Fruit juice commercials can be rather blah. That makes stepping outside the safety zone a good creative strategy. Amsterdam agency, Hotel L’Amour had a good creative strategy. With director, Braum Schouw and production company, Bonkers United, the agency added a zippy tune and some visual magic to make fruit juice brand, Appelsientje say, “wow, look at me now”.
The commercial, Power of the Sun, is built on a simple idea – you don’t notice what the sun does until it’s gone.
The spot follows a farmer and his kids on an orange grove. They climb trees, run through tall grass, just another day. Nothing special. Then a solar eclipse hits. And everything stops. The animals freeze, the warmth drains, the world holds its breath for a moment. It’s only a few seconds, but you feel it. That stillness. That absence. And then the light comes flooding back. Like nothing happened; but you see it differently now. That warmth you took for granted, you feel it in everything. In the fruit hanging from the trees, in the juice that comes from it. The sun was always there. You just weren’t paying attention.
It’s strikingly different advertising for a juice – or any beverage – brand. DoP, Douwe Hennink, shot the whole thing in natural light, deep blacks, atmospheric texture, nothing that smells like a beverage ad. De Grot handled post, with Joppo de Grot’s colour grade making the warmth tangible, without overcooking it. And Gabriel Ríos’ Broad Daylight (by now Appelsientje’s signature music) carries the film from quiet anticipation to the relief of the sun’s return.
45 seconds. One eclipse. A pretty unique thing to pull off in a commercial.
Credits:
Client: Riedel (Appelsientje)
Agency: Hotel L’Amour
Senior Creatives: Sam de Greef, Sanne Lemmen
Agency Producer: Marieke Prette
Account Manager: Muriël Kip
Production Company: Bonkers United
Director: Bram Schouw
Executive Producer: Saskia Kok
Producer: Jan Jinek
Director of Photography: Douwe Hennink
Editor: Martin Heijgelaar, Lisette van der Lee
Post Production: De Grot
Colourist: Joppo de Grot
Sound Design: Feike de Wit
Sound Studio: Sound Circus
