BFG 9000, Bai Don’t Make Any Sense

By Erik Oster 

Barton F. Graf 9000 launched its first campaign for health beverage company Bai, aiming for nonsensical humor.

The absurdity of the campaign is in service of the idea that it doesn’t make sense that Bai could taste so good and still be healthy. In the 30-second “El Guapo,” for example, a man says “There’s no reason why I should be a Latin pop star,” comparing the phenomenon to how the five calorie beverage can be so tasty after noting that he’s not good looking or talented and has only taken one Spanish class. Other 15-second spots deal with a woman who is marrying a man she met on TV and a father who named his twin sons Rock and Roll (those poor kids).

The campaign’s approach is open-ended enough to allow for endless variation, so we expect to see plenty more ads that don’t make any sense from Bai and BFG 9000 and they really could go anywhere next with the idea. It’s the type of absurdist humor the agency is already well known for, which Bai chief creative officer Chad Portas, said made choosing BFG 9000 an easy decision. “The choice was easy in our hunt for a like-minded agency partner that champions creative and understands our irreverent brand personality,” he told Adweek.

“We’ve been fortunate to work with brands that completely redefine their category,” added BFG 9000 chief creative officer Gerry Graf. “Bai is like nothing else on the shelf. We’re happy that we get to tell their story.”

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Credits:

Client: Bai
Chief Executive Officer/Founder: Ben Weiss
Chief Marketing Officer: Michael Simon
Chief Creative Officer: Chad Portas
Director, Marketing Deliveries: Sharon Chabot

Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000
Chief Creative Officer: Gerry Graf
Executive Creative Director/Partner: Ian Reichenthal
Creative Director: Nick Kaplan
Creative Director: Amanda Clelland
Digital Strategist: Brandon Solis
Copywriter: Richard Langhorne
Art Director: Zack Madrigal
Head of Integrated Production: Josh Morse
Exec. Producer: Brad Powell/Amanda Revere
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Account Director: Alex Stankiewicz/Jennifer Richardi
Business Affairs Director: Jennifer Pannent

Production Company: O Positive
Director: David Shane
Exec. Producer: Ralph Laucella
Exec. Producer: Marc Grill
Producer: Ken Licata/Kate Sutherland
DP: Joe Zizzo

Editorial: MackCut
Editor: Erik Laroi
Asst. Editor: Brendan Hogan
Editorial Producer: Sabina-Elease Utley
Exec. Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld

Music House: Butter
Composer: Andrew Sherman
Exec. Producer: Ian Jeffreys

Color: Company 3
Colorist: Tim Masick

Audio Mix: Heard City
Engineer: Eric Warzecha

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