Google My Business - Proud Community / City Gym in Kansas City (2015)

Google has some very helpful tools for small businesses and local haunts to take advantage of when they want to be seen in their community. In showing how this works in practice, Google tells the story of a young man - a young trans man - and the local gym where people can be themselves. Just in time for pride month. (Everyone gets a month in America except mom & dad they just get a day each - hehe )

Now, you can hardly escape the transgender topic in news & popular culture these days, it's not 2008 anymore, clearly. So it's really no surprise that Google chose to open the story here with clips from Jacob's transition. For 1 minute and 22 seconds, you might even think this is an ad about gender transitioning. Then we switch over to Hailee Bland Walsh who owns the City Gym, and she talks about her business;

"City Gym was born of the belief that a gym should be more than place to workout, it should be a place to belong. It was never an intention to create a space specifically for any group, but what a testament it is to create a space where any group feels comfortable."

Now, with a topic so currently hot, emotional and often controversial, the real shocker here is that they managed to create a commercial so pedestrian. It's as bland as the Scottish village of Dull is quaint. It's boring. And despite all the google products features flashing by, all familiar for any of us who use our smart phones, it doesn't really do all that much for Google - but collect high-fives & goodwill for being allies, I suppose.

Client: Google
Brand: My Business
Spot: "City Gym"
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Chairman: Paul Venables
Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Lee Einhorn
Art Director: Avery Oldfield
Copywriter: Adam Wolinsky
Director Of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Amy Gatzert
Production Company: Uber Content
Director: Eliot Rausch
Director of Photography: Chayse Irvin
Executive Producer: Preston Lee
Producer: Micki Poklar
Editing Company: Lumberyard
Editor: Kevin Bagley
Sound Design: 740 Sound
Sound Designers: Rommel Molina
Music: Songs for Film and TV
Mix: Lime
V/FX: Lumberyard
V/FX Producer: Zoe Zaitzeff
Business Lead: Colleen McGee
Account Director: Robert Woods
Account Supervisor: Brenda Pyles
Account Manager: Ariel Rosen
Senior Project Manager: Shannon Duncan