from Lewis Lazare: A new campaign for Sierra Mist from BBDO/New York that broke Sunday night on the Academy Awards telecast is refreshingly different for several reasons. For one thing, the campaign employs a different approach, using an ensemble of sketch comedians in a series of improvised commercials that are positioned as “sitcommercials.”
And it’s great to note the work is — for the most part — intelligent in the way it tries to be humorous about Sierra Mist without resorting to gross, excessively dumb or needlessly shocking shenanigans to impress the teen and twentysomething target demographic.
None of the spots was fully scripted, we’re told. Rather, the creative team at BBDO provided the core situation in each commercial, and then allowed the talent to use their skills to flesh out the proceedings. The resulting material was then smartly edited to create a finished 30-second spot.