It’s business time; Blackfish for HEC

Not so long back, commercials for seats of higher learning were composed of shots of the less scruffy bits of a campus, where clean-cut bright young things sat cross-legged on the grass sipping lattes and trading opinions on Nietzche and nebulas. Or maybe there’d be a chemistry lab shot of eager lab coated nerds heating up bubbling potions in test tubes. Either way, higher education commercials have never offered mographers the chance to flex their Wacom honed muscles, until now…

Blackfish, charged by Ogilvy & Mather have created a storming romp through a bizzarist’s take on life after graduation from HEC (Apparently Europe’s no.1 business school). From first person perspective we watch as our hero burns a trail through the job market, vanquishing all that stands in his way, all within a blown-up musical-esque stagescape.

I love this spot because it essentially pokes a lot of fun at the very thing it’s advertising without denigrating it in any way. We arrive at the end of the spot having sold malls to martians, proving that for HEC graduates the sky is no limit! The film also assumes that aspiring business students must have a cracking sense of humour, which is something I was thus far un-aware of…

Client | HEC

Agency | Ogilvy & Mather

Creatives | Ève Roussou & Benjamin Brégeault

Director | Camille Bovier Lapierre

Production | Elegangz & Blackfish

Producers | Aurore Maincent Feer (Elegangz) & Pierre Sémon (Blackfish)

AD | Zurich29

3D | KnightWorks
Romain Politi
Umaru Embalo
Guillaume Gaussuron
Nadia Zouaoui
Geoffrey Pons
Brice

Charcater Design
Aurélien Marrel

Sound | Studio Apollo (Montreal)

Production duration : 10 weeks