Even when a man as important and legendary as Martin Scorsese is involved, ads which spend half their time on the “making of” aspects and credits of those involved always seem egocentrically forced. That is not to say this creation from JWT Spain for Freixenet Cava isn’t good. It is. It’s very good. In fact, it’s amazing if you cut off the “making of” puffery and credits at the end. Because when you layer on commentary from JWT Executive Creative Director Alex Martinez like, “never before has art been so close to and tied in with advertising,” if sort of makes you want to throw up…a little…in your mouth.
Sure, we want to know how the thing was made but let the thing stand on its own. And it does. Brilliantly. Purportedly based on an unfinished Alfred Hitchcock script, the film (oh God, did we just say film?), The Keys to Reserva, is a little bit The Man Who Knew Too Much and North by Northwest and follows the efforts of a man in Carnegie Hall seeking the key to a box in his possession which contains, yes, a bottle of Freixenet. If you can get past the “Oh shit! This is an ad?” reaction when the box is opened, you’ll come to appreciate the beauty of the thing. And it is beautiful.
The video has been on YouTube since November 27 and will hit cinemas December 5. We’ll see how this ” fine example of JWT’s take on the future of advertising and branded content” (PR rep’s words, not ours) plays out. It’s certainly worth a look.
