I shot this Yoplait campaign in London. The creative was 2-3 print ads—close-ups of girls eating the yogurt or licking out the container. Sounds easy enough. But the agency, McCann Erickson, wanted to do the casting for the girls. I said okay but told them I wanted to be involved and see the results before I arrived in London. The day before I was to leave, I got the images. Wow! They were all full body length. I could not see anything of what the girls looked like close up.
My reputation is for details and perfection. So I insisted on conducting a new round of casting. From the airport I went straight to a small office at the agency, where 20-30 girls were waiting. I think we chose well— nice profile, nice tongue, etc. It’s only when you look at a person close up that you can see imperfections that don’t work for an advertising job—bad skin, bad teeth, bad nails, or something.
It’s all about preparation.
