The JWT/Paris campaign for Nestlé’s Kit Kat, which will eventually send two lucky contest winners on a trip to outer space, began with an animated 3D viral video ad that suggests the ultimate prize after a frazzled employee eats a Kit Kat bar and rides an elevator to the top of his building, which provides an inspirational glimpse to the edge of the universe.
Ultimate Break Quest, the two minute fifty second video playing at www.kitkat.fr, YouTube and Daily Motion, which was produced by Akama Studio/Paris, repped by Wanda Productions/Paris, is the backbone of a campaign that introduces a new version of the familiar candy bar. “2008 may be the year of many things, one of them being the release of a new Nestlé’s Kit Kat bar,” said Stéphane Billard, the associate director at JWT/Paris. “It’s the first change of recipe since it was introduced in 1972.”
The agency introduces the new candy bar by focusing on the concept of a break. “Everyone has in mind a personal break, so we let them think about the ultimate break,” Billard said. “The spot is an invitation for them to take a break.”
The main character in the video, a young man hard at work at his desk, staring into his overwrought computer, decides to take a break. He walks down a hallway, past an array of interesting co-workers, from a pair of idealistic twins to a blonde bombshell who bends over as he walks by, until he reaches a Kit Kat vending machine. His eyes light up after he takes a bite and suddenly he is on an elevator riding to the top, where he is blinded by the light as the doors open. He smiles idealistically as the spot concludes.
The humor comes from the bizarre characters, the office worker having an oversized head and bulging eyes, who proceeds through the office with a forlorn look. “The hero should be fragile, stressed, but friendly,” said Alexandre Ada, Akama Studio’s art director. “Big eyes deliver more emotions.”
“All the animation was hand made, we didn’t use motion capture because we wanted to design a very specific style for the film and give more character to the acting,” he said. The hand drawn animations were rendered into film using Maya, Max, After Effects and Zbrush.
The film is the first phase of a campaign that will also run on TV with a shorter version and radio. Visitors to the site are invited to produce their own ultimate break videos. The producer of the best one, as well as the winner of an instant game on Kit Kat packaging, will win a trip to outer space, which will be provided by Rocketplane, an American company that flies an aerospace vehicle into space that reaches an altitude of 330,000 feet (60 miles).
The film began playing online Jan. 24. The TV campaign launches Feb. 15.
There seems to be two messages to the Ultimate Break Quest campaign. “Everyone can recognize the main character, we all know that kind of job is stressful and we know he needs a break, so we empathize with him,” Billard said. The second message is the idea of space travel, which the character’s journey provides. “The ultimate break links with space travel, it’s a good way of capturing people,” he said.
Supreme Court Allows Multibillion-Dollar Class Action Lawsuit To Proceed Against Meta
The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors' lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place.
The high court dismissed the company's appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward.
Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users' personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump 's first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016.
Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company's shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. "The plaintiff's claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court," Stone said in an emailed statement.
Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users.
Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon. It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign.
The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia.... Read More