In this ongoing campaign NBA star Blake Griffin plays an actor always looking to improvise. This often manifests itself in his replacing the scripted mode of transportation with the Kia Optima. For Griffin, the Optima has a way of making the movie better, regardless of its setting or time period.
That theme this time around again surfaces in “Fighter Pilot” in which Griffin is on a jet fighter carrier. But instead of being in a plane, fighter pilot Griffin in his Kia Optima–much to the chagrin of the film’s director. Still he takes off to do battle with the enemy.
Stacy Wall of Imperial Woodpecker directed “Fighter Pilot.”
“Fighter Pilot” is part of a larger campaign around the 2015 Kia Optima featuring three TV spots, the first of which–the Western-themed spot titled “Showdown”–launched in December.
Credits
Client Kia Optima Agency David&Goliath David Angelo, founder/chairman; Colin Jeffery, chief creative officer; Driscoll Reid, Chris Hutchinson, creative director; Chris Robertson, digital creative director; Basil Douglas Cowieson, Greg Buri, associate creative director; Marc Wilson, art director; Josh Crick, director of digital; Robert Boucher, director of digital technology; Paul Albanese, director of broadcast production; Curt O’Brien, Christopher Coleman, executive producers; Anna Cobban, digital producer; Andrea Mariash, director of art producion; Kemit Ray, project manager. Production Imperial Woodpecker Stacy Wall, director; Doug Halbert, exec producer/managing partner; Charlie Cocuzza, exec producer; Candace Tomarken, producer. Editorial Spinach Grant Surmi, editor; Jonathan Carpio, producer; Ben Reesing, assistant editor. Visual Effects The Mill Jo Arghiris, exec producer; Thatcher Peterson, executive color producer; Will Lemon, producer; Natalie Westerfield, color producer; Robert Sethi, creative director; Benjamin Sposato, production coordinator; David Ludlam, colorist; Andy Dill, 2D lead; Robert Chapman, 3D lead; Nicholas Tayler, Gareth Parr, Trent Shumway, Lisa Ryan, Narbeh Mardirossian, 2D artists; Kelvin Liang, Joshua Frankel, Mike Di Nocco, Matt Neapolitan, Katie Yancey, 3D artists; Lynn Yang, concept artist; Thom Price, Andy Wheater, Rasha Shalaby, matte painters. Music/Sound Design Barking Owl Kelly Bayett, exec producer/creative director; Michael Anastasi, sound designer. Digital Production WildLife LA; Brandon Del Nero, exec producer; Jake Friedman, Scott Friedman, creative directors; Chris Hornbecker, photographer.
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.
