For Yoplait, Wieden + Kennedy has moved on from Phoebe Neidhardt to Dominic Purcell, getting the actor to subvert his tough-guy image ... and become "A Man of Yogurt."
In two new ads (four more are on the way), Purcell extolls the texture and flavor of Yoplait's Greek yogurt. When we think of ideal yogurt pitchmen, the guy who played Dracula in Blade: Trinity and Lincoln Burrows in Prison Break isn't the most intuitive choice, but that's the point. After seeing a billion yogurt ads with grinning middle-aged women having a giggle about digestion, some variety is welcome to the category.
The humor in these spots relies on hearing Purcell—who looks like he fights people in bars for money—say words like "tum-tum" and joke about his naturally menacing face (without looking like he's joking). It is funny, but a little unsettling, too.
We can't be the only ones who want to get the locks changed when he describes Yoplait Whips as "a little fluffy cloud in my mouth."
"Where the most fun came in was when you took what makes Yoplait Greek 100 so unique—its great taste, its unique flavors and its light and fluffy texture when it's whipped—and applied those softer, gentler attributes to our tough guy," Karl Lieberman, creative director at W+K, says on the Yoplait blog."Suddenly, this man of pure intensity gained a lighter, softer side that made the whole thing pretty funny and interesting in our minds. We talked about various potential 'tough guys' for the campaign, but Dominic was inevitable."
Credits below.
CREDITS
Client: Yoplait
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Karl Lieberman / Eric Baldwin
Copywriter: Shaine Edwards
Art Director: Matt Carroll
Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Strategic Planning: Angela Jones / Carly Presho-Dunne
Media, Communications Planning: Zenith Optimedia; W+K Media
Account Team: Ken Smith / Kelly Quinn
Business Affairs: Anna Beth Nagel
Project Management: Carolyn Domme
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fiztloff
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Director: Mark Romanek
Executive Producer: Eric Stern
Line Producer: Paul Ure
Director of Photography: Robert Hardy
Editing Company: Joint Editorial
Editor: Steve Sprinkel
Post Producer: Lauren Pullano
Executive Post Producer: Leslie Carthy
Visual Effects, Titles, Graphics: Joint Editorial
Visual Effects Supervisor: Alex Thiesen
Flame Artist: Pilon Lectez
Music, Sound Company: Extreme Music
Sound Designer: Noah Woodburn
