Director Marc Forster–whose feature filmography includes Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction and The Kite Runner–has teamed with agency Venables Bell & Partners to herald the arrival of the 2018 Audi S5 Sportback.
For the spot, Forster pays tribute to the greatest racehorse of all time–Secretariat. Forster uses the Triple Crown winner–a horse synonymous with exceptional performance and high intelligence–as a metaphor for the new Audi vehicle.
“Perspective is very powerful. The way we see something is how we define its meaning and value. What I found most inspiring about the parallel between Audi and Secretariat is how this metaphor, this perspective, translates history into art and shifts how we think of something, so that we feel something,” said Forster who directed the commercial, titled “Secretariat,” via production house Tool of North America.
Credits
Client Audi Agency Venables Bell & Partners Paul Venables, founder, chairman; Will McGinness, partner/executive creative director; Justin Moore, creative director; Avery Oldfield, art director; Adam Wolinsky, copywriter; Craig Allen, director of integrated production; Emily Tarran, associate producer. Production Tool of North America Marc Forster, director; Oliver Fuselier, managing partner; Brad Johns, executive producer; Ian Flavey, head of production; Lee Trask, producer; Matthias Koenigswieser, DP. Editorial Lumberyard Naomi Goodman, editor; Raquel Bedard, director of Lumberyard; Jenna Van Deventer, post producer. Music Human Gareth Williams, composer/creative director; Jonathan Sanford, exec producer. Sound Design/Audio Post 740 Sound Chris Pinkston, sound designer/mixer; Scott Pinkston, assistant mixer; Scott Ganary, exec producer; Jeff Martin, producer. VFX Framestore Chris Eckardt, VFX shoot supervisor; Michael Ralla, VFX & comp supervisor; Alex Villabon, Kingsley Rothwell, 2D artists; Sarah Marikar, Ryland Bowen-Johnson, Flame; Todd Herman, CG lead; Katie Schiffer, Anthony Thomas, CG artists; James Razzall, exec producer; Morgan MacCuish, VFX producer; Jamie Runkle, VFX coordinator; Jake Keller, Heiro editor. Color Company 3 Sofie Borup, colorist; Alexandra Lubrano, producer.
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.