In the past, Anheuser-Busch’s marketing team has ensured that the Clydesdales appeared in Super Bowl ads tied to beer-relevant stories. After all, these majestic creatures are brand ambassadors for Budweiser.
But this year, the company told agency Anomaly to do something different. “For 2013, and pardon the pun, we loosened the reigns a bit for [Anomaly CCO] Mike Byrne and his team, saying, let’s tell a story that’s going to connect,” said Rob McCarthy, VP of marketing for Budweiser, noting that the goal was to create a Super Bowl spot that would not only resonate with potential new customers but also remind current Budweiser drinkers why they love the brand.
Byrne appreciated the freedom and thought the approach made perfect sense. “The Clydesdales are the brand, so it alleviates the need to show a beer bottle or someone drinking or being in a bar,” he said.
Ultimately, Anomaly came up with the concept behind “Brotherhood.” Directed by Jake Scott of RSA Films, the :60 tearjerker set to the Fleetwood Mac song “Landslide” beautifully portrays the intense bond that can form between a trainer and a horse.
Depicting that relationship in a way that felt authentic was the biggest challenge in making the spot, according to Scott, who noted, “You were dealing with a story that ran the risk of being really sentimental.”
Casting for humility Certainly, the spot wouldn’t have worked without the right talent in the role of the trainer. It was imperative to find someone who knew horses. “Of course, a lot of actors came in and said they did, and I took them to a stable for the callbacks just to see, and so many people made equestrian 101 mistakes,” the director shared.
Of everyone who tried out, Don Jeanes was “the real deal” in Scott’s eyes, which is why he won the role of the trainer. A Texas native, Jeanes had spent time around and was truly at ease with horses. “He had good Texas manners, and the way he held himself, his comportment was very important, too, because I wanted somebody with humility,” Scott shared. “I thought that was really important in showing the relationship because I think it takes immense humility to be able to communicate with a horse, and strength and discipline and authority, too, but I think a great deal of humility goes into it.”
Scott and his crew, which included DP Chris Soos, shot “Brotherhood” less than two weeks before the Super Bowl at locations including Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville, Missouri, where the Budweiser Clydesdales are bred, and Ventura Farms in Thousand Oaks, California.
The director, inspired by the paintings of artists Lucien Freud and Andrew Wyeth, sought a simple, naturalistic look for the spot. “We tried to shoot with natural light as much as possible. I didn’t want to be overly cosmetic. When you start doing things with lights, it becomes too pretty, and it somehow makes it sentimental, and it kills the authenticity for me,” Scott said.
“Brotherhood” was mostly shot with the ALEXA, although Scott did use a Canon 7D to capture the lovely footage of the foal seen in the barn at the spot’s outset. “It was a newborn, so we didn’t want to come in with a big piece of equipment,” the director explained.
The production was massive, but Scott and his crew were incredibly focused and organized, Byrne praised. “All the different players from grips to AD’s to stylists, everyone was dialed in. It was a really tight production from top to bottom, and we didn’t overshoot,” Byrne said. “We shot exactly what we needed and moved on.”
Scott had editor David Brodie of the NY office of Rock Paper Scissors on hand throughout the shoot. Scott routinely has an editor on location with him, and he encourages all directors to do the same if they can, maintaining that there is much to be gained from putting together the footage on site as it rolls in. “It helps you make decisions about the angles you need and the choice of lenses, and it helps you with the language of things,” Scott reasoned. “Also, by the end of a shoot, you can show an agency, this is what I meant.”
Brodie returned to NY to cut the final version but it was a challenge to get it down to a :60, Byrne noted. “There was so much that we loved that we wanted to get in there.” The agency was able to share even more moments in a nearly :90 version cut for YouTube.
