Barton F. Graf 9000's commercials for Little Caesars have gotten so superbly, satisfyingly stupid, I can actually feel my brain cells bubble and melt like gooey mozzarella as I watch the goofy vignettes flicker across the screen.
In "Woods," a pair of campers say they've heard a deranged clown lurks nearby—and that Little Caesars has $5 Hot-N-Ready pizzas. "You heard right!" barks the clown as he skitters by, carrying a pizza box and literally tooting his own horn. Funny? Kind of. Stupid? D'oh yeah! Honk! Honk!
In "Office," the idiocy builds in stages (just like it does in every workplace). First, a white-collar drone tells some conference-room suits about the five-buck pizzas, and the suits are all, "Yeah! Woo-hoo!" It's mildly stupid. Then he turns to some Japanese execs and tells them the same thing, in Japanese, and the execs are all, "Yeah! Woo-hoo!"—in Japanese. That's stupider. Then the guy walks up to some office machines and in a silly robo-voice informs them of the pizza deal, and the machines are all, "Yeah! Woo-hoo!"—in non-verbal, techno fashion. Laptops spark, connections crackle, and sheets of paper fly like confetti from the printer and fax.
Boo-yah! That's Kentucky-kicks-ass stupid!
It's also a smart way of providing quick entertainment and building goodwill for the brand. Both spots were directed by Harold Einstein.
CREDITS
Client: Little Caesars
Agency: Barton F. Graf 9000, New York
Director: Harold Einstein
Production Company: Station Film
Executive Producer: Eric Liney
Editing: MacKenzie Cutler
Editor: Dave Anderson
Assistant Editor: Michael Rizzo
Exective Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Audio: Heard City
Audio Engineer: Philip Loeb
Music: Egg Music
Telecine Company: Company 3
Color: Tim Masik
Finishing: Smigital
Smoke Artist: Jimmy Hayhow