Movie clichés are unavoidable–unless you go to the Canadian Film Fest. That’s the message of this tongue-in-cheek campaign which takes us to the fictitious Academy of the Cliché, a school that teaches up and coming actors the tried and true cliché techniques of acting and film. Lessons are taught in innovative range, including a shooting range in which actors fire a barrage of heavy artillery–without a single bullet hitting the hero target.
In the words of Clement Bishop, the head instructor at the Academy, “The Cliché technique is 100% reliable. Everything we teach has been done a million times before.”
At the end of each spot, the viewer is encouraged to “Escape the Cliché” and to come to the 2015 Canadian Film Fest which runs from March 25-28 at Toronto’s Royal Theatre.
Jono Hunter of OPC directed this two-minute cinema ad, part of a campaign out of J. Walter Thompson Canada.
Credits
Client Canadian Film Fest Agency J. Walter Thompson Canada Brent Choi, chief creative and integration officer; Ryan Spelliscy, sr. VP/executive creative director; Colin Winn, VP, associate creative director/copywriter. Tyler Schell, Pip Scowcroft, copywriters; Christian Martinez, Kara Wark, art directors; Caroline Clarke, Chris Huber, producers. Production OPC, Toronto Jono Hunter, director; Andre Pienaar, DP; Liz Dussault, Harland Weiss, Donovan Boden, exec producers; Dennis Beier, line producer. Editorial School Editing Aaron Dark, editor; Drew MacLeod, editorial assistant; Sarah Brooks, exec producer. Post Alter Ego Conor Fisher, colorist. Post/VFX Fort York Music Grayson Matthews Casting Mann Casting
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
