Directed by The Perlorian Brothers via Canadian production company Merchant, this 45-second spot for Kicking Horse Coffee from agency Lifelong Crush opens on a donkey looking wistfully at the sun-splashed horses trotting past the humble barn where he spends his days.
His routine is dull and unvarying–until he spots a cobweb-covered motorcycle in the back of the barn. The sound of a revving engine signals the start of the music. At the same time, the song’s breakneck opening accompanies a color-splashed visual of the donkey barreling out of the barn, riding the motorcycle, and doing a donut before going full-throttle into the surrounding valley and onwards to the rest of the world.
The energetic and heartwarming spot captures the exhilaration that a good cup of coffee can provide and serves as an urgent reminder not to let life pass you by. In other words, be that donkey.
Titled “Kickstart Your Heart,” the commercial is being shown on TV and online across Canada and the U.S.
Credits
Client Kicking Horse Coffee Agency Lifelong Crush Christina Yu, creative director. Production Company Merchant The Perlorian Brothers, director; Natasha Braier, DP; Farrah Khaled, Ian Webb, Haley Taylor, exec producers; Andrew Sulliman, line producer. Editorial School Editing Ben Canny, editor; Yumi Suyama, exec producer; David Ngandu, assistant editor. CGI/VFX FABLEfx Kaj Steveman, VFX producer; Ulf Lundgren, VFX supervisor; Nils Lagergren, James Prosser, exec producers; Izmil Idris, production manager; Navaneeth Krishna, Wasim Ali, compositing; Vittoria Marini, Anurag Deshmukh, lighting; Mario Reitbauer, CFX; Dipti Patial, sr. creative rigger; Daniel Fotheringham, character animation director & character animator; Anton Blake, character animator; Aritz Basauri, character build & design; Johan Leuf, motorcycle prop build; Chawalit Jirattikansakul/DA, matchmove; Saurabh Gupta, head of pipeline; Alexander Bulygin, Solomon Ungom, pipeline TD; S.M. Shoaib, cloud/system administrator; Alexandra Berge, consultant relations. Color Grade Alter Ego Wade Odlum, colorist; Hilda Pereira, Jane Garrah, exec producers. VFX & Online Rodeo VFX Connie Dercho, exec producer; Laurent Taillefer, Igor Boros, VFX supervisors; Chloe Vankoughnett, post producer; Cesar Mion, Camille Potvin, Anne Georges, Flame artists; Jeremy Lewis, Flame assistant; Frederic St-Arnaud, matte painter. Audio House Eggplant Picture + Sound Nicola Treadgold, exec producer; Adam Damelin, producer/music supervisor; Nathan Handy, chief audio engineer.
Blink, a provider of affordable smart home security, has launched an advertising campaign which features a light-hearted slice-of-life portrait of Maggie, a busy, cost-conscious mother who values more--more time with her loved ones, and more bang for her buck. The campaign was created by Merman and directed by Eva Michon.
Acting as creative agency and production company, Merman tapped into its deep well of creative talent, including screenwriters and copywriters as well as directors and producers to ideate for the brand. Blink was presented with a half-dozen creative ideas for the campaign. The winning concept was created by Merman’s managing partner Kira Carstensen and in-house creative director, Jack Taylor Cox.
“We loved working with the incredible creative team at Blink,” said Carstensen. “They took our ideas and made them better. I am a huge fan of the product, and now the people who represent it. We hope this is the first of many projects with them--showing consumers how they can get more with Blink.”
