Tiffany Burchard of FilmCore Adds Comic Touch to CarMax Ads

FilmCore's Tiffany Burchard has edited a new campaign for CarMax that shows what it might have been like if the used car retailer had been around in earlier epochs to handle sales of transportation vehicles. Conceived by Charlotte, North Carolina agency BooneOakley and directed by Mike Maguire of The Directors Bureau, the two-spot package is one of two new comedy campaigns for CarMax that will air simultaneously. Burchard also cut the other package in which a CarMax spokesman comes to the rescue of people trying to buy and sell used cars.

ShipMax imagines a 17th century scene in which a man tries to swing a sweet deal on a low mileage Spanish galleon. "If I find the perfect ship at the far end of the world, will you hold it for me until I can go pick it up?" queries the prospective buyer. "No sir," the dealer stoutly replies, "We will ship it to you." The spot ends with the tagline, "It's amazing no one’s thought of this before."

Burchard worked with the agency's creative team and Maguire to give the spot's Monty Python-esque humor just the right timing and pitch. "We looked to push it over the top and make it as silly and fun as it could be," Burchard recalled. "Mike and I were on the same page. It was a good, collaborative effort."

In Disguise, from the second group of spots, a young woman negotiates the purchase of a used car with an old woman with grey hair, a walker and, suspiciously, a beard. At the last moment, a CarMax spokesman steps in to squelch the phony seller's scheme, pointing to a pool of oil below the car's engine.

"We imagined the CarMax guy as a hero who always steps in at the last minute to save the day," said BooneOakley Creative Director David Oakley. "Mike got it immediately as did Tiffany. She has a great sense of humor and comic timing is impeccable."