Why This Canadian Agency Embodied Its Ethos with a Giant Animatronic Heart
Since 2020, Toronto-based creative agency Broken Heart Love Affair (BHLA) has been leading the way in Canada, creating memorable, beautiful, and heartfelt work for some of the country’s biggest brands.
So, given the name, playing with the idea of ‘heart’ seemed like a natural creative opportunity when the agency was tasked with creating a video for the annual Agency of the Year awards. But, what some didn’t expect was the direction the creative team went in… a giant, floating, beating, animatronic heart, which, according to the spot, is responsible for determining whether a piece of work is worth pursuing or not. Complete with enthralled deliveries of the line ‘the heart doesn’t like it’, disturbing, unhinged laughter, and a hilariously funny buzzword pitch that sounds like everyone in advertising’s worst nightmare, the work is, above all else, supremely clever, and a memorable way of representing BHLA’s ethos and, literally, beating heart.
LBB’s Josh Neufeldt sat down with the creative directors Jordan Hamer and Spencer Ryan to discuss how this idea came to pass, and what it took to bring such an extraordinary vision to life.
LBB> This spot debuted at Strategy’s Agency of the Year awards, allowing BHLA to showcase its ethos to the country in a creative way. As such, what made this the best approach on a night when the agency can be promoted in any way?
Jordan> For the past who knows how long, videos for the Strategy Agency of the Year awards have had a particular style; usually, poking fun at current trends or pop culture references. We could only imagine how many videos would be talking about AI taking our jobs or, or something dumb about Taylor and Travis, and if we had to do that, we would’ve killed ourselves. So, we did this instead.
Spencer> We knew we wanted to make something about our way of thinking, and not a video about a specific trend. Trends come and go. Heart isn’t going anywhere… hopefully.
LBB> Specifically, horror vibes and a giant floating, beating heart are not the most expected things in advertising, but for this it makes perfect sense! What was the ideation process like?
Spencer> The giant heart came first, at a café I think. We liked the idea of it sitting in the corner of a boardroom, contradicting a boring meeting that was happening.
Jordan> We were founded to create work from the heart that elicits reactions from people’s hearts. I guess it just seemed right to put it right there on the screen in a way that leaves no room for interpretation.
LBB> Tell us about the writing process! How did you make the opening spiel so ‘traditionally advertising’, and specifically, where did ‘the heart doesn’t like it’ line come from?
Jordan> I wanted the opening spiel to sound like something everyone’s heard before in one form or another, and mashed it together almost nonsensically, as if ChatGPT wrote it - though I did write it, I swear!
Spencer> The line ‘the heart doesn’t like it’ came from our creative director Carlos Moreno, like most other good ideas, at lunch. It was so simple, but we liked that it represented angst and hope simultaneously.
LBB> We should address the giant floating heart in the room! At what point in the creative process did you know this would be possible? And what made Ron Stefaniuk the right person to bring this to life?
Spencer> We knew it was possible, but budget and more importantly, time, were not our friends. We were determined to shoot it practically and have it beat in camera.
Jordan> As such, we had to pull a lot of favours for this video, as the heart was certainly a monumental ask. Ron has a wealth of experience in animatronics, prop making and VFX, and we’ve been lucky to work with him a few times before. We can’t thank him enough for the work he and his team put into the heart. The first time we saw it in person, our jaws hit the floor.
LBB> And what was the design process like? What goes into creating a gigantic beating heart, and then putting it on camera?
Jordan> Given it was a pretty big favour, we really let Ron run with the design of it. We told him we wanted it to be as anatomically correct as possible, and just gave a few notes on the colour and detail along the way, but this was largely his vision.
Spencer> Originally, we wanted it to look more like an alien egg, with sprawling veins and tendrils attaching to the area around it. But when we arrived on set, it looked so monolithic, back lit by the huge church-like window. We decided to keep it and just to stick to the iconic heart silhouette.
LBB> The performances are also brilliant - really capturing the slightly insane vibes with disturbing laughter and reactions. What was casting like? And how did you work to bring out strong performances?
Jordan> We cast purely from self tapes our actors submitted. The brief to them was to just take it too far, into a bit of madness, and clearly these actors delivered. We didn’t pry too much on how they got there. That might’ve been a mistake.
Spencer> We knew to blend comedy and horror, timing needed to be precise, and we needed to choreograph the hell out of it. Bringing out their unhinged performances was just about rehearsing over and over to dial in how the characters should respond to one another. Then, we just tried to push them until they’re out of their comfort zones. Really though, we just cast incredible actors, which is 90% of the work.
LBB> As a whole, what was shooting like? Do you have any anecdotes from on set?
Jordan> The production team at Scout’s Honour are champs. We had a lot to cover on the day, on one of the shortest days of the year (daylight wise), and they kept us on track. Our DP, Eric Kaskens, brought so much energy to keep rolling take after take while still carrying out the vision we all had.
Spencer> In every scene featuring the heart, there’s actually two people off to the side of it pulling huge levers back and forth to practically pump air in and out. We removed them - and two enormous air conditioning units - in post, in all the shots.
LBB> Was it weird shooting a video to promote your own agency, when most work is done for external businesses? Did this pose any unique production quandaries you might not otherwise see?
Spencer> Not really - it was pretty liberating, actually. Rarely do we get an opportunity to create something with our true voice, so with all the creative choices, we tried to stretch into areas we wouldn’t or couldn’t normally with traditional client work.
Jordan> We’d done AOY videos before at other agencies, but at BHLA we wanted this to be distinctly different from everything that came before. The partners put a lot of trust in us to deliver something that would stand out, and it really meant that there were fewer opinions influencing the work than you’d typically see. So that was nice!
LBB> What was the post process like? And how long did this whole thing take from start to finish?
Spencer> It was a ton of work, but it’s pretty amazing how fast you can move when you’re your own client!
Jordan> Specifically, post was a gauntlet, particularly for Darling VFX. We threw some pretty tall asks at them, and they made everything happen. You’d never know that there were two 8-foot-tall air conditioning units in that room, for example, because they digitally recreated the room and complex camera movement to paint them out.
All in all, the whole video was produced in about a month, from start to finish, which was unreasonably fast for every step. This should not serve as a standard.
LBB> The creepy vibes wouldn’t be complete without an ominous soundtrack. How did this aspect come to life?
Jordan> I’m just gonna keep name dropping our production partners. Oso Audio worked their asses off. There were a lot of abstract elements in it, so even figuring out how to approach the track, or where to start writing, was tricky for them. But boy did they deliver.
Spencer> We knew we wanted something minimal - more of a tone at first. To create suspense and unease, but then bring in just enough camp to feel self-aware and give the audience permission to laugh.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? How did you overcome them?
Jordan> With very little time or money, and big expectations, everything was a challenge. I don’t think any part of it was easy, or went unappreciated. We brought every production partner a problem, and they solved them. Having the right people for the job, and trusting them, is how you overcome every challenge.
Spencer> We’re very lucky boys!
LBB> How did the viewers of the evening, as well as watchers since, respond?
Jordan> There was curiosity, and some uncomfortable laughs, but it was really well-received. We’ve gotten so many amazing messages from industry colleagues and strangers since it came out. And, I think anyone that was made too uncomfortable by it should maybe think about why that is.
Spencer> You could hear a pin drop in the theatre during the first half. It was amazing. Since then, most people seem to really like it. Some have said it makes them feel like they need a wash. A friend said he thought we invented a new genre, which may be my single favourite comment I’ve ever received on a piece of work.
LBB> Is there anything you’d like to add about the importance of making advertising for the heart?
Jordan> Heart is the first thing to die in our work. RTBs can make it out unscathed, and sometimes jokes can still come out funny, but the heart is the first thing to be ripped out. So, work with heart has to be intentional, inspired, and encouraged - and most importantly, protected from start to finish.
Spencer> Don’t forget you have one.
