Goodby Silverstein & Partners pulled a fast one on fans of the Universal Pictures’ The Fast and The Furious movie franchise for client Xfinity.
Two fans were informed they would be shown an advance screening of the upcoming The Fate of the Furious, which will be released on April 14. Upon arrival, they found their seats to be a little unusual: actual cars from the set of the film. During the screening, the drivers seated next to them took things up a notch, driving off from the screening, to the participants’ apparent surprise, and onto an obstacle-filled set.
We’re not sure how unsuspecting the participants really were. “I think you’re in on this,” one fan says at one point because, well, duh. Either way, this works much better as a promotion of the movie than it does for Xfinity, as the “That’s what Gig-speed Internet feels like with Xfinity” tagline tacked on the end makes for a pretty flimsy brand tie-in.
The stunt was purportedly shot in one take by director Jeff Tremaine (Jackass, Bad Grandpa), after the crew rehearsed for days to make sure everything went right.
“You get a different kind of satisfaction than a traditional TV shoot when everything is live; there’s nothing quite like it,” GS&P associate creative director Laura Petruccelli said in a statement. “We knew the stunt had to live up to the Fast franchise. To make it as real as possible, we used the same cars from the movie driven by the same stunt drivers.”
“Fast and Furious and Gigabit Internet are all about blistering, excessive speed. This provided the perfect partnership opportunity to create the most extreme entertainment experience,” added Xfinity senior director of brand experience Sherri Davis. “Rather than trying to explain how fast Gig-speed is, we showed it, capturing two lucky customers on the most fast and furious ride of their lives.”
Credits:
Client: Comcast/Xfinity
SVP, Brand Marketing: Todd Arata
Senior Director, Brand Experience: Sherri Davis
Senior Manager, Brand Experience: Catherine Huffman
Campaign: XFINITY Fast & Furious 8 Drive-Out Cinema
Campaign Website: Facebook.com/Xfinity
Ad Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Client: Comcast – Xfinity
Title of Creative Work: XFINITY Fast & Furious 8 Drive-Out Cinema
Live Date: March 29, 2017
Creative
Co-chairman: Jeff Goodby, Rich Silverstein
Chief Creative Officer/Partner: Margaret Johnson
Creative Directors: Jeff Gillette, Jens Waernes, Jon Wolanske
Associate Creative Directors: Rohan Cooke and Laura Petruccelli
Copywriters: Laura Petruccelli and Craig Shervin
Art Directors: Rohan Cooke, Charles Lee and Louis Xinran Li
Production
Director of Broadcast Production: Tod Puckett
Executive Broadcast Producer: James Horner
Broadcast Producer: Stephanie DeNatale
Assistant Broadcast Producer: Samantha Tarde
Account Services
Managing Partner: Leslie Barrett
Group Account Director: Jason Bedecarre
Account Director: Georgia Newton
Account Manager: Perry Kayla Fox
Asst. Account Manager: Emily Kelly
Brand Strategy
Group Brand Strategy Director: John Thorpe
Brand Strategy Director: Andrew Mak
Business Affairs
Director of Business Affairs: Judy Ybarra
Business Affairs Associate Manager: Rodney Hameroff
Production Company
Production Company: HeLo
Director: Jeff Tremaine
Executive Producer/Co-Founder: Justin Moore-Lewy
Gorilla Flicks Executive Producer: Shanna Newton
Managing Director/Co-Founder: Brendan Kiernan
Executive Producer: Andrew Oppenheimer
Line Producer: Tina Nakane
Director of Photography: Wyatt Troll
Production Designer- Robb Buono
SFX Supervisor- Jim Schwalm
Stunt Coordinator- Oakley Lehman
Editorial
Cut+Run
Editor: Pete Koob
Assistant Editors: Christopher Kasper and Andy Berner
Managing Director: Michelle Eskin
Executive Producer: Deanne Mehling
Producer: Sara Stasinos
Color Grade
Company 3
Colorist: Sean Coleman
Senior Producer: Matt Moran
Online
CT-SF
Executive Producer: Melanie Bass
Producer: Felicia Libby
Flame Artists: Zac Dych and David Valencic
Sound Design
LSD
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Mix
Lime
Audio Mixer: Rohan Young
Audio Assistant: Ben Tomastik
Producer: Kayla Phungglan
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Graphics
Animator: Natasha Candelaria
Creative Director: Mike Landry
Executive Post Producer: John Dutton
Director of Post Production: Michael Damiani