Häagen-Dazs Reunites Fast & Furious Cast for the Super Bowl

After hinting at a high-octane car chase, with a Chevrolet SS Chevelle and Plymouth Belvedere stalking a Häagen-Dazs truck in two 15-second teasers, the ice cream brand’s full ad for the Super Bowl has turned out to be ‘Not So Fast, Not So Furious’.

Set to air in the third quarter of the Big Game, the spot was created by New York-based indie agency nice&frank and directed by Park Pictures' Lance Acord, and slows down the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise to an unprecedented, soothing speed. 

In the 30-second film, Dom Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, and Michelle Rodriguez’s character, Letty Ortiz, enjoy a sunny cruise along the coast in a customised Häagen-Dazs convertible Chevelle. Ludacris as Tej Parker also makes a surprise appearance to tell them to speed up, only to be told ‘not today’ as the pair enjoy an ice cream and turn up Smokey Robinson’s ‘Cruisin’ on the stereo.

Speaking to LBB, nice&frank’s creative director, Nicole LeLacheur, says that the Super Bowl ad was part of the pitch proposal when the agency won the AOR account for Häagen-Dazs in the summer. “They really wanted to kick off this new strategic platform and own ‘slowing down and savouring the moment’ and really sparking what we call ‘the slow rebellion’.

“We were super excited to sink our teeth into interesting ways of slowing down the Super Bowl,” she adds. “It's such a chaotic, fast-paced, hectic creative arena, and they really wanted to do something that felt unexpected and different in that space.”

This idea of flipping ‘fast’ on its head became the creative mechanism behind the project’s concepting, and while not strictly necessary, a celebrity or franchise tie-in was circled early on. “We had a lot of ideas around sports, music and, of course, film – and what film is faster than ‘Fast & Furious’?”

To use the IP and play off of the franchise’s iconography and visual stylings, the team had to approach Universal Pictures – and the films’ star, Vin Diesel, who is heavily involved in their production.

“Luckily, Vin Diesel was immediately in love with the idea,” says Nicole. “He felt really connected to it. He actually has been hit up to do a number of ads in the past, and has typically said no. But when he read our script, he felt like we understood the franchise and we weren't trying to take it into a vastly different place.”

In fact, the idea was to misdirect audiences into thinking they were about to get another chapter of the franchise, before slowing everything down and showing the series in a new light. “We wanted to make it feel like a hidden scene or something that could have lived within that world,” she says, explaining that the team studied the films and characters intently. “They really do embody savouring the moment, living in the moment, and being really close to one another. So it’s a really nice juxtaposition with Häagen-Dazs and what they stand for.”

She continues, “[Vin] also felt connected to the brand, and grew up enjoying Häagen-Dazs, so it spoke to him and he truly felt like he could get behind it and co-collaborate with us.”

nice&frank also collaborated closely with recent ‘Fast & Furious’ director, Louis Leterrier, who acted as a consultant and helped make the ad more authentic – and more Super Bowl-worthy. Shot part on-location and part on blue screen at Universal Pictures, this Big Game grandeur was only enhanced by director and cinematographer Lance Acord, who had chemistry with the team, having previously worked with CCO Laura Petruccelli.

Possessing a knack for ‘flipping genres’, Nicole shares that Lance shaped the spot into a more “holistic” storyline, creating a mysterious misdirect moment with the car chase teaser films. A “protector of the details”, Lance helped lead the customisation of the Chevelle, and found an intersection between the commercial and feature worlds, creating immersion in the ‘Fast & Furious’ universe while keeping the ice cream at the centre.

Smokey Robinson’s ‘Cruisin’ is the tongue-in-cheek cherry on top – a touch added after 30 to 50 tracks were tested during the edit with Exile’s Shane Reid. This post production process – and the difficulty in making a “punchy” 30-second spot – was the biggest challenge, says Nicole.

“There’s just a lot of variables to get into a really clean 30 seconds, and you also want to protect some of the lightness… The edit was actually, to me, one of the most challenging pieces –  finding all the nuance and moments of levity while also making sure it still felt true to the ‘Fast’ franchise.”

But having started the creative ideation in summer with a team of fewer than 10, Nicole couldn’t be more pleased with the final result. “I’m so proud that in our first year or two of existence, we were able to have this opportunity and pull it off. Most agencies have a stacked team behind a Super Bowl campaign, so I think we beat all the odds.

“I’m proud of the experience we had as a team, just getting it done, and the trust that was built –  Laura trusting in me and Erica [Stevens, creative director], and Häagen-Dazs trusting in nice&frank as a new agency. There were a lot of trust falls that happened throughout the whole process, and I think that's a testament to how good creative work comes from trust and believing in each other.”

And the work isn’t yet over. To continue the slow ride, Häagen-Dazs is bringing an experiential campaign to life in the build up to the Big Game. For the spot, nice&frank collaborated with the team behind the ‘Fast & Furious’ cars, visiting the garage to see iconic vehicles from the series and help pick out interior design details. “There was definitely a bit of visual direction, but we leant on the people who know this world and, ultimately, we just wanted Häagen-Dazs to feel like it was their ice cream in car form.”

So as the Super Bowl draws nearer, they partnered with West Coast Customs to create a similar branded ‘63 Cadillac convertible (with ice cream freezer) to drive the 1,900-mile road trip from LA to New Orleans, with prizes to be won.

“What a ride!” said Elizabell Marquez, chief marketing officer at Dreyer’s, in a brand announcement. “Getting to pair up with one of the most notable franchises and talent in film history was everything we were looking for. The mutual love and admiration between both of our brands made this a brilliant idea from day one. We invite fans to help bring our Vanilla Milk Chocolate Almond Bar to America’s biggest day in sports.”