Sapporo – Legendary Biru from CRUSH on Vimeo.
Speaking strictly from an American perspective, this spot for Sapporo from Dentsu Canada has it all. Samurai! Dragons! Beer! Any commercial that can combine all three automatically wins some sort of respect for the ad community. Of course, an advertisement that combines all three this well deserves worldwide accolades, which were given yesterday at the ROI Awards in Shanghai where “Legendary Biru” took home four awards including Best in Show. Oh, and did we forget about the giant sumo wrestlers? They’re huge!
Okay, yes, this advertisement does pretty much reinforce every Japanese stereotype ever in just over two minutes (except for ninjas). But, have you ever seen the brewing process look this cool? Odds are you have some weird friend who’s way too into home brewing to ever shut up about it. This person tells you every boring detail about the new lager they’re making, and you really don’t care, but you feign interest because you want some of the finished product. Now, imagine if a normally boring home brewing story started with, “So, I got a new oarsmen to tame my dragon duo after the last guy died.” See? It’s a lot more fun.
It’s a lot to ask for such care and creativity to be out into the next Budweiser or Miller campaign, Japan’s longer and more interesting national history aside. But, the best part of “Legendary Biru” is that it will make you consider ordering a Sapporo the next time you see it on a beer list. Production companies Crush and Sons and Daughters went all out on this spot, and we hope to see further collaborations from the two in the future.
Full credits after the jump
Title: Legendary Biru
Client: Sleeman Breweries Ltd.
Product: Sapporo
Agency: Dentsu Canada Inc.
Creative Directors: Glen Hunt, Les Soos
Writers: Glen Hunt, Dhaval Bhatt
Art Directors: Les Soos, David Glen
Agency Producer: Sharon Kosokowsky
Strategic Planner: Jeff McCrory
Account Director: Tim Binkley
Cultural Consultant: Nobu Tanaka
Directors: Mark Zibert, Sons and Daughters and Gary Thomas, Crush
Live Action Production Company: Sons and Daughters
Executive Producer: Dan Ford
DOP: Kevin Chan
Producer: Jeff Darragh
Post Production: Crush
Post Visual Effects: Crush & Loki Visual Effects
Crush:
Creative Director: Gary Thomas
Executive Producer:Jo-ann Cook
Producer: Stephanie Pennington
Art Director: Yoho Hang Yue
Lead VFX Artist: Sean Cochrane
Transfer House: Notch
Colourist: Gary Chuntz
Music: Grayson Matthews
Producer: Dave Sorbara
Composer: Grayson Matthews
Engineer: Annelise Noronha