RPA went the musical route with its “The Ugly Couple Song” Valentine’s Day spot for XO Mints.
As you might have guessed from the title, the song celebrates love among the less attractive. “I was never pretty, not even as a child” begins the first narrator of the generic acoustic folk-pop song, as he goes on to describe being put in the back during school photos (even though he wasn’t tall). The song is then handed off to another singer, who says he’s glad he wasn’t taken, since that would have meant missing “the best date in the world.” While the humor never quite hits its mark (or at least is never a laugh-inducing type of funny), and the song is bland musically, the lyrics are kind of sweet (as that line illustrates), which is the real strength of the online spot.
“We want everyone to share XO Mints with someone they love, or with someone they’d like to, because, if they do, as the song says, maybe they can make ‘something beautiful,” said Dan Loritz, co-founder of XO Mints, in a statement. “And this is what we think the message of the song is about too—you don’t have to be a supermodel to make #SomethingBeautiful. We’re aiming Cupid’s arrow at everyone this Valentine’s Day.”
Credits:
Agency: RPA
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Baratelli
Group Creative Director/Copywriter: Jason Sperling
Creative Director/Copywriter: Sarah-May Bates
Chief Production Officer: Gary Paticoff
Production Company: Bö’s House of Visual Arts
Director: Sarah-May Bates
Producer: Mark Tripp
Director of Photography: Ken Lin
AD/Gaffer: Adam Scheil
Production Assistant: Chris Grimshaw
Original song by Joshua Beeman
Music: “The Ugly Couple Song” performed by Run River North
Recorded at HUM Music
Executive Producer: Debbi Landon
Creative Director: Scott Glenn
Audio Engineer: Dan Hart
Graphics: Logan
Post Producer: Kaori Watanabe
Post Producer: Kevin Miller
Lead Design and Animation: Kristyn Solie
Design and Animation: Amy Wang
Animation: Omer Avarkan
Editorial: Cut+Run
Editor: Sean Stender
Head of Production: Amburr Farls
Executive Producer: Carr Schilling
Managing Director: Michelle Eskin
VFX: Jogger Studios
Creative Director: David Parker
Telecine Company: Company 3
Colorist: Sean Coleman