Bud Light / NFL
NFL Football isn’t a “pastime.” It’s a passion. We live it; breathe it; pass it on to our kids, tattoo our bodies, paint our faces, redecorate our homes, and dress up in ways we would never do for anything—or anyone—else.
Why...? Because we love it. We love NFL Football and we’re not ashamed to admit it. We love it so much that we are willing to put on a dress and a pig snout so that the entire nation can see us. We are not only willing but eager to stand naked from the waste up with a group of fat guys all painted to proclaim our love for one particular team. We are stupid crazy in love and in some cases nothing short of actually living the experience will satisfy our incurable, fevered, passion.
That level of shameless, idiotic, and unapologetic enthusiasm for NFL Football is at the heart of these two campaigns. Bud Light obviously understands it, and we want to capture this zeal and ridiculousness with film, casting, and performances that speak to the true fan.
So, Here We Go...
Live The Experience
Our goal for this campaign is to go for the jugular with the comedy. We want to push the physicality of it, the brutality of the hits, and even the unabashed stupidity of just how far someone will go in an attempt to get the real experience of NFL Football. That’s where the fun of the stories is to be found. Our guys try. They have dreams of glory. But inevitably, they fail -- which gives us the opportunity of seeing a bit of ourselves in the story, while still enjoying the luxury of watching someone else suffer the consequences.
Over The Middle
No one in their right mind would actually want to go over the middle, leave their feet and become completely vulnerable to the hit of a defensive back. And that’s the point. There’s something about NFL Football that causes us to ignore our “right mind.” We see a receiver go over the middle, leap, pull in a pass -- and get absolutely crushed! And our reaction is, that was awesome! So, naturally, we can’t resist the chance to try it ourselves.
That craziness is part of what makes this spot perfect for delivering a laugh by inflicting some pain on our comic foil. It offers us a quick read. It’s simple to set up, and it pays off with a moment that has classic NFL appeal.
Visually, I feel the best way to convey the story, and the hit, is to shoot the spots with a slightly hand-held look (which is what I did with the Betty White football spot). We don’t go so far that it’s shaky or disorienting. The idea is to just take a slightly looser approach to the photography. The compositions are a little imperfect. The camera has a bit of drift to it. And as a result the scenes take on a sense of it being found and random.
As far as the hit is concerned, we want it to be as violent as possible. We want to evoke a verbal Ohhhhh from the audience when they see it and create something that is worthy of a highlight reel.
After the set up we see the ball snapped. Phil, wearing pillows for pads, goes over the middle, leaps, snags the ball, and gets smashed by these two guys. To push this moment to the limit, I would like to put Phil on wires so that we can see him execute a complete 360 while horizontal to the ground. Obviously we want to let the audience know that the guy wasn’t killed, so following the Promo material, we can come back to a moment in which we see him on his feet. He asks his buddy Bob if he made the catch. Bob tells him no, and Phil coughs up a couple feathers.
Goal Line Dive
This spot is similar in that we get a chance to take advantage of a classic football moment, and can be filmed with the same loose approach to the camera. The defense has its back up against it’s own goal. The offense is threatening. They line up tight. Everyone knows what’s coming. The ball will be snapped, there will be a crush of bodies when the lines collide, the QB hands off the ball, and the running back makes an acrobatic leap over this mass of humanity... What happens next can go either way. He will come down in the end zone -- or be repelled by a brick wall hit from a middle linebacker.
The drama is there. We’ve seen it hundreds of times. We’ve fantasized about being the ball carrier, the linebacker -- or both. When you add these plusses to the fact that the moment pays off with a violent (trash can assisted) hit -- you have a lot to love.
Just as before we want to set the moment up properly, get the voice of reason from the girl, and then see it play out as graphically as possible. The hit itself can be enhanced by putting the guy on a cable so that he can be repelled with a suddenness that fits the impact of getting hit with the trash can.
As we discussed we can also work with some alternate lines at the end to substitute for the hospital remark. This could involve something simple like the guy asking if he made it and his friend telling him, “To the internet, yes. To the end zone. No.” Maybe that could be reinforced with some of the tailgaters watching the video replay of the hit on a smart phone in the background. But these are things that we can continue to discuss and collaborate on as we get further into the project.
Field Goal
The biggest difference between this spot and the other two is the way it pays off. Rather than physical pain, kickers typically suffer emotional scars -- which isn’t as visually interesting.
There’s the possibility of seeing the guy blindsided with a late hit. Maybe the kick is too low and gets blocked by a guy blitzing from the edge. Once the defensive guy has touched the ball, the kicker is fair game. The momentum of the guy rushing takes him right into the kicker. So, in addition to missing the kick, our guy also gets crushed in the bargain. Now the boos and verbal abuse can start, which literally add insult to injury.
As and alternative we can consider inflicting pain on someone else. One of the tailgaters playing defensive line can go up to block the kick. The kick is low -- and the guy gets smashed right in the face with the bal -- which leads to an end tag of our kicker being consoled by the Gramatica brothers, who understand his pain.
LOVE IS / CRAZY THINGS
The message of this campaign is simple. Bud Light loves the same things you do and to express this we are setting out to create a visual love letter from NFL Fans -- to The Game.
Obviously the music is key. It can be an over the top love song or a heroic military anthem. But whatever is decided upon, it has to be big and emotional -- the type of musical track that sends chills down your spine and leaves a tear in the eye. The more emotional it is, the better and funnier it will be when played over the scenes of these very realistic fans showing how they express their love for their particular team.
In the process of filming we will definitely cover off as much dialogue as possible so that we have editorial options. But I think the real magic of the spot will come from the visuals. Just seeing these very authentic looking people all tricked out in their colors, their gear, with their vehicles, etc., has a genuineness that feels perfect for evoking effortless comedy. And I think that genuineness is key. You want to really feel like you are catching glimpses of real people who are sincere in their devotion and love for their team.
Sure, they may look idiotic. But that’s what love does to you. It makes a fool of you, and you know what, you don’t care. Because you’re so in love.
It’s that earnestness and commitment to their feelings that we want to see, which can be enhanced by romancing the moments with the film. This will be achieved by filming the vignettes in perfect light -- which is actually incredibly appropriate to the moments. We see these people in the early morning preparing for the game. The light has the soft flattering glow. The same will hold true for late afternoon, when they are preparing for a night game.
We might see a guy walking out of his house. Backlighting gives him that halo effect. Filmed from a low angle pushes the emotion by giving him a heroic presence. We can even shoot slow motion to romance this scene (or others) even more.
In another vignette we see a guy painting his face. Sun flares just behind his bald head, giving the moment a hint of emotion. Perhaps the Redskin Hog can be caught in a moment of slow motion turning in front of a mirror to see his new dress swirl out around him.
In both of the spots, the romanticized scenes will be supported by dialogue moments that are delivered in as sincere a way as possible. When they are expressing their love or talking about the crazy things they will do to get closer to their teams, we want to make sure that they are completely earnest. They are crazy. They know it. And they don’t care. Because this is their chance to express just how passionate they are about the NFL Team they love.
Finally...
These are some of my early thoughts. All the spots are great, and in order to capture the comedy that’s intrinsic to the stories we simply need to hit the notes that that will best deliver the comedy.
In some cases that means dialing up the violence of a bone-crushing hit. In other’s that means cranking up the emotions so that we can see people getting a little misty about their favorite team. Whatever the case might be, what matters most is that we always stay true to the idiosyncratic insanity of the NFL Fan. They are loyal, they are passionate, and if there’s one thing they all can agree on it would probably be the choice of Bud Light.