For first time, A’s ad campaign is all about Oakland

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A’s commercials are famous for being quirky and cute, clever and funny. None of that is changing this year — the ads are all that plus elephants — but the locale is entirely different.

The 2017 commercials were all filmed in Oakland rather than Arizona, a first as far as team officials can recall, and the A’s ad campaign is a love letter to the team’s hometown.

Among the sites used: Oakland City Hall, Oakland Zoo, Fox Theater, Lake Merritt amphitheater and the Lake Merritt BART station.

“When they first told us, I thought, ‘That’s going to be cool,’ ” A’s starter Sonny Gray said of keeping the shoot local. “It makes more sense to do it here. When we were at Lake Merritt, it was great because so many fans were coming by to watch commercials unfold right before them.

“It’s a lot more fun for fans and for us to be involved in this than just going to the spring training complex by ourselves for two days. You could tell people saw a tweet, knew where we were and just came out. There was a lot of, ‘Let’s go Oakland.’ It was neat.”

The A’s ad agency, Hub Strategy and Communications, usually has the ideas for the spots, which are annual award winners. This time, the team provided the idea of spotlighting the city.

That is the primary message under new A’s President Dave Kaval as the team hunts for a stadium site in Oakland. Even on-field developments are taking a backseat to procuring a new venue, which makes sense, considering the team’s annual revenue sharing check — worth about $35 million in 2016 — will be phased out over the next four seasons.

The A’s had been grandfathered into the revenue-sharing pool despite playing in a large market because of their antiquated stadium, and many team owners, as well as members of the Players Association, believed the A’s weren’t pushing hard enough for a new ballpark.

Ryon Healy, Stomper, Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray (left to right) film an A’s commercial at the Oakland Zoo. Ryon Healy, Stomper, Kendall Graveman and Sonny Gray (left to right) film an A’s commercial at the Oakland Zoo. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close For first time, A’s ad campaign is all about Oakland 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Without revenue sharing, the team believes it must have a modern, baseball-only stadium in order to succeed financially. Affection for Oakland is suddenly in the air, especially following a well-received FanFest that drew 15,000 to Jack London Square.

“Without a doubt, I sense a new energy and Dave Kaval has gone a long way in instigating that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s all about Oakland. I think the fans feel it and feel for the first time, we’re really serious about doing something, and doing something here in Oakland.”

Shooting in multiple spots around the city, however, complicated things for the ad agency. In previous seasons, the A’s had used their spring training complex for the bulk of team commercials.

“I loved the idea, but it was really scary,” said DJ O’Neil, Hub Strategy’s founder and creative director. “We’d always been in such a contained area in other years, so the logistics were a challenge; we were filming at BART, at Fire Station No. 27, the mayor’s office. But there was so much goodwill. This is a beloved brand and everyone was jazzed about it and made it easy. It wound up being a cooperation-fest.”

The A’s shot the commericals during the final week of January, just before and after FanFest, in a variety of spots, none more enchanting than the elephant enclosure at the Oakland Zoo.

“I saw the itinerary a few days before and I giggled,” infielder Ryon Healy said of doing scenes with Stomper, the elephant mascot, and his much larger cousins.

“Pretty unique atmosphere,” starter Kendall Graveman said, as three elephants nibbled on piles of branches behind him. “People can see we’re hanging out in Oakland and we’re part of the community. I think that’s a big part of what we’re striving for going forward.”

Melvin and shortstop Marcus Semien spent one afternoon at City Hall, with Semien receiving the key to the city from Mayor Libby Schaaf in one scene and Melvin serving as hypothetical mayor in another.

Schaaf, who allowed Hub Strategy to take over her office for the entire day, said, “I could not be more thrilled with the new motto ‘Rooted in Oakland.’

“I love the new spirit and energy that we’re seeing from the A’s. … It’s very meaningful to me as an Oakland girl that this team is recommitting to this city and doing it with a sense of humor that I think is very Oakland-ish.”

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sslusser@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susanslusser