Heart-tuggers about parental love get mums and dads every time. I know. KFC Canada’s 2 minute film, KFC Stories: New Kid, made me cry. There’s nothing new about the story of the new kid on the block struggling to fit in and getting help from dad. Except perhaps that a bucket of KFC plays the co-hero, bonding the new kid with his new mates.
But it’s a powerful ad because it’s beautifully told (wordlessly) by Assembly director, Jörn Haagen, and Toronto agency, Grip Limited.
Perhaps its innate authenticity comes through just a little. The film’s subjects are a real-life father and son who had immigrated from India. A penchant for street casting is one of Haagan’s most useful idiosyncrasies. Adding to the realism is the fact that the father and son had not had any skating experience prior to the shoot.
Using non-actors also allowed Haagen to capture a genuine sense of connection through the film’s unplanned moments, like the subtlety of the father’s real reactions as he watches his boy take the ice. “It was essential to me that the father learn to skate also. To make you feel emotional about the family, you have to go through the father first,” Haagen explained.
Haagen also prefers to light the scenes and operate the camera himself. “For most directors, that can get in the way, but for me it’s a way to get closer. I can be there with the subjects behind the camera and keep talking to them. It creates a more intimate connection with what I do.
“The eagerness and spirit of the boy led to an incredibly powerful film,” Haagen continued. “It was gratifying to give somebody the confidence not only to perform in the spot, but that he could handle hockey…and he actually managed to score for real!”
Haagen has earned a respectable clutch of awards for his directing, including Silver and Bronze Cannes Lions, Gold Trophies from The One Show, Eurobeast, and the Swedish National Awards. He has also made his name with a collection of Super Bowl spots for Levi’s, Jamaica Tourism and Michelob.
Then there was this ad, that took off across social media and won 1.5 million views:
*****
McDonald’s also has a story to tell and a different kind of polished production in which to house it. Its 60 second ad, Always Working on our Happy Meal by Leo Burnett, is a lesson in the changes McDonald’s has made to create healthier kids’ meals…
…presented as a lesson, but with very engaging visuals – mini workers in a maxi-world. The idea of using a mini-max world to tell a health-if-ication story is not entirely novel. Rothco used it to help Tesco out of its problems in October last year.
But it’s interesting. And the message isn’t. It’s just a message that McDonald’s has to engrave in parent’s heads to make them feel better about its products.
Production company, Hornet and director, have done their jobs well.
“It’s about making something better,” Geleyn stated. “McDonald’s wanted to communicate how they’re always working to make a Happy Meal better, which can be told quite functionally, but we wanted to tell the story with some charm.
“We played with scale and proportion. I liked the idea of these little characters working to make the box, which remains true to size, better.”
It took Geleyn and his team of fifty people 12 weeks to produce the spot, building six sets, as well as using 3D-printing and hand-painting hundreds of characters.
“It’s filmed almost entirely using stop motion, which I love,” Yves commented. “A lot of miniature work is now done with CGI. Stop motion possesses an authenticity, a human touch, that adds so much to a story. It allows you to create something whimsical that is grounded in something authentic.”
Watch how the film was made here:
Geleyn is known for his human approach to storytelling and the surprising variety of techniques he uses to create evocative, memorable narratives. He has worked with the NSPCC, Motorola, Kellogg’s, ESPN and John Lewis, for whom he co-directed this rather famous spot:
