If there's a better way to sell folks on Copper Mountain skiing than dressing actors up as urine—yes, urine!—I'm certainly not aware of it.
That's just one of four loopy anatomical scenarios that Seattle agency Wexley School for Girls sends careening down the slopes to illustrate, in no uncertain terms, that "Everyone deserves a snow day"—preferably at the Colorado resort.
Cal McAllister, agency co-founder and creative director, explains: "Everyone else in the ski industry shows someone carving down the mountain on a sunny day. Yawn." So, for this campaign, dubbed "One Two Free!", the Wexley team—many of whom are snow sports enthusiasts—opted for a more visceral approach.
"When someone is pretty sure they are about to have one of their favorite days of the year, things happen to the body," McAllister says. "We wanted to capture the physiological changes that happen when your body has the thrill of hearing your day just got wide open. Copper doesn't just get that, they live it."
In this spot, a mustachioed guy representing the heart—though he looks more like a pro wrestler who hasn't won a match in years—gets awfully pumped up about a day at the resort:
In this one, a neuron that resembles an alien reject from Lost in Space (or possibly one of Katy Perry's dancers) strikes just the right chord:
And, channeling 2001: A Space Odyssey, here's the perfect pupil for a skiing lesson:
With the bizarre sets and performers in wacky customs, McAllister says the shoot was a veritable avalanche of fun. "Sometimes you found yourself standing on an eye that is trying to blink, or saying, 'Yo, like a pee drop would ever say that,' " he says,.
That definitely makes for a surreal answer to the question, "What did you do today?"
CREDITS
Client: Copper Mountain Resort
Agency: Wexley School for Girls, Seattle
Executive Creative Director: Cal McAllister
Director of Production: Gabe Hajiani
Project Management Supervisor: Dee Dee Jones
Writer: Matt Kappler
Art Director: Lindell Serrin
Associate Producer: Tara Cooke
Account Director: Jordan Karr
Account Managers: Josh Brewer, Nick Minnott
Production Company: Dos Rios
Director: Mark Mirabile
Executive Producer: Paul Breslin
Director of Photography: Ryan Purcell
Gaffer: Vince Climek
Key Grip: Michael LePard
Swing: Issac Lane
Art Director: Oscar Lofgren
Art Assistant: Beth Batson
Costume Designer: Ron Leamon
Wardrobe Assistant: Jerrard Parr
Visual Effects Director: Trent Woolford
Audio Mixer: Matt Sheldon
Production Assistants: Anne Marie Zerba, Mike Wells, Bryce Patridge
Editing Company: Dos Rios
Editor: Trent Woolford
Audio Company: Bad Animals
Sound Designer, Mixer: Dave Howe
Talent: Chip Wood, Max Harris, Jesse LaTourette, Jonathan Shue, Joanna Becher, David Hogan, Ernie Hall, Daniel Deal, Lucy Pearce, Casey Vrla