Fun and finance come together for the holidays with PNC Banks construction of the world’s first life-size bank branch made of real gingerbread. The PNC Gingerbread Branch was open to the public from December 4-6 at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia and serves as home to this year’s PNC Christmas Price Index, an annual financial report that calculates the price of each gift in the classic carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Inside the Gingerbread branch, visitors learned about the gifts and their prices from 12 beautiful building columns meticulously crafted by expert pastry chefs at Bredenbeck’s Bakery in Philadelphia. Regular bank business was also conducted and services were rendered at the branch. For those who couldn’t visit in person, an augmented reality tour is available online.
The SHOOT ScreenWork entry for this sweet initiative is a behind-the-scenes “baking of” film that chronicles what it took to bring the Gingerbread Branch to fruition. The film was directed by Jeff Morgan via NY-based production house Steelhead.
Credits
Client The PNC Financial Services Group Agency Deutsch Kerry Keenan, chief creative officer; Jeremy Bernstein, group creative director; Alex Avis, sr. art director; Justin Lee, sr. copywriter; Aliza Adam, interactive design director; Brian Gartside, associate design director; Juan Carlos Pagan, design director; Lynne Yun, designer & illustrator; Alex Miller, interactive designer; Joe Calabrese, director of integrated production; Sarah Manna, director of art & experiential production; Suzanne Molinaro, director of digital production; Josh Deitel, integrated producer; Kamran Aslam, director of technology; Michael Nicosia, associate technology director; Jeff Denton, Ryan Moylan,k developers; Matt Severin, lead motion designer; Dan Machlin, lead experience architect; Priscilla Osredkar, UX designer; Charles Hailey, QA engineer; Clara Kim, director of project management; Jessica Yin, sr. social strategist; Gurbani Chadha, social content manager; Christina Diaz Borda, social copywriter; Katie Casares, social project manager. Event Production TH Productions, NYC Design Development & Fabrication Design Compendium, Brooklyn, NY Bakery Bredenbeck’s Bakery, Philadelphia Film Production Steelhead, NYC Jeff Morgan, director; Pete Slife, DP/editor; Aaron Schillinger, editor.
Director Marc André Debruyne--who’s handled by production house Open Swim for U.S. representation--brings Coca-Cola’s legacy of celebrating holiday traditions to life in this campaign spotlighting Filipino Balikbayan boxes. The spot--out of Toronto agencies Taxi and VML--features Tita Rosita, owner of the oldest Filipino-Canadian grocery store in Toronto, whose much-adored shop was wrapped like a massive Coca-Cola-themed Balikbayan box as she prepared hundreds of boxes for customers to send their loved ones, with Coca-Cola paying for the boxes and the cost of shipping them to the Philippines. The spot is a testament to the brand’s prevailing facilitation of cultural and generational connectivity, especially during the holiday season.
The collaborative project--produced by Toronto production company MOWAD--was particularly special for Debruyne, who’s Filipino, because of the large presence of Filipino crew members on set. “It’s a totally surreal feeling when a work project crosses over into your personal life. It’s not too often that happens,” shares Debruyne. “The number of Balikbayan boxes I’ve sent home since I was a child, being surrounded by so many Filipinos on set – both crew and cast, and even being served pancit by Tita Rosita for lunch (and getting yelled at after because I didn’t have seconds) brought back so many wonderful memories of my mom. It was such a fun vibe on set. This wasn’t even a job, it was truly something special.”
