Today we learned that Chick-fil-A had dropped its agency of record The Richards Group after 22 years, picking McCann New York as its lead agency.
Erich & Kallman of San Francisco also beat out five other agencies to win some project-based work, and its first-ever campaign launch coincides with the announcement.
The ads promote the new Egg White Grill breakfast sandwich, which officially launched earlier this week. The theme is, “Chicken for breakfast, it’s not as crazy as you think,” and it features six historical figures who were seen as a little bonkers in their time(s).
This is the first campaign since Richards started the cow theme that does not feature the desperate bovines. First comes one Beethoven comma Ludwig Van. He wrote a song you probably heard at least once.
We still imagine Beethoven looking like Gary Oldman, aka Police Commissioner Gordon. (It was a dumb movie.)
Next, some Italian dude with a sweet beard who painted a chapel.
The lineup isn’t limited to one gender, btw. Here’s Susan B. Anthony, who we hear may have been an important figure in the politics.
So far it’s like a shorter version of the first Bill & Ted movie. Alexander Graham Bell is kind of a dick, but he did not invent social media acronyms.
Here’s a pair of spots featuring Mr. Thomas Edison, who had at least one screw loose in the old noggin.
Not a stretch to imagine that dude electrocuting an elephant.
Finally, Amelia Earhart would have been huge on Instagram.
Sources tell us that this campaign was presented to agencies as a one-off assignment aside from the transition of the main account from The Richards Group to McCann New York. And will the new egg sandwich work? We have no idea, but longtime Chick-fil-A customers seem to be a little pissed about the death of the spicy chicken biscuit.
Kallman says that his team hopes to do more work with the Chick-fil-A brand moving forward.
Credits
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Harold Einstein: director
Eric Liney: executive producer
Jonathan Freeman: director of photography
Patrick Lumb: production designer
Arcade
Dave Anderson: editor
Sila Soyer: executive producer
Laurel Smoliar: asst editor
Gavin Carroll: senior producer
CO3
Tim Masick: senior color artist
Rochelle Brown: senior producer
Ntropic
Nathan Robinson: ECD / Founder
Steve Zourntos: lead flame artist
Matt Tremaglio: flame artist
Emily Avoujageli: senior producer
Yvonne Pon: assistants
Gillen Burch: assistants
One Union
Joaby Deal: senior engineer
Lauren Mask: producer
Erich & Kallman
Eric Kallman: creative director/co-founder
Steve Erich: managing director/co-founder
Kate Higgins: head of accounts
Laura Ferguson: executive producer
Butter Music + Sound
Andrew Sherman: artist
Max Schad: artist
Ryan Faucett: senior producer