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F.P. Hires Freelancers for Radio Ads

By dm

SIOUX FALLS, SD—February 28, 2017—Fresh Produce recently contracted two freelance writers to draft radio scripts for the agency’s longest-running campaign. Dessa Wander and Andrew Sims of the Minneapolis rap collective, Doomtree, each wrote a sixty-second script for the ten-year-old Perkins Storage & Transfer radio campaign last year.

“We’ve been writing radio spots for Perkins Storage & Transfer every two months for the last decade,” said Fresh Produce writer Brian Bieber. “While the campaign has never been stronger, we thought it would be good to have some professional rappers write a few of the ads.”

“While the campaign has never been stronger, we thought it would be good to have some professional rappers write a few of the ads.”

Fresh Produce approached Dessa and Sims about the collaboration in early 2016, and it immediately struck a chord (like in music) with the Doomtree emcees.

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“As a performing musician, the Perkins Storage & Transfer project has a special resonance for me,” said Dessa. “On tour, I move all of my belongings every night. I know what that does to the soul, the lower back, and to the moral fibers that connect the soul to the lower back.”

“As a performing musician, the Perkins Storage & Transfer project has a special resonance for me,” said Dessa.

Dessa’s contribution to the campaign, “Lift with Your Heart,” speaks directly to this existential struggle, examining the emotional bonds that connect human beings—however tenuously—and challenging the listener to confront their own mortality.

Andrew “Sims” Sims is currently on tour in support of his latest album, More Than Ever, and could not be reached for comment about his script for the moving company, which deals primarily with robot people.

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Living up to her reputation as a team player, in 2016 Dessa also collaborated with Lin-Manual Miranda, creator of the Broadway musical Hamilton. Dessa recorded a track for The Hamilton Mixtape, which debuted at the top of the Billboard charts a few months after Dessa’s Perkins Storage & Transfer spot hit the airwaves.

“Without a doubt, working with Fresh Produce was my most exciting collaboration of February 24th, 2016,” said Dessa. “Nothing even comes close to that [early] afternoon.”

The 2016 Perkins Storage & Transfer radio spots received Best in Class and Best in Show awards at the 51st Annual South Dakota American Advertising Federation Awards, and will move on to compete in the District 8 American Advertising Awards competition.

Fresh Produce has offered to buy Dessa a ticket to the District 8 ADDYs, but she might be busy that night, rehearsing for her performance with the Minnesota Orchestra the following weekend.

Fresh Produce also won the following awards at the South Dakota ADDYs:

Best of Class – Print Advertising for “That Time You Banked” (BankStar)
Best of Class – Cross Platform for “Never Satisfied” (POET)
Best of Class – Out of Home & Ambient Media for “News!” (Ipso Gallery)
Best of Class – Sales & Marketing for “The Owl is Great at Being Silent” (Ipso Gallery)
Best of Class – Film, Video & Sound for “#LookUnderMoversInTheYellowPages” (Perkins Storage & Transfer)
Best of Show – Print for “Never Satisfied” (POET)
Best of Show – Non-Print for “#LookUnderMoversInTheYellowPages” (Perkins Storage & Transfer)

Perkins Storage & Transfer was not made aware of the collaboration with Doomtree, but they’d probably be fine with it.