European communications giant Orange has struck voice over gold with a new line of commercials featuring a distinctly American style of VO delivery. Below are three great examples of the campaign.

In the first video, above. We meet both Apology Nico (who’s always late) and our narrator, who sounds like he’s straight out of the old west. Backed with some low-key, rambling music, there’s a strongly American feel to the whole commercial. Which is odd, because this is a European telecommunications company. You can’t get their services in America even you want to. But, hey, the end result is some great VO work for an American voice talent (or a European voice talent doing one heck of an American accent.)

In the next spot, we meet Matteo, the online romancer. We have the same narrator, the same music, and the same overall approach to the commercials. You’ve got to love the delivery at work here, though. (This spot is hands down my favorite of the three.) I especially love it when the talent says, “… and a little talk, to let them down… gently.” It’s a nice moment in the spot; tender, yet humorous.

The final spot above introduces us to Tania the Party Planner. Once again, the voice talent — who I’ve decided by this point to call “Smokey Joe” — tells us a little bit about her party planning activities. This particular commercial might confuse some audiences the most, as it’s predicated on the knowledge of what a Flash Mob is. (It’s a large group of people who appear in a public place all at once and perform some synchronized activity.)

Despite the slightly more esoteric nature of Tania’s activities, good ol’ Smokey Joe is here once again to tell us about her phone habits. At this point, his voice is familiar and comforting… and that’s what good audio branding is all about, folks.

You wouldn’t necessarily think of a line of canned pasta products aimed at kids as the place to go for voice over work, but Chef Boyardee’s latest campaign has been using some creative VO deliveries of late. So far, there are two ads in this new campaign of theirs — in which children’s forgotten playthings confronting said children — but I suspect more are on the way.

In the first video (above), we see a young girl’s blankey coming to life to call her out on the fact that she never pays attention to him anymore. What I like about the casting choice here is that it would have been easy to go with a soft, sweet voice to represent such a cherished childhood totem, but instead the filmmakers went with a sort of goofy-sounding, slightly acerbic guy’s voice. It’s a nice example of casting against type. Here’s this manly, kind of macho voice coming out of a soft, cuddly, pink blanket. I love it!

What I especially love are the last few lines of the spot, which make me laugh out loud: “Bridget, save it. We know you have a blankey, we know his name is Rick, and I know he’s in your backpack. Now, who wants to snuggle?” With that voice… it’s perfect!

The second spot seems like it was a lot of fun for the voice talent to record. Playing your a barking soldier seems like a great way to get some aggression out, and I really love the line where he yells at the kid, “All this time you sat in the company of that meaty ravioli while I was out in the bush… literally! You outgrew me and left me under a bush five years ago, and there ain’t no ravioli out there, son! Just dirt!” Great writing like that makes it easier to give a great VO performance; can you imagine how many different ways you could deliver that line in the recording booth?

And let’s not forget the separate voice overs at the end of each spot, by a third voice talent. Delivered in a more traditional announcer-style delivery (seemingly with a wink), this short but impactful VO hearkens back to the days of old school advertising, and seeing as how both commercials are done in a humorous, over-the-top style, I think this is one case where the announcer style really works.

I can’t wait to see which childhood memory Chef Boyardee dredges up next!

I’ve been a big fan of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ad campaign since it first hit television screens during the Super Bowl. As the campaign has grown to include multiple commercials, print ads, and a brilliantly executed YouTube campaign involving personalized responses to almost 200 of Old Spice’s online fans, I’ve often wished that I could write about it here in Voice Overs of the World. But of course, I write about Voice Overs, and these ads feature no voice over work (except for probably some ADR to fix the spots where the live audio was unusable.) Well, that’s finally changed!

The video above is an internal corporate video from Old Spice and advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy (the firm responsible for the hit ads) that talks about the success of the campaign. It was originally meant to be distributed only within the Old Spice industry world, but — as tends to happen — it has now gone live on the internet.

What’s really great about this video is that after all the hubbub of this multimillion dollar campaign, eventually it ended up providing a pretty sweet gig for a voice over talent, even if it’s not one that was ever meant to be seen by the public. Corporate videos like this are a huge source of income for many voice actors, and they’re a sector of the industry that’s overlooked by many people who are starting out in their VO careers. Because they’re usually never seen by the general public at large, they’re not something people think about a lot, but there are millions of companies out there that produce work like this on a daily basis. A four-and-a-half minute narrative video gig for a huge national company? That’s not a bad day’s work!

Just for fun, below you can watch the Old Spice Man himself, actor Isaiah Mustafa, appearing on The Ellen Degeneres show. And while he’s not a voice actor yet, if you listen to how easily he can switch on his Old Spice voice at will, it seems like he’s a natural for this field.

I’m on a horse.

I never see these ads on television, but they must air somewhere, because they’re all over the internet. Regardless, CompareTheMarket.com’s animated “CompareTheMeerkat.com” ad campaign is a wonderful foray into the world of character voice acting.

I’ve watched a number of these ads online, and I think they’re pretty well done. They go all out with the characterization of Aleksandr the Meerkat, from the thick, heavy accent to the old world-style cadence and delivery. I’m convinced that this is not actually a Russian voice talent, but rather an actor who does a really great sterotypical Russian accent. Either way, his delivery is spot-on.

The commercial above is even more notable from a VO point of view because it features several other voices in small supporting roles. A lot of these ads feature just Aleksandr, but in this spot, I count at least an additional four voices delivering a few words each. Sure, some of them aren’t more than a single line, but hey, who’s going to complain about getting a VO job in something this creative?

And just for the fun of it, enjoy some Meerkat bloopers in the video above. I love the fact that a voice actor got paid to make fake bloopers. How much fun was that recording session?

I love finding videos like these; not only are they lots of fun, but they’re further proof that the internet has completely reinvigorated the voice over field. The latest company to bring voice overs to the forefront of the web revolution? None other than Taco Bell.

Viral videos are an innovative advertising tool that have become a phenomenon on the web over the past few years. They’re typicall  videos that don’t air on regular television (but instead on the internet) and are longer than the usual commercial, and oftentimes they’re only tangentially related to the product they’re advertising. They can be pretty creative, and here are a few examples of some new ones that really hit it out of the park.

Taco Bell’s new series of viral videos is called Super Delicious Ingredient Force, and they’re a parody of the old Super Friends cartoons that I grew up watching. Not only are they incredibly funny, but they feature a large voice over cast. In the first episode (above), you meet the Force, which has 10 different members played by (presumably) 10 different voice actors.

Now, granted, some of the voice actors might be playing two or three characters, but when you add in the narrator and the supporting characters, you’re still talking about at least a half-dozen voice actors or more getting roles here.

I love the performances in these videos. They’re silly and over the top, but they’re supposed to be silly and over the top. Characters like Flex Tortilla and Commander Seasoned Beef (and that narrator!) are delightfully ridiculous, while Chicken Woman, Fantastic Bean, and Captain Enchilada Sauce play with the animated archetypes of the ’70s and ’80s. In short, even though all of the characters are meant to be humorous and goofy, there isn’t a bad performance in the bunch. I have to imagine the recording sessions for these videos were a lot of fun.

These are the first two videos in the series, and Taco Bell has announced plans to launch six of them altogether. That’s a pretty sweet gig for the voice talents involved.

You Quiero Voice Overs!

Sears and Craftsman are teaming up to bring voice overs to the entire country! Okay, that’s not entirely accurate, but in a way, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

So here’s the scoop: Sears and Craftsman have teamed up to promote the new Craftsman mower by hiring someone to drive one of their vehicles across the country over three months. Already a third into his journey, the driver — one Lucas Van Engen from South Bend, Indiana — updates the Craftsman Across America blog with photos, video, and commentary, and all in all, it’s a clever and unique marketing tactic. What’s interesting about it all, though, is that Lucas Van Engen is an aspiring actor. Craftsman was smart enough to make sure to hire a mower jockey that is photogenic and well-spoken, so that when he comes to all these small towns across America and meets and greets people at Sears stores (and is interviewed by the press), he comes across as friendly, affable, and down-to-earth.

The only reason I even mention that he’s an actor is because when you watch his introduction video (above), you can’t help but notice his terrific voice over. Over the course of the three-and-a-half minute video, Lucas talks about home, family, friends, and personal philosophy… a wide variety of topics that paint him as a down home, regular joe. What I love about the voice over is just how down-to-earth it is, though. It really does come across as if he’s just talking off the cuff, sort of commenting on his life and his upcoming journey in a slightly rambling way. I have no doubt, however, that his VO was scripted pretty carefully, or at least outlined to a good extent. He mixes in personal thoughts and insights with some fun (and cleverly crafted) comments on the lawnmower itself; I’m sure Craftsman had some input onto what he says about their product (like calling it the “BMW of lawnmowers.”)

Credit goes to Van Engen for pulling it off like he’s just an everyday guy having a conversation about life and lawnmowers. I think he does a terrific job with the voice over, and it’s an engaging performance that keeps you invested in the video until the end. Sounding really conversational and casual can actually take a lot of work, but Lucas has done a great job with it here!

I’ll probably never get tired of writing about talking animals here at Voice Overs of the World. Why? Well, because they’re such a great source of work for voice over artists? I mean, what better way is there to bring the innermost thoughts of animals and pets to life than through the power of a great voice over?

In the first two ads (above and below), we have a couple of great commercials for Bayer’s Advocate pet medicine. These spots make great use of a talented voice actor who clearly specializes in character voices; more specifically, celebrity impressions. I’m pretty sure it’s the same voice actor in both commercials, and we are treated to some spot-on impressions of some of the world’s most famous actors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, and Sean Connery.

And then, don’t you know it, right at the end of the commercials pops in a completely different female voice. This actor brings in the more traditional “narrator” voice, telling you what the actual product in the advertisement is. I like the choice of voice for the tagline, too; cool, smooth, and deep. This isn’t the voice of a pet’s concerned mother, but rather an in-the-know voice of authority from the company that makes the medicine.

Next up, we have a great ad from McDonald’s with a pair of talking bears. I don’t know who did the casting for this spot but I don’t think you could have found a more perfect voice for Papa Bear. With a deep, growly timbre that’s reminiscent of a John Goodman/Hoyt Axton type, this voice actor really has a rumble to his voice that says, “I’m a bear.” While the younger voice actor doesn’t get as much screen time (so to speak), he works well with the older voice actor to create a convincing father/son relationship. It’s a fun ad that makes creative use of voice over and features some terrific performances and casting.

Finally, we have this… odd… commercial for 98 FM, which utilizes a talking seal with a randomly Antonio Banderas-ian accent extolling the virtues of “making right now… good.” In the commercial, the talking seal appears in random places and gives people advice on making now “good.” It’s kind of a silly commercial, but I do really like the performance of the voice actor in general, and especially when he says, “Kiss him, you fool!” I have to imagine that this was probably not the most serious day in the recording studio and was probably a lot of fun to record.

They say in Hollywood you’re never supposed to work with kids or animals, bit I think working as an animal seems like lots of fun!