Super Bowl commercials have attained a cachet almost equal to the game itself. So it's not hard to understand why the people at Quill.com would want to use the sports world's biggest spectacle as a vehicle to boost sales of its most high-profile brand.
That would be the Dunder Mifflin brand, which for over a year now has existed outside the televised confines of the Scranton-set NBC comedy "The Office" as an actual line of copy paper and office products made by Quill, a division of Staples.
On Friday, Quill unveiled the winning entry in its Dunder Mifflin Super Bowl ad contest. The commercial, titled "Paper War," was created by Freddy Rabbath of Tallahassee, Fla. It will air sometime during the early part of the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVII, exclusively in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area.
The game will be carried locally on WYOU-TV, Channel 22.
The 30-second ad is a clever, humorous depiction of a group of office drones engaging in medieval-style warfare with weapons made of Dunder Mifflin paper products. Toward the end of the spot, a cat appears, in what's apparently a nod to the show's feline-obsessed accountant, Angela Martin.
To see the spot before the big game, visit thetimes-tribune.com.
Paul Bessinger, director of innovation for Quill.com, said the ad effectively shows how, with Dunder Mifflin paper, one can bring a little bit of "The Office" to their office.
"We had a lot of tough decisions to make. ... We had some amazing spots," Mr. Bessinger said. "It was really tough, but we wanted to pick a spot that represented the brand, not just in regards to the products, but also the show."
Mr. Bessinger said the decision to keep the ad confined to the local market wasn't necessarily based on how much it would cost to air it nationally. Rather, he said, it was more in thinking that the fictional Dunder Mifflin would likely market its products entirely to the Scranton area.
He also noted that the ad will be available for viewing on a number of websites, including YouTube and Quill.com.
Quill did the contest in collaboration with the Los-Angeles-based company Tongal, which, through a concept known as "crowdsourcing," gives freelance creative types the chance to work with consumer brands via online competitions.
Initially, Tongal received about 80 pitches for the contest. In the end, around 20 video submissions were judged by executives from Quill.com and NBCUniversal and producers from "The Office," Mr. Bessinger said. They were evaluated on their production quality, storytelling and humor.
Mr. Rabbath received a $15,000 prize. Second prize was $6,000. Third was $2,000.
Since launching in 2011, Dunder Mifflin copy paper has been one of Quill's biggest sellers. Just recently, the line was extended to include Sharpie pens, self-stick notes, tissue boxes, coffee cups, storage boxes and legal pads.
"We want to make sure we build a brand that has longevity long after 'The Office' is no longer on in primetime," Mr. Bessinger said.
Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.com, @jmcauliffeTT on Twitter