Beef, chicken or panda?
Clearly the latter choice of entrée isn’t part of your typical menu. But if a disgruntled husband had his way, it would be the special of the day.
This offbeat spot airing in the U.K. for Unilever Best Foods’ Knorr Beef Tonight introduces us to a family that has adopted a panda. The problem is that the husband thought that the “adoption” would only entail donating some money to a politically correct, wildlife-minded charity in China. Instead, the adoption turned out to be literal as the family now has a new member–a panda bear. Actually, it’s a talkative guy in a panda bear suit who clearly rubs the hubby the wrong way.
However, his wife seems to like the newest addition to the family, catering to the bear’s whims. The bear also likes the woman, in large part because of the great dinners she serves using Knorr products, including Beef Tonight, which livens up a beef dish. She informs the panda that he can look forward to Knorr Chicken Tonight for an upcoming dinner, at which point the husband chimes in that with any luck, they’ll soon be eating Knorr Panda Tonight.
The wife is mortified, rushing to the panda’s defense and trying to soothe his feelings. The talking bear gives the husband a tongue-in-cheek scolding for picking on an endangered species.
“Adopted” was directed by Steve Burrows of Backyard, Venice, Calif., for DDB London. Burrows is repped in the U.K. by Mustard Film Company, London. Backyard and Mustard co-produced the job, with John Doris serving as executive producer, Sean Hobbs as U.S. producer, Doochy Moult as U.K. producer and Lisa Lake as production manager. The spot was shot by DP Clive Tickner.
The DDB London team consisted of art director Shish Patel, copywriter Sam Oliver and producer Lucy Westmore.
Editor was Ian Weil at The Firm, London. Colorist was Matt Turner of Framestore, London. Audio engineer was Pete Leggett of Clearcut Sound, London.
