If the new ad campaign for Knott’s Berry Farm is any indication, visitors to the park’s annual Knott’s Scary Farm event are going to get the bejesus scared out of them. Chicago hybrid production studio Vitamin Pictures produced the multi-platform package for agency Cramer-Krasselt. It consists of a series of gritty, high tension television ads and webisodes populated by sinister clowns, macabre dentists and ravenous zombies.
The creep factor is high. Clown follows a young woman through a bleak warehouse scattered with children’s toys. Turning a corner, she’s confronted by a demented clown with a tortured grin. Just as he’s about to pounce, the scene cuts to a title card reading “Whatever you’re imagining, it’s here.”
SPW Credits
Agency: Cramer-Krasselt. Will Meyers, producer; Pat Hanna, creative director; David Vaca, art director; Tom Katers, writer.
Production: Vitamin. Danny DelPurgatorio, director; Larissa Berringer, executive producer; Melody Hinkley, line producer; Chris Vinopal, director of photography; David “Big” Krause, production designer; Cirque FX, prosthetic makeup; Rob Foster, art director; Danny DelPurgatorio, compositor; Michael Siegel, concept artist/3D generalist; Francis Vallejo, storyboard artist; Andrew Maggio, editor; Fred Keller, colorist; Lauryn Grimando, associate producer.
Commercial production company Explore and director Jeremy Pinckert went to a familiar well to pull inspiration for their latest production for Go RVing. "Hotel Hassle" was initially conceived as an audio-only campaign, but Go RVing's SVP/CMO Karen Redfern asked Explore to adapt the script into a new, live-action commercial. The adaptation from audio ads to digital commercial spots involved adding re-written lines and a few iconic scenes from Pinckert’s ideas that provided anchor moments for the ads. In particular, 'Hotel Hassle' features a room key that just won’t open the door. The visual he added (a round sensor on the door where the key unlocks) not only modernized the ad into the age of tap, but also gave the spot a technology vs. human undertone, invoking the AI-character Hal from Stanley Kubrick’s '2001 A Space Odyssey.'
Explore and Pinckert also added a visual hook to the ending of the spot that leaned on his own experiences traveling with his family. He found his hands were always full, clutching a few bags, random loose objects, his phone, and of course, his coffee. In the commercial, there is a moment where all of the frustrations are just too much for the protagonist and he almost curses in front of the family. What if the director added an action where the protagonist accidentally spills their coffee and the camera freezes precisely at this moment?
"Hotel Hassle", part of Go RVing's larger Don't Go There! campaign, is currently being broadcast nationwide via strategic digital channels.
