You have to see it to believe it. In what might be an ad and first, 1-800-Contacts has cleverly capitalized on a man's baboonish attempt to be eaten alive by an anaconda.
The 30-second spot from Pereira & O'Dell was slated to hit in January — but the brand decided to release it early to take advantage of the buzz surrounding The Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive" special, which aired on Dec. 7. An agency rep said it was "dumb luck" that the ad was ready to air with the special. The two-hour broadcast featured self-styled anaconda expert Paul Rosolie as he wandered around the Amazon trying to get eaten by a big snake as part of a publicity stunt. Spoiler alert: The snake didn't bite.
But 1-800-Contacts did. The brand recut its spot, which features a zookeeper who seems more concerned with locating his lost contact lens than helping a man trapped inside an anaconda. Don't worry, though – it was just a CGI serpent. As the zookeeper roots around in the snake, the trapped man sighs and says, "This better make me famous."
Unlike The Discovery Channel, which overpromised and underdelivered, Pereira & O'Dell's spot has a comedic payoff. At least we get to see a guy eaten by a snake in the 1-800-Contacts ad.
But even better is the fun 1-800-Contact had on Twitter following the spot’s debut:
Think we used a real snake in our commercial? You may have run out of contacts. #EatenAlive http://t.co/Kwos3NPlIw http://t.co/hqLwsAdwnl
— 1-800 Contacts (@1800CONTACTS) December 8, 2014
At least in our spot, someone was actually inside the snake! #EatenAlive #NeverRunOutOfContacts http://t.co/Zzy8EENe2b
— 1-800 Contacts (@1800CONTACTS) December 8, 2014
Campaign credits
Client: 1-800-Contacts
Agency: Pereira & O'Dell
Chief Creative Officer: P.J. Pereira
Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Jaime Robinson
Creative Directors: Jason Apaliski, Robert Lambrechts
Art Directors: Tim Delger, Brett Beaty
Copywriter: Katie Brinkworth, Simon Friedlander
Account Director: Ashley Brown
Associate Strategy Director: Molly Cabe
Strategic Planner: Beth Windheuser
Vice President, Media Strategy: Joshua Brandau
Vice President, Production: Jeff Ferro
Senior Broadcast Producer: Elisa Moore
Director of Business Affairs: Jaime Szefc
Production Company: Epoch
Director: Phil Morrison
Director of Photography: Reed Morano
Executive Producer: John Duffin
Producer: Phillip Rose
Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editor - Greg Scruton
Assistant Editor - John Gallagher/Ryan Andrus
EP/Managing Partner - Damian Stevens
EP - Nicole Visram
Producer - Gavin Carroll
Visual Effects, Timber
Jonah Hall & Kevin Lau - Creative Director's / Partners
Chris Webb - EP
Damian Stevens - Managing Director/Partner
Michael Theurer - Head of Production
Chris Homel - Lead Smoke Artist
Austin Hickman-Fain - Assistant Smoke
Emily Avoujageli - Producer
Music: Future Perfect
Executive Producer: Maxwell Gosling
CG Animation: Laundry
Creative Director: Anthony Liu
Creative Director: PJ Richardson
Executive Producer: Michael Bennett
Producer: Kirsten Collabolletta
Art Director: Anthony Maiuri
Modeling/Texturing/Lighting: Herman Kim, Yang Liu
3D Animation: Herman Kim, Yang Liu
Compositing: Ted Gore, Yang Liu
Sound: 740 Sound,
Sound Designer: 740 Sound, John Martin
Executive Producers: Scott Ganary
Mix: One Union