If the Natty Boh guy could talk, would he sound like you?
Do you imagine your accent sounding just like the Utz Girl's?
If so, you could be the one a Baltimore ad agency is trying to find.
MGH has launched a casting call to find "The Voice of Baltimore."
They don't want a baritone radio star. They don't want actors. They don't want someone who can say "Timonium" with just the right "O" for a party punchline.
They want a homegrown product of the 410, a man or a woman, young or old, with a real, bonafide Baltimore accent, -- thick, dirty and true.
"We’re celebrating Baltimoreans and Balmerese and really elevating it," says the company's Executive Creative Director John Patterson. "If we can find this person, we'll be creating a mini celebrity in town."
When MGH is looking for talent, they usually head to New York or Los Angeles where the talent pool is big. But with the company about to launch a number of local campaigns – like likes of Natty Boh, Utz and Old Bay – they knew those big city accents just wouldn’t do.
"We want the accent and we want someone as charming as the accent as well," he said. "It should be someone who's lived here quite a while, someone who’s experienced the town."
The winner's voice will be heard in radio commercials -- maybe television, too -- in a campaign for at least one of the company's local brands. MGH created the Natty Boh proposes to the Utz Girl campaign for Smyth Jewelers.
To throw their hat in the ring, people must go to thevoiceofbaltimore.com and upload a recording of themselves reading a script loaded with opportunities to flaunt their best Balmerese. They'll have to say "Belair Road," "Colts," and "Bethlehem Steel" as well as "Did you eat yet?" and "Let's go down to Little Italy."
"It’s written very innocently but it will tell us a lot," Patterson says.
The contest just opened this week and about 10 people have already applied. People have until April 30.
They say the ideal candidate will be over 40, "the older the better." So seniors should feel encouraged.
And they want enthusiasm. So if you want to finish your recording with a little, "Go Ooooooooo's!" it could probably only help.
jill.rosen@baltsun.com
@BaltInsider
