A man who has nodded off on the couch gets whacked in the face with a stuffed animal in the opening moments of “Playfight,” a 60-second commercial which cleverly and entertainingly promotes Ikea’s line of bedroom furnishings in the United Kingdom.
It turns out the man’s wife, who would rather her husband join her in bed, is behind the sneak attack, which leads to an exuberant playfight involving everything from pillows to socks.
At one point, the couple dives under the covers, emerging wearing each other clothes. And just when it seems like the playfight is over, they both spot a pillow on the bed. Soon enough, we see it flying out the window.
“Playfight,” directed by Martin Krejci of London’s Stink, is part of a “Happy to Bed”-themed integrated campaign created by advertising agency Mother in London.
“When it comes to bedroom furnishings, most retailers advertise sleep,” Mother London creative director Feh Tardy remarked, noting the goal here was for Ikea to celebrate and own the concept of bedtime and to inspire people to have a little fun before they hit the sack.
“When we were children, the bedroom was our personal space in the home where we could do whatever we wanted and let our imagination run wild,” Tardy mused. “We tend to deviate from that as we get older as very little time is spent in the bedroom. ‘Playfight’ allowed us to reestablish the connection between the bedroom and our inner child.”
The commercial is certainly rather playful. It’s also quite sexy, and the actors are completely believable as a married couple.
Tardy gives considerable credit to Mother creatives Ana and Hermeti Balarin, who happen to be married, with bringing “a certain level of authenticity and credibility to the script.”
Backstory Krejci added to that authenticity and credibility, devising a backstory to motivate the actors, providing perspective and context.
“The backstory he devised for the actors was based on a couple who vowed to always maintain the spark their parents lost after having kids,” according to Tardy. “The wife basically is inviting her husband back to the fun part of their relationship by instigating a playfight. Martin said he had ‘friends’ who were starting to experience similar things so he was able to draw from that to bring richness to the chemistry and to the performance of the actors.”
After extensive casting calls in London, Berlin and Prague, Krejci initially hired two actors for the lead roles. However, the director ultimately deemed them as being “too professional” and instead wound up casting two friends, Kristyna Bokova, a former dancer, and Milan Cais, a well-known Czech musician.
“To me, they make a believable and credible couple,” Krejci said, noting, “I have to say I am really grateful to the agency and to the client that they trusted me on this as I think it was quite risky.”
The perfect talent cast, Krejci and cinematographer Stepan Kucera shot most of “Playfight” in Prague on stage at Barrandov Studios.
The living room scene as well as the exterior scene featuring the treehouse were both shot on location in the suburbs.
The director wanted to make sure the commercial was engaging from start to finish.
“My aim is to keep the audience’s full attention during the commercial break. The last thing I want is them thinking, ‘yet another stupid, boring commercial,’ ” Krejci said. “On top of that, I want them to find it entertaining…To watch the spot, get the concept and come out smiling.”
To ensure the playfight flowed, Krejci worked with choreographer Litza Bixler, whose theatrical feature film credits include Scott Pilgrim Versus the World, Easy Virtue and Shaun of the Dead.
“She was fantastic,” Tardy said of Bixler, adding, “It was really cool to see her and Martin work out the scenes on rehearsal days. It was particularly interesting to watch Martin move around the set in slow motion as he was on crutches due to a soccer game with children which resulted in the breaking of his ankle two weeks prior to the shoot.”
Despite his injury, Krejci delivered a playfight that was “poetic,” Tardy praised.
“Tango” The action-packed commercial gets a boost from the music that accompanies it, a quirky track titled “Asfalt Tango” by Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Romanian brass band.
Krejci credits editor Filip Malasek of Robota, Prague, with bringing the tune to his attention.
The director actually played the song for the agency while he was still shooting the commercial, and everyone immediately loved the song, Tardy said.
As for the edit, it was a fast and smooth process.
“It was probably one of the shortest editing sessions I’ve ever experienced. There was very little tweaking done after our first viewing. When myself, Ana and Hermeti saw the edit, we joked about how couples watching will probably turn to each other afterwards and then realize how boring their relationship is,” Tardy said, adding, “Honestly, though, we just want people to enjoy it and feel good about being home and in their bedrooms.”
As previously noted, “Playfight” is part of an ambitious integrated Ikea campaign from Mother that also includes :10 spots running on Britain’s Channel 4 and inspired by the iconic BBC Nine O’Clock News idents; a free mobile app featuring an alarm reminding people to prepare for bedtime; and a blog exploring the concept of bedtime.
