Wunderful Stuff
When you think of a Müller advert, what comes to mind? Until recently, I thought: pretty woman in frilly garb, perched on swing in idyllic setting, polishing off insect-sized mouthfulls of Müller product, to a bland voice over by the likes of Joanna Lumley. I also thought borrrring.
But not anymore! Since the release of a breath-taking new 90 second TV spot, which is receiving prime ITV airtime between segments of super-show X-Factor, as well as headlining Youtube’s homepage, my mental associations with the Müller brand have been flipped on their head. Now, words like, “awesome”, “hi-tech”, “quirky” and “fantastical” come to mind. And of course the word “Wünderful” has now been seared into my visual cortex.
The ad is part of a £20 million campaign launched a few days ago by the yogurt brand to revamp their image. It is the creative vision of Director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet (Partizan Lab) who has been brought to the table by marketing heavyweights TBWALondon. In a bid which plays on the concept of stirring something wonderful (chocolate banana flakes, fruity compote, or toffee bits) into something typical (plain yogurt), the mini-short depicts dull and dreary Britain – filled with the markedly glum faces of suited commuters- as it is injected, nay invaded, by transforming, traffic-warden munching robots, KITT from Knightrider, an array of our favourite brightly coloured cartoon characters, including the Mister Men, Yogi Bear, Muttley from Wacky Races, as well as some more characters I don’t think I’ve ever seen seen before.
What astounded me was the unrivalled production quality of the spot; the way the fantasy 2D world – courtesy of real hand drawn cell techniques – interweaves so effortlessly with the complex variety of real-world shots taken from high and low, near and far. Further to this, there has been some excellent 3D modelling and CGI animation done by VFX afficionados The Mill.
I believe the epic spot will resonate with people of many generations. I hope it goes as viral as it deserves.
Wünderful Stuff credits:
Agency TBWALondon
Executive creative director Andre Laurentino
Creative directors Mike Nicholson and Paul Pateman
Agency producer Jason Ayers
Production company Partizan Lab
Director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet
DoP Glynn Speekaert
Animation director Mustashrik Mahbub
Production company producers David Stewart, Isabella Paris, Henry Schofield
Editor Bill Smedly @ Work Post
Post production The Mill
excellent! healthy dose of good energy around a "healthy" food item that is hinged not on looks and diet but on plain fun. loving it!
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