Grey Poupon’s famous “Pardon Me” TV commercial returned in a contemporary rendition on the Academy Awards telecast last month after a 16-year hiatus. The new ad began the same way as the original–a snooty English gent is being chauffeured in the countryside when another car pulls alongside at a stop. The back window rolls down and the second man asks in an over-the-top, looking-down-his-nose accent, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?”
The first man courteously responds, “But of course” and hands him a jar out the window. In the new version, however, the scene continues with the second car speeding off without returning the mustard. A wild car chase through a golf course and city streets ensues, complete with explosions to make the spot look like a trailer for an action adventure movie.
The :30 then serves as a teaser of sorts, driving traffic to the web (www.greypouponchase.com) to see a two-minute version of the chase and what happens next .
Directed by Bryan Buckley of Hungry Man for Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the spot and online piece were spurred on by a creatively inspired score–with music from JSM and sound design out of Machine Head. Sound designer Stephen Dewey of Machine Head noted that the project “required that I put my feature film chops to use in making the sound design. That meant lots of details, lots of layers, even if some of them are working subliminally, all woven into the dialog and music mix. They all are designed to subtly signal story points, be it the impatient horn honking, or the smoothness of the ‘ well groomed man’s ‘ Rolls. The sounds I chose and the way they are used is a nod to old school soundtracks, echoing the overall retro sensibility of the film. Lastly, I couldn’t resist working in the ” Wilhelm Scream ” which attracted a sizable amount of online comment. The whole experience was utterly gratifying.”
Joel Simon, executive producer/composer at JSM, related, “Given how ambitious this unique project was coupled with the creative sonic wish list and creative vision from CP+B, we naturally held nothing back in our compositional, orchestrational and production approaches. All involved needed to make a huge impression on the launch of the : 30 trailer on the Academy Awards, and then to push it even further for the two-minute online film.”
SOMETHING’S FISHY Sonixphere served up the infectious “Fishy Fishy” song heralding the launch of the new Fish McBites campaign for McDonald’s. The launch is a multi-platform campaign featuring different story lines, cool apps for kids, social media arms and contests.
Sonixphere worked alongside agency partners Burrell, DDB, Leo Burnett, and IW Group, Inc, on the integrated campaign. Greg Allan, CEO and creative director at Sonixphere, said, “We were onboard with the creative teams to create a quirky, funk track that is both fun and memorable. We had a blast composing the ‘Fishy Fishy’ song and the feedback we’ve been getting is that they can’t get it out of their heads, so I guess it’s a success.”
EAGLE HAS LANDED Eagles hit songwriter Jack Tempchin has signed with Visual Music for all media, including commercials and branded content, the shop headed by creative director/executive producer Tom Seufert. Tempchin has had five songs recorded by the band, including “Already Gone” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” which landed on the “The Eagles, Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975.”
Currently, Showtime is screening “The History of the Eagles,” which includes interviews with Tempchin and commentary on his contributions to the Eagles by Glenn Frey and Don Henley.
Tempchin has also co-written a dozen hits with Glenn Frey for Frey’s solo career, including ‘Smuggler’s Blues’ and ‘You Belong To The City’ for the original ‘Miami Vice’ TV show and the theme song for “Thelma and Louise.” His popular songs have been performed and/or recorded by such artists as George Jones, Trisha Yearwood, Johnny Rivers, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt. Tempchin has also had his songs sampled by multi-platinum rappers Coolio and Jay-Z.
Tempchin first met Visual Music’s Seufert in the 1980s during a session at Seufert’s recording facility, Redwing Studios. They co-wrote four songs and in 2002, Frey contributed additional lyrics and music to the song “Blue Flame.” Tempchin recorded and released it on his own CD later that year.
Tempchin joins a roster at Visual Music which includes John Swihart (Napoleon Dynamite), Bear McCreary (The Walking Dead), Herwig Maurer (Academy Award nominated sound designer) and a select group of composers, songwriters, DJs and indie bands.
ELIAS, THE ORCHARD TEAM ON INDIE SHOWCASE Elias Arts teamed up with independent music and video distribution company The Orchard and industry faves, Frenchkiss Label Group, distributed by The Orchard, to deliver an indie music reprieve from the NYC winter on their February 28th “NYC Music Showcase.” The live music event featured performances by New York indie rockers The Virgins, Kickstarter-funded rapper F. Stokes, indie rocker Har Mar Superstar and audio-visual remix act Eclectic Method. The event also included a DJ appearance by Elias Arts’ own creative director and composer, David Wittman.
The event was part of a continuing series of Elias Arts events produced in partnership with various industry collaborators including record labels, music distribution companies, agencies and production companies. Elias Arts exec producer Kala Sherman connected with Rob Schustack of The Orchard through music licensing for numerous recent projects and the teams soon got to work on delivering their musical fusion to a more local, live audience. Sherman noted, “It’s great to be able to showcase and highlight both new and established artists that our collaborators are working with.”
