Two guys seated in a restaurant booth fervently discussing some triviality hardly rates as an attention getter. However, this slice of life as it unfolds in a spec viral spot steadily builds to show there are just some things you can’t compromise on, translating into a clever, charmingly disarming pitch for “The Real Thing,” a.k.a. Coca-Cola.
At first our male protagonists are discussing Lewis & Clark, which one guy initially mistakes for the Superman TV series Lois & Clark. Once he’s corrected, they both begin to wonder why the pioneering explorers don’t have their own coin. Obviously this is a serious oversight on the part of the U.S. government. After all, note the guys, Pocahontas is on a coin. And if she ranks, certainly Lewis & Clark should as well.
The off-camera waiter then comes to ask if the gentlemen would like something to drink, giving us a brief reprieve from this silly debate. Both guys order Coca-Cola.
The waiter nonchalantly asks, “Is Pepsi okay?”
This raises an issue even more heartfelt than that of the merits of Lewis & Clark on American coinage or currency. “No,” affirm both guys about a Pepsi substitute. Clearly, their lunch is ruined and they’re not going to take this lying down.
One of them asks if the waiter will accept buttons and trinkets instead of cash as payment. The other relates that the Pepsi query is tantamount to asking a customer ordering meatloaf if fried shrimp would be okay instead.
It wouldn’t be says his buddy, noting that he has a shellfish allergy. “Want a lawsuit?”
The waiter then says he’ll get the manager, leaving the guys to continue to discuss how they’ve been wronged. One of the men equates it to a bait-and-switch ploy, only to be put on the defensive on another front by his pal.
“Why did you pick this place?”
The reply is that he assumed every place has Coca-Cola. What eatery wouldn’t have Coke?
The restaurant, they concur, should have a sign out front that states they don’t have Coke–which in turn would mean that they won’t have any customers. The two friends also agree that they’re not waiting for the manager. They’re getting out of this restaurant ASAP, particularly since they see a Coca-Cola vending machine at a gas station across the way.
The only potential problem is whether or not they have enough change. Indeed they do as one guy says that he has one of those earlier alluded to Pocahontas coins.
Incidentally the two buddies–who we see get up and leave–are named Lewis and Clark.
The spot, aptly titled “Lewis & Clark,” ends with the Coca-Cola logo appearing against the backdrop of the now empty booth.
“Lewis & Clark” was written, directed, shot and edited by Nir Bashan who also handled the audio and performed as the off-camera waiter. The spec viral was executive produced by Patti and David Coulter, partners in BeachHouse Films, Santa Monica.
Virally viable
BeachHouse signed Bashan to its directorial roster last year in large part due to the strength of a spec viral he did on his own, Honda’s “Brand New.”
That original comedic Honda spec piece made its way into SHOOT’s “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery last March, then went on to win a Silver Clio Award and helped Bashan earn inclusion into the 2007 SHOOT New Directors Showcase.
In fact, this is Bashan’s third entry in our “Best Work” gallery in that a follow-up Honda viral he created and helmed, “Hot Date,” scored last May.
Filmography
In ’06 Bashan graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. His filmography includes other spots, three short films–such as The Good Book, which enjoyed success on the festival circuit, and a feature-length documentary titled The Kitchen.
The latter is a behind-the-scenes look at the trials and tribulations of the chefs at work in the noted Santa Monica eatery Michael’s Restaurant. Bashan wrote, produced and directed The Kitchen, which gained exposure on Italy’s equivalent of HGTV and won the best-of-fest feature film honor at the 2006 White Sands International Film Festival in New Mexico.
