To quote fictional architect Howard Roark, the strapping, yet cerebral hero of Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel The Fountainhead: "No building can be reasonable or beautiful unless it is made by one central idea, and the idea sets every detail. A good building is alive, like a man."
Much the same can be said for advertising. A good spot turns on a single defining concept—a focused, streamlined premise. Certainly this is the case with BBDO New York’s new :30 for Pepsi Twist: "Britney Sighting," directed by Bryan Buckley of bicoastal/international hungry man.
The spot’s underlying foundation—its "prime mover," if you will—is this: an Austin Powers karate chop applied directly to the lovely young kisser of Ms. Spears, pop star par excellence. Truthfully, the ad might well have been titled, "Hit Me, Baby, One More Time … in the Face!" Apologies to Mr. Roark, but a commercial is also alive, like a man. Like a man, baby!
"Britney Sighting" opens on a swank-looking cocktail, er, soft drink party, where we immediately catch sight of the redoubtable secret agent Austin Powers, who is carrying on and cutting up with two model-types clad in black-sequined gowns. A waiter approaches the group and conspiratorially interjects, "Look Mr. Powers. There’s Britney Spears drinking a Pepsi!"
We cut to Spears, as she strolls into the room with her all-male entourage, each of whom looks to have been christened with a name like Zach, Heath, Slater, or the like. "Oops, I did it again!" titters the pop star, her midriff exposed by the lime-green gauzy halter number she’s wearing.
Her bevy of admirers launches into hysterical laughter upon hearing this, but their joy is short lived. Before the chuckles can really get started, Spears shoots her hand into the air and silence falls on the entourage. She lifts her Pepsi to her lips and drinks—fully and deeply. But as she finishes her drink, Austin Powers shouts, "That’s not a Pepsi! It’s Pepsi Twist, Man!" Meanwhile Powers has grabbed Spears’ can and miraculously "unzipped" the thing to reveal its true Pepsi Twist identity.
"And that’s not Britney Spears," Powers continues, as he delivers the money shot to Spears’ mug, "It’s a man, baby!"
The force of the Powers karate chop sends Spears flying backwards. She falls into a table, shatters it, and lands, dazed, squarely on her much-photographed behind.
"Austin, it’s me!" squeaks the singer, stunned and hurt. But Powers has already moved in for his famous unmasking technique, grabbing a handful of Spears’ blonde coiffure and pulling with all his secret agent’s strength.
"Why-Won’t-This-Wig Come-Off?" bellows Powers, as he tugs in vain. Just then Spears manages to collect her strength and deliver Powers a powerful reverse scissor kick, knocking him silly in the process.
"Fair enough," murmurs a deflated Powers as he’s about to hit the deck. He now sounds more like a depressed Mike Myers than a globe-hopping British agent.
We cut to a last unzipping shot of Pepsi cans morphing into Pepsi Twist containers, while a voiceover intones, "Pepsi Twist and diet Pepsi Twist. A twist on a great thing … baby."
Yes, the pungent odor of pop-culture success wafts through this spot like a catchy hook across the Billboard Top 40 chart. The star of the upcoming film Goldmember (the third installment in the Austin Powers series) has joined forces with the Pepsi spokeswoman and her Midas touch. And "Britney Sighting" is itself a follow-up to the popularly received Pepsi Twist launch spot "Disguise," featuring spokeschild Halle Eisenberg unzipping into actress Halle Berry—who then unzips into Spin City actor Barry Bostwick.
"We had a great deal of likeability and recognition built up from the response to [Pepsi Twist’s ‘Disguise’], remarked BBDO executive creative director Jimmy Siegel, "so for the follow-up, Pepsi decided to get Mike Myers involved to promote his new film. And as it turned out, Pepsi’s spokeswoman [Spears] was also available."
"[Associate creative director/copywriter] Jordan Allen and [associate creative director/art director] Susan Levine ended up kicking around a lot of ideas." continued Siegel, "but we thought if we could do a spot where someone punches Britney Spears in the face, then people would like it."
Fortunately, Spears was amenable to getting knocked around by the super-spy. This is what attracted director Buckley to the project. "The minute the board came across, it was something you felt you had to do," revealed Buckley. "The fact that Britney was willing to make fun of herself was a bold step … and it seemed like Mike couldn’t wait to take her on."
Buckley remarked that, as expected, he and DP Russell Carpenter ended up shooting the celebrities on a strict time schedule. ‘We really had to map the shots out specifically," he reported, "literally down to the type of lens and the speed of the Technocrane."
"We had a stunt double in place for [Spears]," Buckley continued, but it seemed the shot of her falling through the coffee table was going to be so much better if we could actually get her to do the stunt herself instead of using the double."
To convince Spears and her manager of the relative safety of crashing through a stunt-rigged coffee table, Buckley took matters into his own hands: He performed the stunt himself—just to prove it was perfectly safe. "It’s always best to demo," Buckley offered. "If you’re willing to go down, the talent will always be more willing to take a hit."
For anyone still wondering why Buckley bestrides the A-list of commercial directors like a helming colossus, consider this gem: "She [Spears] watched me do it, and she ended up being like, ‘OK, cool. I’ll do it.’ " Buckley laughed, "I must have really hidden the pain well."
Spears ended up nailing the scene in two takes. "That was the key to the spot," Buckley said. "I knew if I could get Myers chopping her—plus the fall—then everything else would fall into place."
And Spears wasn’t the only brave soul on the set that day. Myers risked the singer’s spiky boot heels when he was shot getting scissor-kicked. "If Britney had connected, Mike would have been out of commission for quite a while," Buckley noted.
Buckley generously praised Myer’s professionalism. "Mike was so concerned about the character, and he was involved every step of the way. … I was thankful for that," Buckley remarked, "His performance was completely the opposite of ‘mailed in.’ "
"This spot used extremely broad humor—broader than anything I usually do. And it was fun to get away with that, because it’s part of the [Austin Powers] film … and part of the Pepsi Twist campaign," concluded Buckley.
Broad, indeed. "I think the greatest moment on set was when Britney took the fall," exclaimed BBDO’s Levine. "Everyone watching it went wild. Everybody was applauding."
Her copywriter and fellow associate creative director, Jordan Arnold, agreed: "It’s always impressive to see a pop star take a shot in the face and then crash through a coffee table," he concluded.
