BETC and Canal+ together produced one of the most beloved ads of recent years in "The Bear," a hilarious and impeccably produced spot that won the Film Craft Grand Prix at Cannes in 2012. The French agency and client are now back with their latest commercial—an intriguingly odd production starring a bunch of dwarf clowns.
Why dwarf clowns? The spot promotes a new Canal+ channel, launching this month, that's fully dedicated to TV series. The great thing about TV series is you're always dying to see what happens next. Likewise, in watching this ad, the viewer has no idea who these dwarf clowns are, or what they're going to do next. And then, at the end, it turns out, rather absurdly, that they've been subjected to a cliffhanger themselves, which explains their peripatetic behavior.
"The idea was to make an intriguing film that creates suspense—you can't wait to find out how it ends. Just like when you watch a good series," says Stéphane Xiberras, president and chief creative officer of BETC Paris. "This was one of the reasons we chose dwarf clowns; in great series there's often something a bit odd about the unusual characters that makes you become attached to them—a cop serial killer, a depressed mafioso, a family of undertakers."
The spot was shot in Vancouver this summer. It was directed by Steve Rogers and will be followed by an outdoor campaign all over France. Credits below.
CREDITS
Client: Canal+
Client Management: Alice Holzman, Elodie Bassinet, Anne-Gaëlle Petri, Coline André
Agency: BETC Paris
Agency Management: Bertille Toledano, Guillaume Espinet, Alix de Luze, Pauline Filippi, Marius Chiumino
Executive Creative Director: Stephane Xiberras
Copywriter: Jean-Christophe Royer
Art Director: Eric Astorgue
Assistant Art Director: Damien Binello
Strategic Planning: Clarisse Lacarrau, Vianney Vaute
Traffic: Coralie Chasset
TV Producer: Isabelle Menard
Production Company: Wanda
Producer: Jérôme Denis
Sound Production: Kouz
Director: Steve Rogers
