Ian Pons Jewell directed this commercial titled “Dogs” for Intuit QuickBooks out of Wieden+Kennedy London. ProdCo produced the film which finds absurdity and humor in the nightmares of a small business owner struggling with outdated bookkeeping, only to show how QuickBooks offers peace of mind.
The spot kicks off in a dimly lit park where a van, adorned with the logo “Glampooches Doggy Pampering” is parked. Inside, a frazzled business owner is buried in a mountain of paperwork, when a thieving canine appears at the window clutching some missing paperwork in its mouth, prompting the business owner to give chase.
The ad captures the essence of a dream, evoking that familiar sense of foreboding when chasing something in a nightmare or trying to speak but honking like a car instead. The director worked with longtime collaborators Ameena Kara Callender, who designed the in-camera costumes, and cinematographer Mauro Chiarello. VFX by Pavel Bezborodov at CGF seamlessly integrated CGI dog mouths with the in-camera costumes and makeup.
Credits
Client Intuit QuickBooks Agency Wieden+Kennedy London Lucas Reis, Charlie Lanus, creative directors; Will Wells, Sammy Watts Stanfield, Derek Man Lui, Tom Coleman, creatives; Susan Hoffman, executive creative director; Dan Hill, chief strategy officer; James Laughton, Aurelie Livera, TV producers; Ross Taylor, TV production assistant. Production Company ProdCo Ian Pons Jewell, director; Zico Judge, exec producer; Jane Lloyd, producer; Mauro Chiarello, DP; Charlie Mayhew, choreographer & movement director; Ameena Kara Callender, costume designer; Maruxa Alvar, production designer; Eva Quilez, makeup & hair artist. Editorial The Quarry Ben Campbell, editor; Lawrence Lakshmanan, edit assistant; Dilia Knobel-Winterstein, edit producer. VFX Studio CGF Pavel Bezborodov, VFX supervisor; Ekaterina Averina, Aleksandr Gorokhov, VFX producers; Alexander Zolotarev, colorist. Music & Sound Tim Harrison, sound design & music supervision; Gregory Caron, sound design & final mix; Sam Mason, Seb Bruen, sound FX editors. Foley Holy Foley Samuel Jurkovic, additional foley. Production Service Company, Spain Blur Pablo Herraiz, head of production; Idoia Sanchez, producer; Marta Pijoan, production manager; Mireia Fontanals, Lorena Mascarell, production coordinators. Casting, Spain Casting Bite Pablo Penalver, casting director. Casting, London Kharmel Cochrane Casting Kharmel Cochrane, casting director.
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.
