Advertising

Schwartz’s Explosion of Flavors

By Delphine Hirasuna | July 10, 2014September 4, 2014

How do you make herbs and spices tantalizing on a visual and auditory level? Asked by Schwartz Flavour Shots to create an ad that turned its seasonings into a complete sensory experience, Grey London unleashed Schwartz herbs and spices in an explosion of colors choreographed to a classical arrangement by M.J. Cole of Soho Music. Directed by Partizan’s Chris Cairns, the Schwartz Flavour Shots commercial used pyrotechnic designers to trigger 140 separate explosions of spices. Several sacks of black peppercorn, turmeric, cardamom, paprika, ginger, cumin seeds, chili and coriander were synchronized to blast off on cue to the notes and chords of Cole’s piano score. Filmed at Pinewood Studios in the UK, the commercial had to be shot in one take. The final result was an exciting visual feast.

Advertising

Armchair Space Travel

By Delphine Hirasuna | November 19, 2009September 4, 2014

To manifest Toshiba’s tagline “leading innovation” and promote the company’s new LCD TV Series, ad agency Grey London gave viewers the ultimate armchair-viewing experience by launching a living room chair to the edge of outer space. Filmed in Nevada’s Black Rock desert, the team, led by Grey creative director Andy Amadeo, tethered a lightweight balsa wood chair to a helium balloon and watched it rise to an altitude of 98,268 feet. The rig, which according to Federal Aviation Administration rules could not weigh more than a total of four pounds, carried a Toshiba’s IK-HRIS 1080i camera to digitally record a bird’s eye view of the chair and four independent GPS systems to track the chair’s position during its 83 minute ascent into space. The ad was shot by Haris Zambarloukos, the acclaimed cinematographer who made the feature films “Enduring Love” and “Mamma Mia.” The Space Chair commercial began airing in the UK this week.