos. A lot of them. The first is riddled with inside jokes — every team probably has their version of Arnie. The Dallas Penguins sure do love ours. Also an amazing excuse to work on AI filmmaking chops.

An initiative to stop pissing off our planet during Super Bowl halftime. Also known as the Super Flush, when millions of people use their facilities at once, overwhelming water processing plants and creating algal blooms. Our rivers don't have a Plan B, but we had a Plan P. Pee on a Plant. We even sold custom-made Pee Pots.

And what kind of copywriter would I be if I didn't dabble in voiceover. I've read for hundreds of spots. But here is my demo reel, for fun.