Coach Dolly

The Salvation Army’s spots, ‘Coach Dolly’ and ‘Lead In Video,’ via agency LERMA/ and directed by Adam Littke of Camp Lucky, star the iconic country singer Dolly Parton. The commercial premiered in October announcing that Dolly Parton would be the musical performer at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game that kicked off The Salvation Army’s 133rd Red Kettle Campaign.

The commercial opens on a bedazzled NFL locker room where a “Coach” Dolly riffs on her guitar clad in her emblematic country-princess attire to a group of Cowboys cheerleaders. The scene shows Parton on the phone with Coach Mike McCarthy, assuring him that as he takes care of the boys on the field, she takes care of prepping for a halftime show that promises to be just as glistening and captivating as she is.

For ‘Dolly’s Halftime Intro’, Miss Parton introduces her performance while wearing a bedazzled vintage Salvation Army uniform while standing amidst a magical, moonlit forest. She gives a heartfelt call to action asking to help the many wonderful causes The Salvation Army supports for the upcoming holiday season. From there, CBS cuts to a live feed of Dolly performing her classic songs to a sold out crowd.

“There’s a kind of magic that happened as soon as Dolly was announced as the talent this year. When writing dialogue for Miss Parton, the goal was always to let her personality shine. Every bit of this idea was inspired by who she is as a philanthropist, performer, and living legend,” says LERMA/ Copywriter Brooke Boulter.

“It was incredibly fun to concept around bringing her bedazzled personality to life,” agrees LERMA/ Associate Creative Director/Art Director Kirstin Mullins, “but it was even more exciting to think about how many people would benefit from her fundraising influence with The Salvation Army.”

For Littke, the origins of the spot began with a call about a top-secret project that would bring together an organization that Camp Lucky has been honored to support creatively in the past, along with an agency of cherished colleagues. It was an easy and enthusiastic yes, well before understanding who would star at the center of it all. Flying to Nashville, the team at Camp Lucky sent Littke and his producer, Chelsea Nollner Sevadjian.

“As soon as we came up with Coach Dolly, we knew we wanted to bring in Adam Littke. His genuine heart, quirky creative voice, and deep respect of The Salvation Army’s mission made him the perfect director to bring this idea to life,” affirms Mullins.

“Everyone who worked on this project felt like kindred spirits in our creative approaches – it was a true dream team,” notes Littke. “We wanted to make sure that Miss Parton was represented in a way that we all have come to know and love, keep her character in place, but add a special uniqueness with our creative and the organization’s mission.”

Back at Camp Lucky, the post team, including editor Elizabeth M. Stewart got to work shaping the spots, one of which would literally set the stage for the Halftime show (and its 41 million viewer audience), and shine a light on The Salvation Army.

As Stewart explains, “To get the opportunity to edit pieces starring the legendary Dolly Parton is a dream come true. But with that comes a responsibility to make sure that these spots reflect her as the icon that she is as well as representing the organization's mission. With the team that came together to bring this to life, that ended up not being a challenging task at all. With direction from Adam and the amazing creative team from LERMA/ and of course the professionalism and talent that Miss Parton clearly brings to every set, it all came together beautifully.”

Donations to The Salvation Army are especially needed now to meet the increasing needs of millions of families living in poverty in the United States. The Salvation Army, the nation’s largest private provider of social services, provides Christmas gifts, food, shelter, and rent and utility assistance to tens of millions of people struggling this holiday season and beyond.