Ameriquest Don’t Judge Too Quickly

Ameriquest Mortgage Company provided the world with four excellent spots shown during the 2005 USA Superbowl. Surprise Dinner, Parking Meter, Mini Mart and Mother in Law each present characters whose circumstances lead to misunderstanding. “Don’t Judge Too Quickly”, the Ameriquest tag line, reminds viewers that the mortgage company will take seriously any request for a home loan.

Suprise Dinner

A guy’s preparing a beautiful dinner for a romantic evening. Just as he’s cutting up the meat, the cat jumps on to the stove and knocks over the saucepan. There’s red sauce all over the floor. Still holding the knife in one hand he picks up the cat in the other. At this very moment the love interest opens the door…

Parking Meter

A guy’s caught short without coins at the parking meter. There’s someone issuing fines just along the road. Desperate, he runs into the nearest shop. As he comes out he bumps into a woman and child he obviously knows well. “What are you doing”, she asks? At this point the shopkeeper comes out to say he’d left his wallet behind… We look up to see that the shop sells adult movies…

Mini Mart

A guy’s talking on the phone to a colleague about a financial deal. “You’re getting robbed”, he says over the phone. At this point the shopkeeper attacks him with mace, hits him with a bat and calls in reinforcements from a woman who attacks him with a stun gun.

Mother-in-law

A woman tells her husband, “I don’t hate your mother”. So saying, she takes breakfast up the stairs. He notices that she’s left the coffee pot behind. Upstairs she’s found one of the mother-in-law’s pillows has fallen on the floor. As she adjusts it her husband walks in and drops the coffee pot in shock – did he catch her about to smother his mother?

Credits

The Ameriquest Don’t Judge Too Quickly campaign was created at advertising agency DDB Los Angeles, by creative director Helene Cote, art directors Feh Tarty and Michael Mittelstaedt, copywriters Pat McKay and Josh Fell, and agency producer Vanessa McAdam.

Filming was shot by director Craig Gillespie via MJZ, Los Angeles, with director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, producer Deb Tietjen, executive producers David Zander and Lisa Rich.

Editor was Haines Hall at Spot Welders, Los Angeles.

Sound was designed by Tom Ozanich, while music was composed by Mikael Sandgren from Soundelux DMG

Postscript

The campaign went on to win bronze Film Lions at Cannes International Advertising Festival in June 2005.

Ameriquest in May 2006 decided to close all 229 retail branches and cut 3,800 jobs, in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis. Apparently the company had taken the ‘We won’t judge too quickly’ approach too far. The parent company, ACC Capital Holdings, was bought by Citigroup in 2007.