Advertising — Blog — Andy Westbrock

What happens when one company gets too big and powerful for its own good? Well, in the case of GCI, Alaska’s biggest internet provider, they apparently start taking advantage of their customers. GCI's data caps, throttling, unreliable connection, and hidden fees all add up one pretty unbearable internet experience. No one deserves to be treated that way, especially when they’re paying good money for it. But that's where Alaska Communications comes in.

Alaska Communications' new fiber network boasts the fastest, most powerful internet Alaskans can get—for less money than those other guys. Not to mention unlimited data with absolutely no throttling! And with our new brand campaign featuring your regular, everyday last frontier family, Alaska Communications is showing the state that they deserve an upgrade.

It takes fun people to bring a fun campaign like this to life, as well. Meaning we had such a great time collaborating with the team at Alaska Communications from the very start. The same goes for incorporating Director Michael Illick's vision and the whole crew at Food Chain into the mix, who continued to find ways to make the work better and better. And the good news is, we’ll be rolling out two more spots in the coming months that we’re equally excited about!

Andy WestbrockJuly 28, 2023Alaska Communications, Alaska, Unbearable, Advertising, Campaign

Can You Hear It?

Recently, we released another spot in the RVshare “Use Your Outside Voice” campaign, and it might be one of my favorite elements yet. The texture, emotion and sound design really came together well, and we were able put a new spin on things while still managing to pull from the assets we shot last spring. So enjoy!

Andy WestbrockMarch 21, 2023RV, RVshare, Commercial, Use Your Outside Voice, Advertising

Use Your Outside Voice

Let’s be honest, society has a way of putting a leash on us all. Even at an early age, we are taught to “behave” and to “mind our manners.” We’re supposed to be “buttoned up,” act “appropriately” and always color inside the lines.

But sometimes you just need to let it out. To get a little distance and free yourself to do whatever you want.

So take the above photo for example. Even though you can’t hear this picture, let’s be honest, you can hear this picture. And the other thing is, you can’t do this at home. Or at work. You definitely can’t do this at a hotel or on a cruise ship, either. But that’s the beautiful thing about RVs, they bring you true, unbridled freedom. Which is now made accessible to everyone able to rend an RV through RVshare, because they are your vehicle for your outdoor expression.

Which is why RVshare invites everyone to Use Your Outside Voice—to let loose, embrace spontaneity, and welcome the uncomplicated moments in life. Because with an RV rental, the key to truly unbridled freedom is actually just a set of keys. So buckle up, let’s go!

Fresh Air, Fresh Brand

We refreshed RVshare’s brand to reflect their newly unleashed spirit. We introduced a new logo, established a color palette inspired by nature, illustrated a bevy of handmade elements, and redefined the way they looked and spoke to RV renters and owners everywhere.

Andy WestbrockJune 9, 2022RVshare, RV, Adventure, Use Your Outside Voice, Advertising, Campaign

Gesa Credit Union - A Healthier Approach to Money

The “rules” around money have always been…confusing. When you should retire, how much to put down on a house, when to save and when to spend… let’s face it, not many of those rules hold true anymore. Our challenge was to help people feel confident about something that’s historically uncomfortable to acknowledge: their finances. And by playing on the (questionable) money advice we’ve all gotten, we helped Gesa Credit Union stake a claim in the crowded Washington market by showing people there’s a healthier approach to money.

The other cool thing about this campaign launch was that it was a major rebrand for Gesa, now the second largest credit union in the state. With this, they unveiled a completely new logo, website, design look and feel, plus a fresh market as they branched out from Eastern Washington into Western Washington, and the Puget Sound region. And the team we worked with at Gesa was super awesome to work with, too. It was a true collaboration on every step of the way, which makes it real easy to be proud of all the work we’ve done and continue to do.

Andy WestbrockSeptember 17, 2021Gesa Credit Union, Advertising, Campaign, Rebrand, Commercials, Money

The Wheels of Sound Transit Go 'Round and 'Round

Even as the world stopped in the face of a global pandemic, the wheels of public transit still need to go ‘round and ‘round. So Sound Transit, which provides mass transportation to tens of thousands of people in the Pacific Northwest via bus, light rail and train each month couldn’t go into lockdown, even as many of of did. Commuters—and especially front-line workers—still needed them more than ever. The wheels of Sound Transit couldn’t stop. And they didn’t. As vaccinations rolled out across our region, our challenge was to welcome anxious riders back to a safe transit option—one that never took its foot off the gas. An emotional and undeniably catchy take on the well-known children’s song did just that.

Andy WestbrockApril 12, 2021Sound Transit, Wheels, Advertising, Campaign

Sue & Megan at Home with Symetra

Sports stars Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe give us a glimpse into their life stuck at home and how they're preparing for their financial future with Symetra. The spots were shot remotely by Sue and Megan in their home in Connecticut, while the rest of the team was on the west coast (Seattle & LA). They also premiered during the 2020 ESPY Awards, which were hosted remotely by Sue, Megan and Russell Wilson. Client: Symetra Life Insurance Company Agency: Copacino Fujikado Chief Creative Officer: Mike Hayward Group Creative Director: Andrew Gall Associate Creative Director: Andy Westbrock Sr. Copywriter: Caroline Henry Sr. Producer: MacKenzie Huff Production Co.: O. Positive Director: Jess Coulter Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella Post Production: Arcade Edit NY Editor: Ali Mao Producer: Fanny Cruz Color: Company3 NY Colorist: Jaime O'Bradovich Record + Mix: HEARby Sound President/Creative Director/Engineer: John Buroker

2020 has looked quite different for everyone—even for international sports stars like Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe. But that doesn’t mean they’ve just been at home twiddling their thumbs during a worldwide pandemic. They’ve actually been quite busy, as you can see from Symetra’s latest campaign featuring the duo from their home in Connecticut, showing them working from home, rearranging furniture, and even trying some new baking recipes. And luckily they have Symetra to help plan for their financial futures as well.

We worked with production company O Positive and director Jess Coulter to shoot remotely, literally handing the camera, audio equipment, props and lighting over to Sue and Megan, while the rest of us were back on the west coast (Seattle and Los Angeles respectively). So hats off to Sue and Megan for not only doing all the shooting and work “on set,” but also memorizing their lines and ACTING (remember, they’re world-class athletes, not necessarily trained actors)! The spots also premiered during the 2020 ESPY Awards which were hosted remotely by Sue, Megan and Russell Wilson, which made it all the more fitting.

Sports stars Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe give us a glimpse into their life stuck at home and how they're preparing for their financial future with Symetra. The spots were shot remotely by Sue and Megan in their home in Connecticut, while the rest of the team was on the west coast (Seattle & LA). They also premiered during the 2020 ESPY Awards, which were hosted remotely by Sue, Megan and Russell Wilson. Client: Symetra Life Insurance Company Agency: Copacino Fujikado Chief Creative Officer: Mike Hayward Group Creative Director: Andrew Gall Associate Creative Director: Andy Westbrock Sr. Copywriter: Caroline Henry Sr. Producer: MacKenzie Huff Production Co.: O. Positive Director: Jess Coulter Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella Post Production: Arcade Edit NY Editor: Ali Mao Producer: Fanny Cruz Color: Company3 NY Colorist: Jaime O'Bradovich Record + Mix: HEARby Sound President/Creative Director/Engineer: John Buroker

Sports stars Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe give us a glimpse into their life stuck at home and how they're preparing for their financial future with Symetra. The spots were shot remotely by Sue and Megan in their home in Connecticut, while the rest of the team was on the west coast (Seattle & LA). They also premiered during the 2020 ESPY Awards, which were hosted remotely by Sue, Megan and Russell Wilson.

Andy WestbrockJune 30, 2020Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, Symetra, Commercial, Copacino Fujikado, Advertising, COVID-19

Erath – An Oregon Original

Oregon is known for a lot of great things; the amazing Pacific Coastline, towering volcanoes of the Cascade Range, and every single episode of Portlandia. But you may not know it’s also one of the best places in the world to grow the fickle pinot noir grapes needed to make pinot noir wine—specifically in the famed Willamette Valley. It’s there in the Dundee Hills region where you’ll find Erath Winery, makers of Oregon’s No.1 selling pinot noir.

It was this fact we dove into head first. That Erath is the culmination of all the best things about Oregon’s culture, climate and soil coming together in a bottle of wine. And every time you open a bottle of Erath, you’re invited on a sensory excursion to Oregon, no matter where you happen to drink it. Which is why we dubbed it, “An Oregon Original.”

I’m a big fan of Oregon (and the Pacific Northwest in general), so this was personally a super fun campaign for me to work on. You don’t have to twist my arm to conceptualize what Oregon means, look through beautiful photos of Oregon landscapes and create a voice that captures the same essence. So hopefully that passion comes through in what you see here.

CLIENT: Erath Winery | AD: Andy Westbrock | CW: Carla Sparks | ECD: Mike Hayward | AGENCY: Copacino Fujikado

Andy WestbrockSeptember 29, 2019Erath, Winery, Advertising, Campaign, Print, Oregon, Wine

WSU125 CA Typography Annual

The massive WSU 125 we created for Washington State University to commemorate all of their incredible academic achievements over the past 125 years looks as good in print as it does in real life. A big thanks to goes out to Communication Arts and the judges for selecting the WSU 125 into the Typography Annual 6. It's an honor to be listed along many other amazing pieces of typographic beauty. Be sure to pick up a copy and see for yourself.

And if you'd like to check out more on the project for Washington State University's 125th anniversary, you can see the project here.

Andy WestbrockJanuary 10, 2016WSU, Washington State, University, WSU125, Advertising, Type, Typography, Copacino+Fujikado, Communication Arts

Hire These Pants

When it comes to a pair of pleated slacks, simply head down to the mall and buy yourself a pair. That’s not the case when we’re talking about Carhartt work pants – the toughest, hardest working, longest lasting pants the world has ever known. Because you don’t just “buy” a pair of Carhartt’s, you hire them. You enter into an unshakable bond between man and pant. A loyal co-worker who will be with you every step of the way. Which is exactly how it’s been since Hamilton Carhartt founded his namesake company back in 1889. And that won’t be changing anytime soon, either.

So the next time you have a job that’s bigger than any one person can handle, look to Carhartt. And Hire These Pants.

Anywho, this was a super fun campaign to work on with Carhartt, and one of my personal favorites since being at Wexley. Not only is it always a pleasure to wrap your head around such a great brand, the end product turned out great and our clients were super happy, too. That always helps. And we also got to work with the extremely talented John Keatley to shoot our badass pants. And if that wasn’t enough, Mr. Andre Vriesman even got to be the pant model. Unfortunately we had to photoshop him out in the end, but if you don’t believe me, here’s proof:

Andy WestbrockFebruary 5, 2013Carhartt, Pants, Hire These Pants, Advertising, Campaign, Wexley School for Girls, John Keatley, Photography, Poster, Ads

Taco Del Mar Surfer

Dolphin disappointment

Be on the lookout for some fun, quirky new commercials for Taco Del Mar soon. It stars a long board surfer riding on a never ending wave of deliciousness and a few of this friends from the sea. Oh, and he really loves the new TDM Shrimp Tostada. A lot. And he wants everyone to know.

Shhhh. Tostadas are here.

Attention, ocean...

CLIENT: Taco Del Mar | AGENCY: Wexley School for Girls | DIR: Fred Northrop Jr. | PROD CO: Southdown Creative

Andy WestbrockMay 20, 2012Taco Del Mar, Commercials, Advertising, Campaign, Surfer, Wexley School for Girls

Windows Big-Ass Phone

A few months ago my writing partner, Andre Vriesman and I, were brought in to do some early concepting on a top-secret project that, in retrospect, we knew little about or were unsure if it would ever happen. But as luck would have it, the project later dubbed (at least internally) “The Big-Ass Phone” actually did happen just two short weeks ago. And looking back over the timeline and the event itself, I’m really proud that we were able to play even a small part in such an awesome and literally huge thing for the Windows Phone, Wexley School for Girls and all the people who were there to enjoy the show. Not to mention all the other talents that came together for everything to go so wonderfully.

Andy WestbrockNovember 28, 2011Microsoft, Windows, Big Ass, Phone, Event, New York City, Advertising, Wexley School for Girls

Should you fill your face with Taco Del Mar? ¡Of Course! ¡Of Course!

Last week our team at Wexley School for Girls launched our very first campaign for Taco Del Mar. We’ve been working super hard over the past few month on this, and it’s extremely rewarding to finally see this stuff out in the real world. And basically, here’s the idea behind it all:

AHHH...Tommy what happened? Can you fall into a giant burrito at TACO DEL MAR®? Of Course, Of Course!

Does Taco Del Mar have the biggest burritos on the planet? Of course. Does Taco Del Mar have the greatest Fish Tacos on earth? Of Course. Does Taco Del Mar make your food exactly like you want it with the most tantalizing ingredients? Of course. Does Taco Del Mar make your food fast? Of course. Is it filling and satisfying? Of course. And when your friend calls and asks, “Hey man, want to go grab some Taco Del Mar?” you’ll love it so much the answer isn’t just a single “Of course.” It’s an emphatic, “¡Of Course! ¡Of Course!”

Is this gorila eating a Mondo Burrito??? "Of course, Of course!"

It’s not often that one of your favorite pieces from a campaign happens to be a billboard, but it’s hard to see the “Cougar Fight” billboard and not smile. It still gets me, even though I’ve looked at it a thousand times. And as we roll out more work in the next few weeks for the campaign I’ll be sure to keep adding in the new stuff. So be on the look out for it. The whole campaign is going to be super fun and stupid in a good way.

Andy WestbrockSeptember 23, 2011Taco Del Mar, Ad, Advertising, Billboard, Television, TV, Commercials, Wexley School for Girls, Seattle

Make A Date with A Sounder

Agency: Wexley School for Girls Art Director: Andy Westbrock Copywriter: Matt Kappler Creative Director: Ian Cohen Developer: LitFuse

Ever wish you could have a super-awesome date with super-awesome professional soccer players? Of course you do. You’re only human and the need for love and soccer are part of our basic human necessities. Luckily, there are now things in place to help you with this very thing.

Recently, we launched Make a Date with a Sounder. There you have a chance to get to know the guys of the Seattle Sounders FC , learn their likes and dislikes, and obviously, make a date with a Sounder (along with 36,000 other fans). If all that doesn’t satisfy your basic human needs, I don’t know what will. You’re probably a lost cause and dead inside.

So if you’re in the Seattle area, hopefully you’ll see the full campaign running (billboards, TV, print, charity eBay auctions). I’ll post the rest later, but for now check out everything that’s going on at datewithasounder.com and don’t forget to actually make a date.

Note: Last night the Sounders broke the MLS attendance record with 46,505 wild, screaming fans. I like to think we sold a good share of those tickets. They’ve also added over 30k new fans on Facebook in just four weeks since the campaign has launched.

Andy WestbrockJune 24, 2011Seattle, Sounders FC, MLS, Soccer, Advertising, Campaign, Wexley School for Girls

Fishing Line That Binds

If you can’t read the copy, or don’t feel like turning your head because your neck is actually just for looks, here you go:

“To a magazine, the binding is the most important part. Everything depends on it to hold it together. Kind of like fishing line to a fisherman. Everything you depend on starts and ends with the line that holds it together. This explains why more fisherman choose the most dependable fishing line in the world.”

Anyway, this is an ad I did a while ago at a little agency back in my hometown of Minneapolis, by the name of Kerker, now known as Preston Kelly. At the time they had Pure Fishing as a client, which had a ton of great fishing brands under their umbrella, Stren being one of them. So to a Minnesota boy who had grown up fishing since the age of two, I absolutely loved the prospects of working on all this stuff. And this was an ad I always liked for its simplicity, and the point it made using the media.

As for Preston Kelly, they’ve actually been getting some notoriety lately. They won AdAge’s Midwest Small Agency of the Year award, and have been showing up in the CA Ad Annual and Archive as well. They’ve probably been winning a lot of other things too, but either way, I’m glad to see my friends back at PK doing great stuff.

Andy WestbrockMarch 31, 2011Stren Fishing Line, Print, Ad, Advertising, Preston Kelly

Redhook Brandbook

Have you ever worked with leather before? A little over a year ago I got my first chance to do so while making some brand books for Redhook Ale. If you haven’t done any leather work before you should, because it’s pretty cool. And slightly weird. Especially when you think about the fact you’re using the skin of a formally alive animal for something other than it was originally intended.

The best thing about making these was being able to get away from the computer and having a chance to work with your hands. Tangible stuff. Stuff you can feel. Every cover piece was cut out by hand, as was every bit of the type. That’s a heck of a lot more rewarding than just printing everything off and binding it with a piece of plastic.

Andy WestbrockJanuary 10, 2011Redhook Ale, Handmade, DIY, Leather, Book, Design, Advertising, Campaign, Type, Typography

Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Trailer

CW/AD: Forrest Healy, Zach Hitner & Andy Westbrock Ad Agency: Frank Unlimited Production Company: Loaded Pictures Director/DP: Matthew J. Clark Producers: Brian Homman, Chris Borden Line Producer: Mark Campbell Editor: Michael Southworth, Editville Original Music: Matthew Hutchinson Sound Design & Mix: Scott Weiss, Pure Audio

Advertising is one of those great creative pursuits where you never do anything completely on your own. It’s always a team effort. And that was definitely the case for this project for the 15th annual Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. So to create this years trailer, the guys at Frank Unlimited teamed up with me, who, with Loaded Pictures and Pure Audio, were all teamed up with the fine folks over at the Three Dollar Bill Cinema, who do all the hard work to actually put on the SLGFF. Plus, all the actors and other talent who ran through the mean streets of Seattle to allow this whole thing come together.

CLIENT: Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival
CW/AD: Forrest Healy, Zach Hitner & Andy Westbrock
AD AGENCY: Frank Unlimited
DIRECTOR: Matthew J. Clark
PROD: Loaded Pictures
SOUND: Scott Weiss, Pure Audio

Andy WestbrockOctober 1, 2010Seattle, LGBT, Film Festival, Trailer, Advertising, Frank Unlimited, Loaded Pictures

A-Team Anniversary!

Three years ago to the day, the creative partnership between myself and Mr. Andre Vriesman began. And three years later, the A-Team, as we’ve been dubbed, is still going strong.

Advertising is a strange business for a lot of reasons, but the one that is among my favorite is that you work with a partner. In my case, being that I’m an art director, I work with a copywriter. But the thing that makes me lucky is that I also get to work with one of my best friends in the world. Everyday. And because of that, I feel mighty fortunate.

Anytime we go into battle, I know Andre has got my back. And visa-versa. I know if I throw some dumb idea out there, he’ll make it better. And if I can’t even muster some dumb idea, he’ll at least have something up his sleeve. That’s the way it is and that’s the way it should be.

So thank you to Andre for being a great writing partner over the past three years and thank you to all the partners I’ve had over my advertising career. I wouldn’t be who I am without you.

Andy WestbrockJune 1, 2010Andre Vriesman, Copywriter, Advertising, Partner, Seattle

2010 Seattle ADDY Awards

Last week the Seattle ADDY Awards were held and Andre and I did pretty dang well. Together we took home 11 awards, 2 gold and 9 silver, and our old digs (TM Seattle) took home 16 total. All in all, it was a pretty good show and we had a nice haul. And honestly, I don’t think we had anticipated on doing quite as well as we did, but heck, we’ll take it.

A big thanks to all the others to played a pivotal role in the agency to make all the work actually take shape and become that much better; Forrest Healy, Zach Hitner, Susana Cascais, Megan Sczesny, Leslie Hardy, Curtis Jackson and Sharron Higbee. Not to mention the great clients at Group Health and Redhook Ale. Same goes for the Seattle Ad Club for putting on a fantastic event.

If you weren’t able to make it to the awards night, do the next best thing and take a stroll through the Flickr set.

Andy WestbrockMarch 18, 2010Seattle, Ad Club, Advertising, ADDY Awards, GroupHealth, Redhook Ale

Guaranteed Today, Tomorrow, Forever.

Back in February 2004, you’d find me roaming the halls of Brainco: The Minneapolis School of Advertising & Design. It was a great place to be and one of the funnest periods in my life. During this time is when I started working on this campaign for Craftsman Tools and honing my skills as an ad person. I say “ad person” because at the time, we weren’t working with partners yet and I took a lot of pride in doing the writing, along with the art direction and photography. I even created the font, which was something new for me. So since this campaign was a pretty important stepping stone for me, I wanted to share them and give them a little more light.

On a side note, I really like the new Craftsman tagline, “Trust. In Your Hands.” In a world where people can’t work on their own cars and buy near-disposable Ikea furniture, it’s a sentiment that really carries some weight. Coming from a household where my dad’s first instinct was to build it yourself before you even think about pulling out your wallet, it makes me a little sad to think that working with your hands is a lost art. Luckily, Craftsman is the perfect brand to get people back in their garage and it makes me happy to see they realize this.

CLIENT: Craftsman Tools
AD/CW/PHOTO: Andy Westbrock
INSTRUCTORS: Erik Kvålseth & Grant Bernstein
SCHOOL: Brainco

Andy WestbrockNovember 30, 2009Craftsman Tools, Advertising, Campaign, Brainco, Minneapolis, Ad School

Westlake Center Takeover

Perhaps you already noticed (most likely not), but my writing partner, Andre Vriesman and I, finally gathered up the best of the 750 photos we took of the GroupHealth domination we did this summer at the Westlake Center in downtown Seattle and added it to the ol’portfolio. It’s always tough trying to tell the story of such a big ordeal in the most simple way possible. I think it came together pretty well.

This was the third year we got the opportunity to use this alt-media canvas and, in my mind, it’s the best one yet. The idea was to turn the giant mass of granite bricks that is the courtyard of the Westlake Center into a leafy oasis where people could escape their urban surroundings. From this, the GroupHealth Park was born. We also added a 14 x 12 foot wilderness maze that encourages would be hikers to get out and be healthy and a 16 foot long tire hop to train on. Not to mention all the table top art and banners we made too. One of which is a huge topo map of Mt. Rainier National Park. My eyes could pore over that for hours on end. Take a look for yourself.

The greatest thing about doing this kind of advertising has got to be how people react to it. It’s one of the few instances I’ve had in my career where I’ve gotten to witness firsthand, people interacting with your work, smiling, taking pictures of each other and genuinely enjoying something you helped create. It’s a great feeling.

Andy WestbrockOctober 30, 2009GroupHealth, Westlake, Takeover, Advertising, Campaign, Experiential, Alt Media, Seattle