Why Subaru Took a Family Pig to the City
How do you showcase the sheer amount of space a brand new vehicle has to offer? Do you directly tell the audience about it and proclaim how exciting it is? Do you do everything but say the words while repeatedly showcasing all the use for this feature? Or, do you let it happen naturally, through storytelling?
For Subaru Canada and agency Zulu Alpha Kilo (ZAK), the third option was the only choice when showcasing the three-row ‘Ascent’ SUV. Rather than talk about the space, they let viewers of the 90-second spot figure it out naturally, all while taking in the adorable story of a farm girl and her pet pig - both of whom end up travelling from the countryside to see the sights of the city.
Serving as a continuation of the brand’s ‘Welcome to Uncommon’ platform which launched in 2021, the work is not only heartfelt, but emphasises the capability of Subaru’s vehicles to enable uncommon yet joyful experiences that simply won’t be found elsewhere.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with the teams from ZAK and Subaru to discuss all of this, and naturally, find out what it was like to work with the pig.
LBB> This campaign serves as a follow up to Subaru’s ‘Welcome to Uncommon’ brand platform. As such, what was the brief?
Subaru> ‘Ascent’ is a fairly new nameplate for us, so we needed a breakthrough way to communicate the fact that it’s the largest Subaru ever.
‘Welcome to Uncommon’ has been a great success in differentiating Subaru in the marketplace. The emotional and unexpected storytelling that goes with our brand campaign was the perfect complement for our approach to communicating the Ascent.
ZAK> The brief was nice and simple: showcase the Ascent’s size and spacious interior in an uncommon way. Our brains immediately went to multiple ways to showcase size and space through storytelling. We wanted the viewer to come along for the ride and fill in the space of what we’re trying to communicate.
LBB> Creatively speaking, telling the story of a farm girl and her pig is a great way to showcase the interior space of the car. What made the idea of journeying to the city so perfect for this campaign?
ZAK> The Ascent target is urban families, so we knew we needed to show the vehicle in an urban setting. And we loved the idea of this farm pig going to the city for the first time. It gave the story more of an arc!
LBB> The pig is super cute! Did you know from the start you wanted to work with a pig, or were there other animals in consideration?
ZAK> Thank you (on behalf of Wilbur)! We knew the animal needed to be bigger than a dog to make our point about space, but also small enough to fit into an Ascent seat, which ruled out cows and horses pretty quickly. We did consider a goat at one point, but goats don’t sit on their hind legs as naturally as pigs do, which would have made the interior shots a challenge. Plus, pigs are cuter than goats (sorry, goats).
LBB> Who directed the spot, and what made them perfect for the job?
ZAK> Jon + Torey, a directing duo based out of LA, shot the spot. We’ve wanted to work with them for a while, and this job felt like the perfect opportunity. They had so much passion for the project and had ideas for how we could elevate the story right out of the gate. From the initial call, it was clear they were right for this.
LBB> What was the shooting experience like?
ZAK> We definitely didn't make it easy on ourselves by shooting with animals and children. The production team did a great job maximising our time with both - all while fighting for daylight. It made for a stressful shoot which was only compounded by the sound of a pig squealing… a sound we still hear to this day when we close our eyes.
Subaru> We shot in Vancouver over two days, fortunately with good weather. The pig was very cute and stole the hearts of everyone on set, especially the girl. She was enamoured with the pig which made the shoot feel natural and organic. We also had a chance to observe how smart and intelligent pigs really are, as we managed to get each shot exactly as conceptualised.
LBB> Tell us more about working with a pig! What was that experience like?
ZAK> Jon + Torey found a great pig trainer in LA who did an excellent job reminding us that pigs can only do so much. So, we scripted Wilbur’s actions to be as minimal as possible.
Considering we were working with a live pig with four weeks of training and no experience on set, it was actually surprisingly smooth. It was a bit like working with a celebrity. Everyone knew to keep their distance and to not do anything that might upset it or cause it to storm off set.
LBB> Beyond that, what was casting like? What were you looking for in your actors, and what made you go with the choices you did?
ZAK> For us, it really came down to casting the perfect girl. We decided to cast the lead first, and build the family out from there. When casting first came in, Jacob Gawrysiak (creative director) sent us a screenshot of the girl we ended up casting… before anyone had even looked at the tapes!
She had a great look. Wholesome, but not too commercial. Someone you could see living on a farm. We brought a pig to the callback session to make sure the kids were as comfortable around real pigs as they said they’d be, and that sealed it for us. She was so natural.
LBB> The accompanying music fits the spot perfectly! How did you work with OSO to bring this element to life?
ZAK> Knowing that music would play a big part in shaping the tone of the spot, we wanted to be open-minded and explore a bunch of different tones and genres. We’ve worked with Harry Knazan and Daenen Bramberger at OSO on a couple Subaru projects, and what we’ve found works best with original music is landing on one or two reference tracks before the writers are briefed. It ensures we’re all on the same page at the outset, and reduces spin down the road.
In this case, the hardest part was actually landing on those references. We put a ton of reference tracks to picture before narrowing it down. The track that’s on the spot came back in the first round, and was OSO’s recommendation.
LBB> Do you have any memorable lessons learned from the making of this new campaign?
ZAK> As good as CGI has become, it still doesn’t quite compare to the real thing. We initially looked at leveraging CGI to help enhance the pig’s expressions and give it a bit more emotion, but ultimately decided to not include these elements. It wasn't so much the look of the CGI as it was the character of the pig not feeling quite right. We opted to keep the natural and less expressive version, so the pig remained real throughout!
Subaru> By focusing on a simple, heart-warming relationship between a little girl and her pig, we were able to demonstrate that our vehicles can enable and elevate the lives of our customers.
LBB> And what has the initial response been like?
ZAK> The response has been overwhelmingly positive. It's hard not to like a spot with a cute pig!
Subaru> We’re seeing very strong sales results for Ascent, and a lot of positive feedback online. People have fallen in love with the pig. They’ve also fallen in love with the original music track from the ad.
LBB> How does this campaign fit into your brand’s goals for 2023 and beyond?
Subaru> We’re always looking for uncommon ways to tell our brand’s story and demonstrate that Subaru delivers an elevated experience that exceeds expectations. This campaign really resonated with people on an emotional level because of the connection between the girl, pig and the vehicle. That’s what we’re always going for with ‘Welcome to Uncommon’.
LBB> Finally, what does the theme of ‘Welcome to Uncommon’ mean to you?
Subaru> Quite simply put - Subaru empowers uncommon experiences. This means we go above and beyond to empower extraordinary customer experiences and exceed expectations at every opportunity.
