'Bad Combos', the new spot for Texas Department of Transportation, employs a humorous approach to make a serious point: that combining texting with any other activity, from driving to power stapling, is a pairing with unwanted and potentially dangerous results. Produced by kaboom and directed by Jordan Brady for agency Sherry Matthews, the series of highly choreographed vignettes are a hot mess of distracted action; scrolling, texting people who didn’t keep their eyes on what they were doing, thereby running over flower beds, careening through cornhole games, bursting bike tires, spilling syrup, and more. Click here to watch the spot.
The production reunited director Brady with the team at Sherry Matthews, including SVP/creative director Rich Terry and creative directors Matthew Mowat and Jose Marrero on location in Texas.
“Jordan is one of the industry’s great collaborators, and we put a lot of faith in his vision and experience,” shares Terry. “Our target audience doesn’t always respond well to blame, scare tactics or finger pointing — Jordan knows how to walk a fine line between scenarios that make you smile and, at the same time, make you think.”
“I loved the script and the opportunity to create quick moments of physical comedy that could illustrate the massive problem of distracted texting without any true danger befalling the characters,” notes Brady. “From the collaboration with the agency to the casting - it was a very fun project with an important message - which is a rare and welcome opportunity for a comedy director.”