In the Backseat with Publicis & MPC on Heineken Ad

Drinking and driving is a definite no-no. So, to bring this message home to beer lovers everywhere, Publicis Milan's latest offering for Heineken adopted an unusual 'No Thanks' tagline last week - a far cry from the ideas of liberation and losing inhibitions that normally plague beer ads.

shots caught up with some of the insiders on the job to find out what it took to bring the campaign to life, why they thought the 'No Thanks' tagline would work and the challenges of resurrecting a younger Sir Jackie Stewart - the star of the ad and legendary Formula 1 driver.

Marco Venturelli (R) and Luca Cinquepalmi, ECDs, Publicis Milan:

What was the brief on the job?

The brief was to make a strong, clear and bold statement about drinking and driving; to show Heineken’s commitment to promoting responsible consumption (especially ahead of the new F1 sponsorship launch) and to raise awareness among the target audience that when it comes to driving, NEVER DRINK.

What inspired you to tell Jackie Stewart’s story and to shoot it in documentary-style?

We felt that such a delicate subject needed to be told in an honest and relatable, yet also straightforward way. That way, the message is more believable and less patronizing when it comes from someone who knows what it means to risk their life.

Sir. Jackie Stewart is a living legend. He was a Formula 1 champion back when it was a very dangerous sport and he is a pioneer when it comes to safety on the track. In fact, the reason F1 is not as dangerous anymore is mostly down to his commitment to safety.

What were the biggest challenges in realising this spot and how did you overcome them?

Technically-talking, the challenge was how to use original footage to tell the story authentically. Director Gary Freedman did a terrific job, looking through hours and hours of footage to find those few frames that could be used to reject the Heineken’s bottle. Most scenes came from Polanski’s documentary Weekend of a Champion (below) and from Sir Jackie’s son's archives.

The ‘No Thanks’ tagline carries a much greater message – don’t drink and drive – while also inadvertently selling Heineken. Why did you feel that this approach and message works for this particular ad story?

The ‘No Thanks’ tagline states the right to reject the product in social occasions, when you drive. Heineken has a consistent and creative history of campaigns aimed to make moderate drinking not only acceptable, but actually cool. And no one can argue that Sir Jackie isn’t cool.

Bill McNamara, CD, MPC:

Tell me about the VFX process on this job and what made it particularly complicated…

We embraced the look and feel of the camera work in Polanski’s film and that became the style guide for crafting our shots.

Director Gary Freedman and editor Adam Spivey worked closely with our artists and producers at MPC to plan the shoot. A performance from Jackie was sourced from the original film and a plate was then shot with a stand-in for Jackie and other actors in order to create the new scene.

This plate was carefully choreographed; matching the action of the body double to the action in Jackie’s original plate. We then seamlessly married the footage of Jackie’s head into the shot plate, paying careful attention to match the grade, grain and any film damage from the original footage.

This was a real challenge in the pit stop scene, where Jackie is offered a Heineken by members of the pit crew. The original footage of Jackie was taken from a scene in Polanski’s film where Jackie is getting out of the shower and there is a towel around his neck. We shot the new scene with the stand-in and the other mechanics; carefully tracking the original footage of Jackie into the plate.

How important was it for the flashback scenes to be believable?

It was incredibly important to match the style and feel of the original film so all the scenes seamlessly flow together and feel as if they could have been part of the original documentary.

Jean-Clément Soret, Global CD of colour grading, MPC:

The flashback scenes are either filmed in black and white or in a slightly grainier colour, while the scenes with Jackie Stewart present day are much sharper and more vibrant. How did you create this distinction and why did you feel this difference in texture was necessary?

The look and texture of the flashback scenes were partly dictated by the quality of the original footage used. The new material has to match the old one so the audience doesn't question which shots are authentic from the ones made up. The look is also representative of an era, shot on 16mm reversal film stock transfered onto video tape from various telecines with their own charateristics. We carefully analysed the colours and analog artefacts and reproduced them as faithfully as possible.