Havas Worldwide has a new spot for Cracker Barrel, promoting the chain’s limited-time Campfire Meals.
The 15-second ad, entitled “Match,” features a campfire set handcrafted from paper, wood and canvas. A toy owl perches on a stump, followed by a human hand lighting a match and lights a campfire illuminating a screen displaying Cracker Barrel’s Campfire Meals. Aside from the digitally inserted footage and CG embers on the fire, everything was “manually-operated, custom-built or hand-crafted” and shot in a single take. While it can come across as a bit hokey (which actually kind of makes sense for the brand), and the voiceover copy leaves something to be desired, the diorama set has a certain charm to it. It may have even been more effective with diorama stand-ins for Cracker Barrel’s Campfire Meals instead of the digital footage used.
“I think it was important for a real physicality to come through,” said directer Samuel Macon. “That’s why people are attracted to home-made, handcrafted items. You can get a sense of the care that goes into a hand-made item. That kind of care and attention is just the sort of vibe you get at Cracker Barrel, and it was great to have the chance to tie all these elements together…We might have been able to do some kind of motion control or CG effects to get something similar, but I thought this method was more in line with what the feeling and look we wanted to achieve.”
CLIENT: CRACKER BARREL
Brad Wahl: Vice President of Marketing
Desiree Graham: Director of Advertising
AGENCY: HAVAS WORLDWIDE
Bill Mericle: Executive Creative Officer
Matthew Barber: Creative Director
Paul Chiemmongkoltip: Creative Director
David Evans: Co-head of Production, North America Peter Norman: Senior Producer
Bonnie Hamilton: Broadcast Production Administrator
David Greenbaum: Group Account Director
PRODUCTION & POST: RADAR STUDIOS
Director: Samuel Macon
EP: Graham Gangi
Head of Production: Eve Cross
Line Producer: Patrick Fischer
Post Producer: Karen Kowalysen
Creative Directors: Steven Gray & Jason Guerrero Editor: Jeff Dwyer
Nuke Artists: Brian Willard & Grant Cheney
COLOR: NOLO DIGITAL FILM
Colorist – Mike Matusek