McCann Erickson/BYU Adlab team up to film music video at world’s largest water balloon fight

By: Jason Woodward

The BYU Adlab’s July 23 accomplishment can be summed up in two figures: 3,927 and 120,021. These tallies—the former of people and the latter of water balloons—blasted BYU into the record books for the world’s largest water balloon fight in history. BYU’s Student and Academic Advisement Services commissioned the Adlab to liven up the semester with an event, an endeavor at which they more than succeeded.

But the Adlab didn’t just promote an on-campus activity. It teamed up with McCann Erickson, an ad industry titan, to create a music video for one of its clients.

Jordan Wheeler, a 2008 BYU graduate and account manager at McCann Erickson New York, was promoting musician Kyle Andrews, who has appeared on a number of Holiday Inn commercials. With plans for a music video and a limited budget, Wheeler knew the Adlab could help so he pitched the idea to his creative team.

“I told them I knew some people that can do great work,” Wheeler said. “I showed them what they had done in the past and the clients they’d worked with, and it was an easy sell for me.”

After a few conference calls, Wheeler’s team decided on the water balloon fight as the backdrop for the music video.

“We were really excited about it,” said Sara Martinez, a senior from Arecibo, Puerto Rico. “We pitched a lot of different ideas, and the water balloon fight already happened to be going on. We knew we had to take advantage of it.”

Martinez, an account manager at the Adlab, coordinated the project between the Lab and McCann Erickson.

“This has been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had,” she said. “Not only being able to work on something so big for BYU, but also something so big for the Adlab itself. It’s just been amazing.”

“We’re really happy with the way everything has come together,” Wheeler said. “We were happy to be able to use this stage for Kyle and his song.”

Martinez said the success of the event and the partnership with McCann Erickson showcased what the Adlab can do.

“Check us out,” she said, extending an invitation to alumni and agencies alike. “Come and see what we’ve done. Even though we’re students we’re capable of doing something great.”