When last we heard from Wieden+Kennedy New York and Southern Comfort, the agency had taken everyone’s favorite not-Jagermeister cheap shot liquor brand on a trip to Taiwan. That round of digital spots made use of Next Media Animation Ltd., the company behind all the (unintentionally?) hilarious takes on recent U.S. news stories. The resulting campaign was quite odd, but “ShottaSoCo” did manage to worm its way into our brains, so…
The newest work once again involves Next Media. This time they’ve made a music video for a single called–wait for it–“ShottaSoCo” by house group Detroit Grand Pubahs. Most importantly, Jody Hill directed and Danny McBride stars, so the campaign reunites the team behind Eastbound and Down, that classic documentary series about minor league baseball and drug addiction in the American South.
The CGI city is nowhere near Detroit, but one has to enjoy details like McBride’s misspelled texts and the hot dance take on the famous Obama/Clinton Bin Laden raid photo around the 2:15 mark, because who the hell thought to include that one?!
Animators were also very generous to Mr. McBride, who loses at least 50 pounds in translation while dressed in a “custom made wing-tux.”
Wieden Creative Director Jimm Lasser explains the approach:
“The idea was to spread a word: ‘SHOTTASoCo.’ Make that word catchy and hopefully get it stuck in your head. It was designed to be a multi-use phrase, including a great song that people actually might get some enjoyment out of. Music is an awesome way to do messaging. It is something that can move with people, rather than the type of engagement that requires you to go to a screen.”
Done and done.
There’s more to this: McBride also slurs his way through some shorts in which he sort of explains his thoughts on culture to a confused flamingo.
So how does he determine what constitutes “art?” With his nose, of course.
In this behind-the-scenes clip, we see that McBride went through quite a bit of physical trauma during the shoot and that he may well have been consuming the product in question throughout.
As Kenny Powers once put it:
“I was handed the keys to the kingdom, multi-million dollar deals, endorsements. But sometimes when you bring the thunder, you get lost in the storm.”
Regarding the campaign, McBride says, “I’m a huge fan of Southern Comfort! It’s been my go-to for years”…and we almost believe him.
We also sincerely hope that’s not his real hair.
Credits
W+K New York
Executive Creative Directors: David Kolbusz and Jaime Robinson
Creative Directors: Jimm Lasser and Caleb Jensen
Copywriter: Luke Sacherman
Art Director: Rick Jacques
Associate Producer: Lisa Delonay
Senior Producer: Alison Hill
Account Team: Brandon Pracht, Toby Hussey, Katie Hoak & Kerry O’Connell
Project Manager: Cory Chonko
Digital Strategist: Tom Gibby
Head of Production: Nick Setounski
Photographer: Rick Jacques
Art Producer: Ali Berk
Business Affairs: Justine Lowe, Sara Jagielski
Production: Company Caviar
Director: Jody Hill
Executive Producer: Michael Sagol and Kim Dellara
Line Producer: Luke Thomlinson-Clark
Director of Photography: Kenneth Seng
Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Post Producer: Fanny Cruz
Post Executive Producer: Sila Soyer and Nicole Visram
Editorial Assistant: Samuel Barden
Animation Company: Next Media Animation
Producers: Eric Chang and Jessica Wu
VFX Company: Timber
Managing Partner/EP: Damian Stevens
CDs / Partners: Jonah Hall and Kevin Lau
Executive Producer: Chris Webb
VFX Lead Flame: Brian Shneider
Digital Effects Supervisors: Nick Hiegel
Nuke Compositor: Rachel Dunn, Daniel Raschko, Joe Zaki, Robert Williams, Eddie Martinez & Aaron Singer
AE Artist: Michael Loney
Flame Assist: Jason Giamarra, Brandon Harden & Jeff Schulman
Producer: Lauren Loftus & Tita Poe
Mix Company: Sonic Union
Mixer: Steve Rosen
Sound Designer: Steve Rosen
Song: “SHOTTASoCo”
Artist: Detroit Grand Pubahs
Partner Company: JOINT
Senior Producer: Michelle Carman
Designer: Dustin Bailey
Assistant Editor: Stephen Nelson
Assistant Editor: JB Jacobs
Motion Graphics Director: Yui Uchida