Barry the Biscuit Boy splashes onto the scene in a slam-dunk spot for British dairy Cravendale, a cautionary tale from Wieden + Kennedy in London and production house Blinkink.
The heady mix of puppetry and computer animation milks every drop of self-conscious craziness from the script. Barry, literally a cookie-kid, swims in a creamy lake to illustrate how, if the spot's irritatingly addictive jingle can be believed, "you could lose your head over Cravendale." (In the real world, there's "Barry-flavored" Cravendale milk with bits of biscuit for fans who can't get enough.)
"Cravendale is the only branded milk in the U.K., and it needs to stand apart from the ubiquity of cheaper own-label milk in the supermarket," W+K creative director Sam Heath tells AdFreak. "So the spots need to cut through on a limited media spend and somehow lodge the thought in people's minds that Cravendale is superior in some way. The more memorably you do that, the more effective the work is."
The team strived to create "a beautifully detailed, incredibly crafted world that felt charmingly old school and yet quirky and modern at the same time," says Heath. "In the end, the whole thing was brought to life mostly in-camera using a combination of traditional techniques. So all the sets are real models with painted backdrops, and Barry is either puppeteered or animated stop-frame or sometimes a combination of both."
Unlike Chips Ahoy's recently unpacked ads starring cute and mischievous anthropomorphized treats, Barry's adventure has deliciously creepy overtones, as have past cartoon creations from W+K's Cravendale team. Speaking of which, the brand has apparently given those cats with thumbs the finger and sent them packing—at least for now. No doubt many fans will miss the fiendish felines, who clawed their way through some uber-popular ads.
Sorry, kitties. That's how the cookie crumbles.
Credits below.
CREDITS
Client: Cravendale
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, London
Executive Creative Directors: Tony Davidson, Kim Papworth
Creative Director: Sam Heath
Creatives: Max Batten, Ben Shaffery
Producer: Lou Hake
Production Company: Blinkink
Directors: Andrew Thomas Huang, Joseph Mann
Puppetry: Jonny Sabbagh, Will Harper
Executive Producer: James Stevenson Bretton
Producer: Benjamin Lole
Director of Photography: Matt Day