STANANDLOU MARKETING/ADVERTISING

Lou and Kinky Friedman ran into each other at this year’s Art Car Parade in downtown Houston. Kinky was in town to serve as Grand Marshall of the annual parade. Lou worked with Kinky several years ago at the Utopia Animal Rescue Farm (owned and operated by Kinky) where Kinky filmed a public service announcement for longtime STANANDLOU client, SNAP, the Spay Neuter & Assistance Program.

Houston, TX—Stan & Lou Advertising received top honors last week from the
Art Directors Club of Houston for two public service television spots created for the Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides free and low cost sterilization of pets through spay and neuter clinic facilities accessible to the general public in Houston and San Antonio.

In the first spot, “Rex”, a :60 television spot which received a Gold Award in the Pro Bono/Public Service category, Stan & Lou Advertising enlisted the talents of Texas author, singer and folk legend Kinky Friedman.

The spot opens on flashes of barbwire and of guards walking down a prison hallway. The guards enter a jail cell as Friedman’s voiceover relates the stark reality of life for his friend Rex, who has fallen on hard times, “With no home and no family… his only crime was being born. Now he’s going to die.”

As the camera moves to the execution chamber and a doctor prepares the syringe, a hand lifts a cage up to a steel table to reveal that Rex is a dog about to be put to sleep.

“Kinky was the natural choice for us as spokesperson,” stated Lou Congelio, President of Stan & Lou. “His rugged look and gruff persona made the prison scenes and storyline very believable. He looks like he actually could have a friend on death row. Just kidding, Kinky.”

Sean Hawkins, SNAP’s Executive Director, noted, “Landing a celebrity spokesperson like Kinky Friedman immediately added credibility and power to our television commercial and our cause.”

“Another reason we liked Kinky for the spot was that he is a true animal lover,” added Congelio. “Not only does he have a heart of gold but he’s also been running an animal rescue ranch down in Utopia, Texas, for the last three years. Like I said, he was a natural choice.”

The second SNAP spot, “Sparky”, received a Silver Award in the Pro Bono/Public Service Category and a Judges Choice Award. This spot opens with a cute Jack Russell terrier jumping up and down with anticipation as his owner explains to him that he’s about to take him for a ride and abandon him.

“The point of both spots,” noted Sean Hawkins, “was to dramatize in very different ways the importance of spaying and neutering dogs and cats to prevent needless suffering.”

Each year, more than a million dogs and cats end up in Texas animal shelters. 90% of them are destroyed. Surgical sterilization of dogs and cats offers an immediate and humane solution to end the urban crisis of animal overpopulation.
Both SNAP spots will be distributed to television stations statewide in an effort to heighten awareness of the need to help save lives through the prevention of unwanted pets.

Others involved in the production of the TV spots include Dan Blust of Bill Young Productions, Director, Gary Foster of Bill Young Productions, Editor, and Josh Powers, Copywriter/Producer. To view a Quicktime version of the spots, go to

http://www.stanandlou.com/snapads

Stan & Lou Advertising also received Art Directors Club accolades in the form of three Bronze Awards. Two awards went to print ads created for Boaka Bar, a new nightclub concept in downtown Houston from the owners of Zula and the Mercury Room, and one went to a poster series created for the Austin Huns, an Austin rugby team.

Stan & Lou is a full service advertising agency with over $15 million in billings. Clients include Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Coastal Banc, Scripps Clinic, Marble Slab Creamery, Time Warner Cable, Moody Gardens, 104 KRBE, Monterey’s
Little Mexico, Monterey’s Tex Mex Café, Hou-Tra International, Lukens Energy Group, Zula and The Downtown Club.

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