An average guy named Darren is initiated into a league of superheroes after dazzling the group with his amazing special power in a new spot for Heineken titled “Powers” (:45). So what exactly can Darren do? Well, Darren doesn’t have superhuman strength, and he can’t fly. But as Darren demonstrates in “Powers,” he can turn his shoe into a bottle of Heineken beer, and that’s enough to earn the admiration of the other superheroes and gain him entry into their exclusive underground world.
The work of Publicis, New York, and director Dante Ariola of bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ), with special effects courtesy of The Mill, London, “Powers” is an impressively filmic commercial with a darkly futuristic edge. In fact, the spot’s high production values–complemented by theatrical-quality music and sound design created by stimmung, Santa Monica–rival that of any summer blockbuster, so it is no surprise that the television commercial will indeed make its way into theaters in the coming months.
As for the thinking behind “Powers,” Publicis senior VP/creative director/copywriter Ken Ratcliffe said that he aimed to create a scenario that would honor the established Heineken tagline “It’s all about the beer” and capture the attention of consumers. So when the idea of a man being anointed a superhero for this unusual skill popped into his head, Ratcliffe ran with it.
According to Ratcliffe, he and partner Ted Royer, senior VP/creative director/art director, had a fun time creating a team of superheroes from scratch. As you can see in the spot, the superheroes include a muscle-bound man with super strength, a girl who can fly and a guy who can shoot flames out of his hands.
ARIOLA PLAYS HERO
For his part, Ariola, who also recently directed another Heineken spot called “Disturbance,” said he was interested in “Powers” because of the production design and costuming challenges it presented. The agency did not want the characters or scenery to have a comic-book look that might appeal to children given that the spot promotes an alcoholic beverage, so Ariola ventured off into a darker, more adult direction.
Interestingly, Ariola took his inspiration for the look of the main hall/conference area where the superheroes meet not from a sci-fi film but from a sewer. “A friend actually gave me a link to [an Internet site with pictures] of this Japanese sewer they just built. It sounds strange, but it is actually very futuristic, and they took pictures of it before they flooded it with water,” Ariola explained. “So [the superheroes’ conference room] is actually based on one of the giant pumping stations in Tokyo.”
Once the set was built and the costumes were fabricated, “Powers” was shot on stage by Ariola and DP Darius Khondji at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles. Chris Knight, visual effects supervisor/lead Flame artist from The Mill, was on hand to lend his expertise.
The crew from The Mill was called upon to–among other things–generate animated flames in Maya that were tracked onto the hands of one of the superheroes and use the Flame to create an angelic light behind the flying woman.
Additionally, Knight developed an effect–sort of a fluid, inky transition–that was applied to the superhero who had the ability to magically disappear only to instantly appear in another location.
Working together, Ariola and The Mill did a great job of ensuring that any effects used in “Powers” were subtle, Ratcliffe remarked, noting, “It would have been easy to go over the top because it is a superhero spot.”
Ratcliffe also commended editor Andrea MacArthur, who is with Peepshow, London, and cut “Powers” at Cosmo Street Editorial, New York, for nailing the pacing of the spot right out of the gate. “She did a first cut, then she and Dante got on the same page, then they showed it to us,” Ratcliffe shared, “and Andrea was so dead-on that there was very little we had to do.”
If one person could be singled out as the unsung superhero of the project, it is Publicis senior VP/director of broadcast production/producer Sally-Ann Dale, Ratcliffe said. “We were surrounded by all of these talented people, and you’re like, ‘That was easy.’ But a lot of it was because Sally got everybody together,” Ratcliffe praised. “After the shoot, I remember Dante came up to me and said, ‘Your producer’s awesome.’ You don’t hear that often. But she really makes it look easy, and you don’t realize all of the work she’s done until everything is over.”
Meanwhile, in this day and age of branded entertainment, one has to wonder if Heineken has any interest in building on the entertaining concept born in “Powers” and perhaps producing a longer-form project. While Ratcliffe can’t answer for the client, he certainly sees potential for more. “When I was on the set, I thought, I could easily turn this into a movie with Heineken as the star,” Ratcliffe shared. “It’s definitely something I thought of and definitely something I would love to pursue.”