Comedian Iliza Shlesinger Improvs Life’s Little Wins for Peet’s Iced Espresso

To launch its new canned Iced Espresso campaign, Peet’s Coffee has worked with Portland, OR-based agency North to create a series of films that explore the daily trials and tribulations that fuel the comic genius of standup comedian Iliza Shlesinger. 

As part of Peet’s #AlwaysJustified campaign, the four unscripted vignettes were inspired by actual situations Iliza, who served as creative consultant on the project, has encountered in her day-to-day life as a comedian, actress and self-proclaimed elder millennial. In one vignette, while trying on questionably fashionable outfits with her stylist, Iliza observes, “I look like an idea that was crumpled up and then thrown away.” In other vignettes, Iliza battles with the keycard reader on her hotel room door, does a spot-on impression of the velociraptor in the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park during a sound check and conducts a marathon chat session with a telemarketer.

“We are thrilled to work with Iliza for our #AlwaysJustified campaign,” says Gretchen Koch, senior director of consumer marketing, “Her vibrant and clever sense of humor connects with our target audience and taps into a relevant mindset as consumers are regularly finding ways to ‘earn’ a little indulgence. As a coffee lover and a rising star, Iliza was a perfect fit to bring this rationalising behavior to life in a fun and engaging way.” 

The films were also directed, produced and edited by North. During shooting, director Mark Ray discovered that the noise on set was an issue because people could not contain their laughter when Iliza got going with each bit of improv. Also on set was Blanche, Iliza’s Pomeranian-mix dog, who has thousands of Instagram fans and opens all of Iliza’s stand up shows. Blanche makes an appearance in 'Telemarketer' and 'Keycard.'

“Celebrity product endorsements as we've known them are over. Audiences can smell canned marketing, and brands like Peet's want true collaborations with artists and influencers” says Mark Ray, chief creative officer at North. “Iliza is one of the funniest, most talented people on the planet. But what made this work are the shared values; extraordinary dedication to craft and pushing for higher standards. Plus, free coffee.”

The work will appear on both Iliza and Peet’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter social channels starting May 20th shortly after Iliza’s live show at the Masonic in San Francisco, near Peet’s Coffee headquarters in Emeryville, California.