Johnsonville Imagines the Humor and Horror of Everything Becoming Bratwurst on Father's Day

How do you create the perfect Father's Day? By turning everything around Dad into bratwurst. That's the lesson of Johnsonville's new "Bratfast in Bed" spots from Droga5. The ads debut online today and will be promoted on social media in the run-up to the June 21 holiday. The occasionally surreal ads, which were cut in 30- and 65-second versions, imagine what it would be like for Dad to wake up to his family serving him one of his favorite foods, a brat on a roll, with sausages popping up in the most unexpected places. Or is he just dreaming? Rather than cut up the different scenes, Droga5 stitched them together to keep viewers watching and build drama in the process. "It's basically sausage Inception," said group creative director Scott Bell, referring to the 2010 Christopher Nolan movie about layered realities. "It's one man's journey." To counterbalance the weirdness—at one point, dad's fingers turn into sausage—the agency cast a normal-looking dad, wife and son. That contrast helped turn the initial straightforward scene into a head fake for the stranger bits that follow. M ss ng p eces' Ray Tintori was the director. The new ad comes a month after Droga5 launched its "Family" campaign for Johnsonville, which asserts that odd mixes of people become families when they eat sausage together. The tagline is a bit odd too: "We don't make sausage. We make family. And sausage." One inspiration for the campaign, Bell said, was a piece of Homer Simpson wisdom: "You don't make friends with salad." So what would Homer think of the new ad? "Homer would just love to sit down on Father's Day," said Johnsonville vp of marketing Fabian Pereira, "and sit back and enjoy." Or maybe, more simply, the yellow-faced dad would see the brat and say, "Mmmmm." CREDITS Group marketing director: Jim Mueller Senior grilling brand manager: Ron Schroder Agency: Droga5 Creative chairman: David Droga Chief creative officer: Ted Royer Group creative director: Scott Bell Senior copywriter: Ryan Raab Senior art director: Dan Kenneally Chief creation officer: Sally-Ann Dale Head of broadcast production: Ben Davies Executive broadcast producer: Jesse Brihn Senior broadcast producer: Verity Bullard Broadcast producer: Rebecca Wilmer Global chief strategy officer: Jonny Bauer Group strategy director: Aaron Wiggan Senior strategists: Candice Chen, Nick Maschmeyer Communications strategy director: Brian Nguyen Group account director: Dan Gonda Account director: Chris Einhauser Account manager: Kate Tyler Monroe Senior project manager: Amy Blitzer Interactive production company: Sneakers Agency Creative director: Christopher White Production Company: m ss ng p eces Founder, executive producer: Ari Kuschnir Partners, executive producers: Brian Latt, Kate Oppenheim Director: Ray Tintori DOP: Rob Leitzell Head of production: Dave Salzman Producer: Drew Houpt Editorial: m ss ng p eces Editor: Sam Zimman Assistant editor: Will Kanellos Producer: Orlaith Finucane Color: The Mill Colorist: Aline Sinquin Sound: One Thousand Birds Mixer: Calvin Hunting Pia

Brand Marketing

Johnsonville Imagines the Humor and Horror of Everything Becoming Bratwurst on Father's Day

Droga5 whips up Bratfast in Bed

Andrew McMains

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Andrew McMains