La Marca Prosecco's Dazzling Spot Embraces its Italian Roots

Since meeting in art school, Italian natives Marc & Gio have helmed campaigns for a long list of clients including Jeep, Coca-Cola, Luxottica, Fiat, and have made names for themselves as directors with a cinematic style and a knack for cultivating big emotion.

The La Marca Prosecco spot is no exception. Entitled 'Optimism is a Mindset,' the campaign draws amply on their Italian roots. The dazzling 60-second spot follows a young woman through the streets of sunny Syracuse, Sicily, as the ancient seaside town around her transforms into images of smiling faces, uplifting sayings, and disco balls, and sings with the effervescent joy of a just-popped bottle of prosecco. Next to its aesthetic triumphs, the spot also uses an impressive array of visual effects - including the believable filling of two champagne flutes out of thin air.

The spot is inspired by Cinettá, the famed 20th-century film studio in Rome known for being Fellini’s stomping ground, and as the location where major pictures like Cleopatra, Roman Holiday, and La Dolce Vita were filmed. Driven by the iconic Italian song 'Nessuno,' the ad is a love story for La Marca prosecco and for every Italian’s favourite time of day - aperitivo.

“In Italy, the end of the day is aperitivo time and it is a sacred time of day. Especially in the summer, everybody is outside. There is a certain magic when you hear those bottles pop, and we wanted to capture that,” said Marco, who (in typical Italian fashion) is interrupted by Giovanni.

“And every Italian kid grew up hearing Mina Mazzini’s ‘Nessuno’, which is like an anthem for us. It’s the song that everyone breaks out singing at parties,” said Giovanni. “The combination of this modern, Fellini-type script with ‘Nessuno’ was too good to be true.”

Marc & Gio overcame incredible challenges to wrap this shoot. Committed to the filming on-location, everything the directors and production crew needed had to be ferried to Sicily from Italy’s mainland. Plus they had to shut down the city’s square, a UNESCO heritage site, during July to complete shooting.

“We knew that we needed something big and modern but we also wanted to convey history and glamor so we immediately thought of the Sicilian town of Syracuse,” said Giovanni. “In the end, we presented what we know best - capturing feelings of pure emotion. Luckily, it all came together.”

Elliot Lucas, managing director of LA-headquartered production studio Joinery, knew it would, “The second I read the script, I thought, If this isn’t La Dolce Vita meets La Marca, I don't know what is”. I naturally thought of Italian directing duo Marc & Gio, who immediately connected with Ogilvy, and brought this dazzling script to life.”