Sexytime gets weird, and then weirder, in Y&R New York's amusing new commercial for MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, featuring actors dressed up as common sexting emoji pairs suddenly getting joined by giant condoms.
Banana and donut, eggplant and peach, pointer finger and OK sign—these emoji partners all embark on amorous trysts, but apparently (like the teens the spot is aimed at) they aren't using protection. That changes when wrapped condoms join the fun.
The tagline is: "Make foreplay a threesome. Add a condom."
The campaign, timed to World AIDS Day on Tuesday, includes a condom emoji keyboard built by Snaps, available at safesext.mtv.com. (Yes, Durex has been campaigning to create a condom emoji, but hasn't scored so far, so this is the next best thing for sexts.)
The spot was directed by Oscar-winning film editor Angus Wall. The emoji costumes were made by Casey Storm, costume designer for Where the Wild Things Are. We're told the actors playing the emojis were mostly dancers, and that the woman playing the donut was a circus performer who had to stay contorted in oblique crunches during filming.
CREDITS
Client: MTV/Staying Alive Foundation
SVP, Social Responsibility, Viacom International Media Networks and Executive Director, MTV Staying Alive Foundation: Georgia Arnold
VP, Creative Director, Social Responsibility, Viacom International Media Networks: Julie Allen
Agency: Y&R New York
Chief Creative Officer: Leslie Sims
Vice President, Group Creative Director: Nathalie Brown
Associate Creative Director: Kate Lummus
Executive Director of Integrated Production, Producer: Greg Lotus
Digital Producer: Catherine Patterson
Head of Design: Hamish Mcarthur
Chief Strategy Officer: Dick deLange
Strategy Director: Mary Mazza
Strategists: Alison Geraghty, Ethan Scott
Account Management: Ruchi Ruparel, Tre Jordan
Production Company: Elastic
Director: Angus Wall
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall
Producer, Live Action: Kelly Christensen
Designers: Lyn Cho, Erika Bird, Jon Foresman
Art Director: Leanne Dare
Costume Designer: Casey Storm
Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Austyn Daines
Executive Producer: Angela Dorian
Producer, Postproduction: Helena Lee
Music: Travis+Maude
Executive Producer: Kala Sherman
Creative Director, Composer: David Wittman
Emoji Keyboard Developer: Snaps
Founder: Vivian Rosenthal
Chief Executive Officer: Christian Brucculeri
Chief Innovation Officer: Dan Kaufman
Head of Product: Austin Bone
Director of Client Services: Chris Brown
Modstar
Executive Producer: Biagio Goetzke
Designer: Alex Sheyn
Photographer: Olivia Bee
