It is summer in Argentina, and there is a man staring out his window at you.
The heat has gone to his head. Miserable 90-degree days transform him from harmless curmudgeon to calculating sadist. He literally wants to set you on fire. You are smelly, and sweaty. Your hairy paunch is primed with greasy tanning oil. You are forcing everyone with a view of your rooftop to bear witness to your miniature excuse for a bathing suit. Your every attempt to ease your own discomfort disgusts the man. Luckily for you, he's way too comfortable in his air-conditioned home to come out and, you know, kill you.
This is the new sales pitch for BGH air conditioners from Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi. The agency had a major hit for the same client last year with the "Dads in Briefs" campaign, which won gold at Cannes in June. This year's effort, directed by former Fallon creative director Juan Cabral, now of MJZ, takes the exaggerated-reality tone in a more violent direction, but keeps the horror-flick overtones just ridiculous enough to avoid becoming truly unsettling. It's not as relatable as last year's campaign—more people have dads lounging around in their underwear than have murderous stalkers. But it's packed with rich bits of misanthropic insight, like "Stinking people, sweating away their dignity," as well as evocative visuals like the scraggly dog sniffing at an unidentified puddle, on which we'd prefer not to speculate further.
Will it sell more air conditioners? Maybe to peeping toms.
CREDITS
Client: BGH
Agency: Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Executive Creative Directors: Maxi Itzkoff, Mariano Serkin
Creative Directors: Diego Medvedocky, Ignacio Ferioli
Copywriters: Matias Eusebi, Nicolas Diaco
Art Directors: Ammiel Fazzari, Ezequiel De Luca
Agency Producers: Adrian Aspani, Lucila D'Amico, Felipe Calvino
Production Company: MJZ
Production Company: Labhouse
Director: Juan Cabral
Executive Producer: Debbie Turner
Executive Producer: Flora Fernandez Marengo
Producer: Natalia Mussolana
Director of Photography: Barbara Alvarez
Post-Production: Bitt Animation
Editor: Emiliano Fardaus
Music: Circle of Sound
Sound: La Casa Post