Rickie Fowler Shot Ads Heralding the Return of Golf, Without Crowds

A professional athlete in a commercial, promoting a nationally televised sports event? It’s like February all over again!

Golfer Rickie Fowler filmed himself on a course in South Florid for a pair of cute spots promoting the TaylorMade Driving Relief competition, which airs today (Sunday) on NBC.

To shoot the :15s below, creative shop RPA and Farmers Insurance, an event sponsor, sent Fowler some recording equipment and storyboards. Understandably, the PGA Tour star looks a tad lonely on those quiet greens.

On the plus side, rowdy crowds aren’t a factor, and the spots remind us that at this point in the coronavirus crisis, golf is only “back-ish.”

With most pro sports still shut down, “back-ish” sure beats no games at all.

“Since the charity golf tournament came together at a rapid pace, there was little time to develop concepts and therefore a number of props didn’t make it to Rickie,” Farmers head of brand and marketing Jenny Howell tells Muse. “A team on the ground in Florida made trips to stores to provide Rickie with props for the spots. Of course, all of the necessary sanitizing and social distancing measures were performed.”

Assisted by his wife Allison, “Rickie was efficient with his footage, shooting roughly two takes per shot in order for the RPA team to get a little creative with editing,” says Howell. “In ‘Crowd Control,’ you never see Rickie’s face, which in most production situations is not standard practice. But Rickie’s signature and iconic orange pants made the shot work.”

Below, in a more conventional clip, Fowler explains what Driving Relief is all about:

Today, he’ll partner with Matthew Wolff against Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson in a charity match supporting the American Nurses Foundation and CDC Foundation. The stars will play at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. Both teams begin with $500,000 in the bank, and each hole is worth additional dollars.

In addition, Farmers pledged $1 million to back a birdies and eagle pool to benefit Off Their Plate, which helps Covid healthcare workers and frontline shift employees.

CREDITS

Client: Farmers Insurance

Agency: RPA
EVP / Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli    
SVP / Executive Creative Director: Pat Mendelson    
VP / Creative Director: Hobart Birmingham    
VP / Creative Director: Perrin Anderson    
Art Director: Rik Patenaude
Senior Copywriter: Maria Snell    
Copywriter: Scott Ellman     
EVP/ Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff    
SVP / Director of Video Production: Selena Pizarro    
Senior Producer: Matt Magsaysay    
VP / Director of Business Affairs: Maria Del’homme    
Associate Director, Business Affairs: Andy Recalde    

EVP / Chief Client Officer: Tom Kirk
SVP / Group Account Director: Kirt Danner
VP / Account Director: Alexis Coller
Account Director: Adrienne Feldman
Account Supervisor: Matt Bower
Assistant Account Executive: Emma Falkenberry

Talent: Rickie Fowler

Director(s): Rickie Fowler and Allison Stokke Fowler
Director of Photography: Allison Stokke Fowler

Editorial Company: Cut+Run
Editor: Sean Stender
Assistant Editor: Kelly Henson
Executive Producer: Amburr Farls
Senior Producer: Brady Fiero

Finishing: Jogger
Head of Production:Diana Cheng
Creative Director: Andy Brown

Audio & Final Mix: Lime Studios
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Audio Engineer: Dave Wagg
Assistant Audio Engineer: Matthew Conzelmann