“I didn’t know you guys did edgy.”

When a long time client sees some of your latest work for another client and says that, you can’t feel a bit–what’s the word I’m looking for?–oh, right: mortified.

For lots of reasons. Don’t need to go into all of them here.

But I bring it up because this happened a few weeks ago, and it hasn’t left me since. The work is for ICS, an Oregon company producing concrete cutting chain saws; super-niche products in a uber-narrow category aimed at general contractors. Not your mass market stuff.

Love the campaign, but hadn’t thought of it as particularly edgy though, until I heard it mentioned that way. Smart, attention-getting (in a category utterly devoid of anything provocative), relevant, unusual, memorable, intriguing–all designed to pay off ultimately as EFFECTIVE–and maybe way down on the list of descriptors, maybe edgy.

But edgy was his word. His first word. Is that a good thing?

Edgy. Hmmm. DISCUSS.

The videos, meant to get your jaded construction guys talkin: