Gno one really gnows how hard it is to make this kind of ad. It's gnot an easy task, obviously, but in my experience, almost gnothing can keep a viewer's attention on a YouTube ad for more than a minute. Yet Mother in London has really gnocked this one out of the park for Ikea with a two-minute lawn war between a happy couple just trying to redecorate their patio and the forces of lawn-ornament evil.
For some reason, I feel like "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt should be playing behind this—possibly the version David Fincher used for The Social Gnetwork, which was (I believe) arranged by Trent Reznor of Gnine Inch Gnails.
As with many international spots, this one avoids using dialogue to drive the action and simply shows us … well, shows us a horror movie, honestly. We see the innocuous little creatures reacting violently as gnewer, gnicer lawn furniture arrives, and then their anger at rejection turns to utter rage.
I will say, as gnifty as the shots of the little dwarves running at our persecuted couple are, the really great moments here are the static shots. The surrealism of the one guy frozen in fury with an outstretched leg next to a kicked-over chair is going to be my desktop wallpaper from now on. I sort of hoped the whole thing would take place with no one except the humans moving, but that may be my love for Doctor Who clouding my judgment. The establishing shot over the ominous little red hat is awesome, as is the overhead take of the one bearded miscreant bellowing his grief at the sky, à la Platoon.
Overall, a great spot, with a great moral: Beware of those little garden, uh, things. The dwarf guys with the beards and the hats. The guys you steal and take pictures of in front of the Eiffel Tower. Elves? Gnope, that's gnot it. Fairies? Gnuts. It's right gnext to the word I'm thinking of.
CREDITS
Client: Ikea
Agency: Mother, London
Producer: Anna Murray
Creative Director: Tim & Freddie
Production Company: Biscuit Films
Director: Mike Maguire
Executive Producer: Orlando Wood
Editing Company: Final Cut
Editor: Ed Cheeseman
Postproduction, Visual Effects Company: The Mill
Visual Effects Producer: Tom Johnson
Shoot Supervisor: Peter Smith
2-D Lead Artists: Hugo Guerra, Gianluca Di Marco
2-D Artists: Gianluca Di Marco, Hugo Guerra, Kirti Daves, Sebastian Loven, Shizuka Fukuda, Greg Howe-Davies, Ola Roselind, Robert Granger, Simon Richardson
Colorist: Luke Morrison
2-D Supervisor: Hugo Guerra