ComfortBlend’s ‘Kittens’ cut by Beast’s Jum Ulbrich

Thread count and kitten connoisseurs alike have never been happier at the sight of the latest Hanes spot for ComfortBlend T-Shirts called, “Kittens,” a recent recipient of Adweek’s Ad of the Day. If the softest shirt this green earth has to offer is what you’re after, Hanes is certain they have your resolution.  In this spot featuring NBA basketball player Michael Jordan, an unenlightened individual sports a shirt made entirely of fluffy, white kittens.

 

Beast New York Editor Jim Ulbrich spoke to the centrepiece of the spot. “When editing, you often have to “find the comedy”, perhaps it’s the perfect reaction or an adlibbed line, but with this spot we had to constantly remind ourselves that the hero will be wearing a shirt made out of kittens, which was done later in post.” During the shoot, the hero wore a furry, white “muscle shirt” while a puppeteer brushed his face with a tail.

 

Long-time Hanes spokesperson, Michael Jordan made a cameo in the spot and his limited availability on set added to the puzzle for Jim in the edit bay. In order to obtain as much footage of Michael as possible, production used four cameras simultaneously to capture every angle of his performance. This method generated more footage than the average comedy spot and required the edit team to sync all of the cameras’ footage. “This process was more labour intensive in the beginning, but provided exponentially more options.”

 

In case the shirt made of kittens wasn’t enough to entice you, the original ending involved the hero sneezing and his “shirt” jumping off in all directions, but a creative decision was made to put faith in the effects company and craft a cut reliant on the absurdity of the kitten shirt alone.