Title | DARRELL LEA PALM OIL FREE |
Brand | DARRELL LEA |
Product / Service | CONFECTIONARY |
Category | A03. Casting |
Entrant | AKKOMPLICE Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
Idea Creation | AKKOMPLICE Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
PR | BIRDS OF PREY Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
Production | THE PRODUCERS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
Post Production | ALT VFX Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
Post Production 2 | BANG BANG STUDIOS Melbourne, AUSTRALIA |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Nathan Herbertson | Akkomplice | Senior Designer |
Kenny Hill | Akkomplice | Founder & Creative Director |
Mitch Kennedy | The Producers | Director |
Sara Oteri | Akkomplice | Executive Creative Director |
The commercial opens with the iconic music track “Freedom 90!” by George Michael. The camera tracks along the floor to a drum kit where we see a drummer in action – but this is no ordinary drummer. As the camera pulls back, we discover it’s an orangutan and she’s swept up in the joy of the track, drumming along in the rainforest. We hear George Michael cry out “…because I don’t belong to you and you don’t belong to me” before the song hits a crescendo with the “freedom” chorus, and the orangutan looks directly into the viewer’s eyes as the line appears on screen next to her: THE CHOICES YOU MAKE CAN CHANGE HER WORLD. She continues her joyful drumming as we pull back through the rainforest and see the DARRELL LEA logo appear and the final super: NOW 100% PALM OIL FREE
In the year leading up to the launch of this campaign, Zoos Victoria had publicly ejected all Cadbury confectionary from Melbourne Zoo and their other properties due to their unsustainable sourcing of palm oil. In Australia, Cadbury dominates the chocolate/confectionary segment of the market that Darrell Lea is expanding into and there is still massive awareness of their famous “Gorilla” commercial, which had a Gorilla playing the drums to an iconic rock track.
We needed the perfect talent to support our message, set the right tone for the campaign and be the face of the Darrell Lea brand for what we knew would become a highly talked about campaign. Like Andy Serkis and his portrayal of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings, the success of the orangutan at the centre of our work depended on the coming together of a great human performance and the work of digital wizards to bring the right expression and total believability to the screen. Our casting process saw us auditioning some of Australia’s top drummers who could immerse themselves into the final character of our orangutan. Each step of the casting, from human skill and performance right through to the orangutan’s eye colour, age and facial movements were heavily considered to connect with our viewer in delivering a serious message that inspired them to act.