Okay, professional hockey is violent and full of personal hygiene taboos—but that’s part of the game’s charm. Tapping into that charm for the Washington Capitals hockey team is Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos, Boston, with "Romantic Dinner," helmed by feature director David Veloz (Permanent Midnight) via bicoastal RSA Independent.
The :30 opens on a couple seated at a table in a posh restaurant. The man asks the woman, "You believe it’s been five years already?"
"It’s been good," she replies.
"It’s been great," he counters. "Here’s to us."
As he pours some more wine into her glass, the couple says in unison, "Happy anniversary."
They click their wine glasses in celebration. But the man, who is Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig, doesn’t drink from his glass. Instead, he takes a slug from the wine bottle and spits the vino out onto the restaurant floor. He then deploys the wine bottle as if it were a water bottle perched atop a hockey goal net. He turns the bottle upside down and douses his face with wine. He shakes his head quickly, spraying the wine about—a goalie mannerism often used to clear the cobwebs during a break on the ice.
The spot then cuts to hockey game footage of Kolzig in action; the announcer observes that the goalie’s "been hot tonight." The ad is tagged with the Capitals insignia, under which reads: "Capitals. Always Intense."
Veloz and feature filmmaker Doug Liman (Swingers, Go) of RSA Independent directed different ads in the seven-spot campaign for the Capitals. RSA Independent was officially launched earlier this year (SHOOT, 1/21, p. 1) as a shop specializing in garnering spots for select feature filmmakers.
Veloz helmed three other Capitals commercials, including "Paper Boy," in which Kolzig tends goal at the front door of his house, deflecting newspapers being thrown by a delivery boy. Meanwhile, Liman directed a trio of Capitals spots: "Bedroom," in which it’s clear that a hockey player has scored with the opposite sex when a flashing red light and accompanying horn go off in front of a bedroom door; "Restroom," in which five guys standing in front of a latrine quickly have to make way for another quintet as Capitals coach Ron Wilson calls for a line switch (which he times with a stopwatch); and "Face-off," in which two hockey players seated at a restaurant table treat every item set before them as if it were a puck, knocking glasses of water, condiments, bread rolls and an entrée onto the floor in face-off fashion.
The Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopulos team on "Romantic Dinner" included chief creative officers Fred Bertino and John Doig, creative directors Marty Donohue and Tim Foley, art director Eric Peterson, copywriter Paul Schauder and senior producer Tom Foley.
Susanne Preissler executive produced, while Allan Wachs served as the producer on "Romantic Dinner" for RSA Independent. DP was Rolf Kestermann.
"Romantic Dinner" was edited by Sam Welch of Homestead Editorial, New York. Welch also earned a sound design credit. Additionally, Homestead’s Paul Fernandez and Lance Doty served as online editor and executive producer, respectively. Colorist was Tim Masick of Moving Images, New York.
Audio mixer on "Romantic Dinner" was Chris Drozdowski of Photomagnetic Sound Studios, New York. Stock music was provided by National Sound, New York.
Vinnie Ray Fugere of Vinnie Ray Design, New York, designed the end graphics piece that incorporated the Capitals logo.
