A ship cruising to a stop at the orchestra pit of a concert hall seems like a scene that could have fit nicely into the classic comedy A Night At The Opera. But instead of Marx Brothers-like mayhem, this spot scenario plays out in an understated fashion, which paradoxically adds to the impact and good humor of the message.
In the commercial, which is titled “Opera,” a smattering of elegantly dressed patrons awaits the start of the evening program. There are still many empty seats, leading us to wonder for a fleeting moment why there’s such a sparse turnout.
Suddenly the ship enters the picture, sans any body of water. While the sight is stunningly abrupt to us, the people already seated at the venue seem unperturbed.
It turns out the ship has some precious cargo–namely more opera-goers, each decked out in his or her best primetime attire. They stream off the ship to find their seats. Their behavior suggests this is nothing out of the ordinary. As the orchestra warms up, a super appears on screen. It simply reads, “The Right Way Around. ZVV. We Transport You.”
ZVV (Zuicher Verkehrs Verband) is the Zurich Transit Authority. And “Opera” is one of three spots in a ZVV campaign directed by Marc Scholermann via Markenfild Schweiz GmbH, Zurich, for agency Publicis, Zurich. (Scholermann, who’s based in Germany, is represented stateside by Uber Content, a Hollywood-based house launched in January by executive producers Phyllis Koenig and Preston Lee.)
The other ZVV commercials are “Ice Rink” and “Crossing.” The latter starts out with a young girl riding her bicycle through a misty European countryside. It’s almost like a Euro version of a Norman Rockwell painting. As she passes through, a foghorn sounds. We then see a touring ship, replete with passengers, smoothly navigating along a country roadside. A super reads, “One ticket for bus, boat, tram and train. ZVV.”
And in “Ice Rink,” spectators are milling around the outside of a near empty rink when a train pulls across center ice, dropping off a throng of passengers. Indeed this train is a far cry from a Zamboni. As fans detrain, a message appears on screen: “The Right Way Around. ZVV. We Transport You.”
The creative team at Publicis included creative director J.E. Aebi, copywriter Lori Fischer and producer Ines Rimmele.
Scholermann’s support team at Markenfilm included executive producer Heinrich Reinacher and producer Harald Beelte. The DP was Holger Diener who shot the campaign on location in Zurich.
Editor was Soren Gorth of MF Video, Hamburg. Online editor was MF Video’s Ingo Behrend. Colorist was Paul Breuer of Optix Digital Pictures, Hamburg.
Visual effects compositors were Jorn Radel and Sebastian Hofmann of Animationsfabrik, Hamburg.
Audio post mixers/arrangers/sound designers were Ralf Gotzenberger, Hannes Honemann and Mikis Meyer of MF Video.
The three :30s are without dialogue, all set to original 18th century classical music by Franz Schubert.