Mercury Launches Online Soap Opera

In an effort to "hip up" the brand, Mercury has launched Meet The Lucky Ones, an online soap opera-like webisode. It's a story written and produced in the style of a quirky independent film about the comic misadventures of a slightly dysfunctional family. The story unfolds over a five-week period and is told through an interlocking combination of Internet-delivered short films, coupled with interactive elements that reveal significantly more details about the characters and the plot than you get from the films themselves.

The film shorts depict a droll and bland existence filled with odd twists worthy of an episode of Six Feet Under.

Mercury's agency, Wunderman Detroit enlisted entertainment industry professionals to create the piece. Creator Kirt Gunn brought together a team of top talent, including: Director, Derek Cianfrance - 2003 Sundance Film Festival Award Winner for Best Cinematography, Quattro Noza; Executive Producers Jon Kamen and Greg Schultz of @radical media - Producer of the 2004 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature, Fog of War and of Fade to Black; Writer, Ed Herbstman - Da Ali G Show, Creative Consultants, Mother New York, and Musical Composer, Stephin Merritt - The Magnetic Fields.

While it doesn't quite come off as an indie film so far, it does introduce radical (as ad campaigns go) topics such as murder and death at the same time tying it to a chance to win a new car. Quirky indeed.