How This Cider Brand Made ‘Angry’ Desirable
Surprise parties are either the thing of nightmares or the thing of dreams – there really is no in between. In the instance of cider brand Angry Orchard’s latest campaign, it’s clear what side of the spectrum this unsuspecting birthday girl sits on.
The surprise, in this case, comes when the previously pro-surprise party guests decide that they too, really hate the idea… like really hate it. Chaos ensues – there’s screaming (lots of it), tables are flipped, windows are smashed, balloons are popped, and someone swings around on a ceiling fan. It’s an uninhibited descent into chaos that is only subdued by a taste of Angry Orchard cider.
Directed by directing duo Fatal Farm (Zachary Johnson and Jeffrey Max) through Neighborhood Watch and creative agency Kirby, Dryer & Sullivan, the spot sees the brand “embrace unabashed yelling,” and “fully commit to the bit” as it goes all-in on humour.
Speaking with Fatal Farm and Kirby, Dryer & Sullivan ECD Jeff Dryer, LBB’s Abi Lightfoot goes behind the scenes of the campaign that makes anger desirable.
LBB> Jeff, what brief did Kirby Dryer & Sullivan receive from Angry Orchard, and how did you initially respond?
Jeff> The brief: Craft a bold, simple communication concept that revitalises Angry Orchard's essence throughout every consumer touchpoint, reigniting the brand's relevance and enhancing its appeal.
We pushed them to take what made them different and make it meaningful to people.
They owned ‘angry’. The next step was to make ‘angry’ desirable.
LBB> Fatal Farm, what caught your attention about the brief?
Fatal Farm> The scripts were appealing right from the beginning because they do something we love to see in advertising: blowing an everyday nuisance way out of proportion. Anger and screaming are great comedic catalysts, and in our opinion, way underutilised in commercials. It was pretty noteworthy that Angry Orchard, as a brand, was excited to push boundaries and embrace unabashed yelling in their spots. Sometimes comedy spots can feel very safe, and we appreciate when a brand has the confidence to know something is funny even when it could be a little risky.
LBB> Wow, the surprise party in this campaign really didn’t land well. Did you draw on any particular human insight or experience to craft this kind of response?
Fatal Farm> A surprise party is basically a prank, and getting pranked makes you feel foolish. It's humiliating. To have had NO idea someone was planning an entire PARTY for you, going behind your back, talking to all your friends, just to TRICK you. It's a betrayal. If anyone threw either of us a surprise party, we'd react exactly the same way the woman in the commercial does.
LBB> There is an incredible amount of screaming in the spot – how did you go about casting the right actors? Was there any kind of ‘scream metre’ used to help find the perfect sound?
Fatal Farm> We went through hundreds of thousands of casting tapes of people screaming at the top of their lungs. At least it felt like that many. And then after that, we brought the best screamers into a casting studio to scream for us in person. The ‘scream metre’ was something like how many of us in the room had a headache after each performer did their thing.
LBB> Anger seems to be contagious in this spot, spreading from the unimpressed birthday girl to the guests too, with their reactions becoming more and more outlandish. How did you set about crafting this descent into chaos?
Fatal Farm> Quick edits escalated the premise, and each shot had to top the previous one – except for the moment when the older woman pops the balloon. That was a de-escalation. We set an expectation, topped it, subverted it, and then topped it again. We knew that the density of gags would make for something memorable and impactful.
LBB> The spot is a lot of fun to watch, so I’m guessing it was also a lot of fun to film – what was your most memorable moment of the production experience?
Fatal Farm> When we pitched the shot of the guy spinning around on the ceiling fan, we weren't entirely certain our proposed methodology would work, but everyone took their piece of it and figured out how to make it work, and that became our favorite shot in the spot. Our actor and stunt performer, Jeff Budner, did an incredible job along with the rest of the stunt rigging team. Our cinematographer, Tom Banks, crafted a clever lighting solution to sell the gag, and our VFX partners at KEVIN stitched it all together seamlessly. Filmmaking is actually very fun when your idea works!
LBB> The immense amount of anger quickly dissipates thanks to a taste of Angry Orchard cider, immediately taking the drama level down from 10 to 0 – how did you create this moment of contrast and quiet?
Fatal Farm>The sound design is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. We knew that the ‘PSHHH’ of the bottles opening would cut off the screams and that the angry ‘AHHHHs’ would transition to satiated ‘AHHHHs’ underneath that one sound effect. A lot of credit goes to our editor, Sam Selis, for piecing that all together. He made that, and every other cut look effortless. Fitting everything into these spots was a challenge unto itself, and he managed to get every gag in.
LBB> Anything else you’d like to add?
Fatal Farm> Just that it was a pleasure working with the whole team involved on this campaign. Everyone we collaborated with made this a standout for us, and we're honoured to have been trusted with the work. We hope this solidifies us as THE go-to directors for spots with a ton of screaming and breaking stuff.
LBB> Jeff, why was branching into comedy and the absurd the right choice for this campaign?
LBB> And why were Fatal Farm the perfect directors to take on the project?
Jeff> Fatal Farm is well-versed in turning angry energy into comedy gold. Their prior work on things like ‘I Think You Should Leave’ gave us full confidence that they knew how to walk that tightrope. They've also been masters at visually absurdist humour for years, and we knew they'd nail this.
LBB> What was your most memorable moment of the production experience?
Jeff> Because we shot at night in the middle of the winter, it was potentially anger-inducingly cold. But despite the absolutely frigid temperatures, the overall spirit and energy of the set was as fun as the ads themselves. We had a blast watching people get furious.
