Directed by The Perlorian Brothers via Canadian production company Merchant, this 45-second spot for Kicking Horse Coffee from agency Lifelong Crush opens on a donkey looking wistfully at the sun-splashed horses trotting past the humble barn where he spends his days.
His routine is dull and unvarying–until he spots a cobweb-covered motorcycle in the back of the barn. The sound of a revving engine signals the start of the music. At the same time, the song’s breakneck opening accompanies a color-splashed visual of the donkey barreling out of the barn, riding the motorcycle, and doing a donut before going full-throttle into the surrounding valley and onwards to the rest of the world.
The energetic and heartwarming spot captures the exhilaration that a good cup of coffee can provide and serves as an urgent reminder not to let life pass you by. In other words, be that donkey.
Titled “Kickstart Your Heart,” the commercial is being shown on TV and online across Canada and the U.S.
CreditsClient Kicking Horse Coffee Agency Lifelong Crush Christina Yu, creative director. Production Company Merchant The Perlorian Brothers, director; Natasha Braier, DP; Farrah Khaled, Ian Webb, Haley Taylor, exec producers; Andrew Sulliman, line producer. Editorial School Editing Ben Canny, editor; Yumi Suyama, exec producer; David Ngandu, assistant editor. CGI/VFX FABLEfx Kaj Steveman, VFX producer; Ulf Lundgren, VFX supervisor; Nils Lagergren, James Prosser, exec producers; Izmil Idris, production manager; Navaneeth Krishna, Wasim Ali, compositing; Vittoria Marini, Anurag Deshmukh, lighting; Mario Reitbauer, CFX; Dipti Patial, sr. creative rigger; Daniel Fotheringham, character animation director & character animator; Anton Blake, character animator; Aritz Basauri, character build & design; Johan Leuf, motorcycle prop build; Chawalit Jirattikansakul/DA, matchmove; Saurabh Gupta, head of pipeline; Alexander Bulygin, Solomon Ungom, pipeline TD; S.M. Shoaib, cloud/system administrator; Alexandra Berge, consultant relations. Color Grade Alter Ego Wade Odlum, colorist; Hilda Pereira, Jane Garrah, exec producers. VFX & Online Rodeo VFX Connie Dercho, exec producer; Laurent Taillefer, Igor Boros, VFX supervisors; Chloe Vankoughnett, post producer; Cesar Mion, Camille Potvin, Anne Georges, Flame artists; Jeremy Lewis, Flame assistant; Frederic St-Arnaud, matte painter. Audio House Eggplant Picture + Sound Nicola Treadgold, exec producer; Adam Damelin, producer/music supervisor; Nathan Handy, chief audio engineer.
Zulu Alpha Kilo Shows How Donations To UHN Foundation Reverberate In Healthcare, Impacting People’s Lives
University Health Network (UHN), a leading publicly funded hospital, maintains the UHN Foundation which raises funds for Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto Rehab and The Michener Institute of Education.
In partnership with creative agency Zulu Alpha Kilo, the UHNITED platform was launched in January 2024 to spotlight the world-renowned institutions and people working together under the UHN umbrella to achieve never-been-done advancements in healthcare. Phase two of the campaign continues to showcase UHN’s global impact and emphasizes the crucial role of donations in supporting this work.
Directed by Brent Foster and produced via production house BOLDLY, this spot features real UHN employees, donors, and some of the patients whose lives were positively impacted at UHN. These inspiring and life-changing moments trigger literal impact waves that spread across the hospital, the city, and beyond--a metaphor for UHN’s impact on healthcare around the world. The deeper story behind each scene can be read online.
“UHN is always redefining the status quo of healthcare, but it all starts with donations. This campaign aims to show donors that it takes a city to change to the world,” said Brian Murray, chief creative officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo.
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