While it’s debatable as to whether or not money changes the inner person, sudden wealth does certainly change one’s outer trappings, with rare exceptions. One such exception is the punch line to "My New Life," a French-language :30 directed by filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Snatch; Swept Away; Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) for Renault automobiles, out of WAM Publicis, Paris.
To the beat of Tom Jones’ rendition of "It’s Not Unusual," we see a man triumphantly holding a giant-sized lottery-winning check for 15 million Euro. The rest of the spot is a before-and-after tale, first showing us the guy’s lifestyle prior to his becoming rich beyond his wildest dreams—and then giving us an eyeful of the aftermath.
A French subtitle identifies a modest looking home in a drab neighborhood as his old house. Then we see its successor—his nouveaux maison (new house), a palatial mansion with a moat on acreage that seemingly stretches for miles.
The transformation continues. A frumpy girlfriend is replaced by a bikini-clad, long-legged knockout who’s chatting poolside on her cell phone.
Even man’s best friend isn’t immune from the impact of instant wealth. The nouveaux dog, a purebred Afghan, has supplanted a mangy mutt.
Similarly, an unkempt laundry room with clothes strewn about is succeeded by a wardrobe closet large enough to serve as a luxury apartment. Also dramatically altered is the man’s hobby, which transforms from piecing together jigsaw puzzles to speedboat racing.
Friendship also takes a beating. A small group of unexciting friends gives way to an entourage of hip young people who party at a villa as exploding fireworks fill the sky.
Finally, we come to the man’s automobile—which was a Renault Clio before he became the lotto champ. The spot then reveals his nouveaux mode of transportation—the same Renault. The spot ends on Renault’s logo.
This Ritchie-helmed job was produced by Cielo Films, Santa Monica, and CAN/Premiere Heure, St. Cloud, France. For Cielo, Joanna Bongiovanni was executive producer, Patricia Friedman was producer, and Fran Wall served as head of production. For CAN/Premiere Heure, Patrice Haddad and Christophe Nader served as executive producer and producer, respectively. The DP was Chris Soos.
The WAM Publicis team consisted of creative director Herve Plumet, art director Georges Mohammed, copywriter Estelle Pinet and producer Bertrand Ayache.
"My New Life" was cut by David Frame of Razor Edits, Santa Monica. Woody Pobiega executive produced for Razor Edits. Freelancer Cyril Nakache handled the online edit via Premiere Heure. Colorist was Stephane Desnoues of GLpipa, Levallois Perret, France. Audio mixer/ sound designer was Emmanuel Rambaldi of WAM Publicis.
Director Ritchie is, of course, no stranger to the ad arena. He helmed one of the shorts in the groundbreaking "The Hire" series of Web-based short films for BMW out of Fallon, Minneapolis. The short, Star, starred his wife, Madonna, and was produced by bicoastal Anonymous Content. Star debuted in 2001, and went on to garner assorted honors, including recognition at the ’02 Association of Independent Commercial Producers Show.
