Every once in a while, a client gives us total free reign to create whatever content we want, as long as it is engaging for their audience. Yushin America, a major robotics company, gave it to us, and we gave them the fan-favorite "Eddie the Robot" character. Good things can happen when you think outside the box, and a client who gets that is always a lot of fun to work with.
The spring of 2012 was unbearably hot in Orlando, especially when you had been shoveling snow in the northeast only a few days prior. The National Plastics Exposition (NPE) is the definitive trade show for the plastics industry, and one of the largest by square footage in the Western Hemisphere. My client told me you could lay the Empire State Building on its side inside the Orange County Convention Center's West Hall and still have room to spare.
The Yushin booth had several large demonstrations, and the most impressive built an actual toy robot right in front of attendees. The machine pulled red plastic pellets into a mold, super-heated them, and a few seconds later a Yushin robot reached in, removed the parts and snapped the little red robot together on an assembly table. Everyone knew it was going to be a hit.
That toy sparked a silly, out-of-the-box idea: why not turn it into a character and film it "running" around the show? I grabbed a toy robot, some tape and a cardboard stick, and in about 45 minutes I shot a segment, deliberately letting the audience see my hand moving it. It was a wink to let people know I was in on the joke. It became the most talked-about video I produced for Yushin at the show.
I did not realize how big an impact it had until I returned to NPE in 2015. While shooting, a group of attendees spotted my Yushin shirt and badge and asked, "Are you going to do another toy robot video? The last one was so funny!" When I mentioned the toy was blue that year, they dropped what they were doing and bolted toward the booth. Within the hour, two more people asked the same thing.
I told my client about the demand and got an immediate green light. I named the robot "Eddie," ran around the show capturing footage, and built a whole campaign around him, including photos with the giveaways and a big reveal video. It was another huge hit, and I had the pleasure of watching people see it for the first time: intrigued, then excited, then laughing. That kind of engagement is one of my favorite parts of what I do.