Earlier this year, we were approached by Kings Family Restaurant, a true Pittsburgh institution, about creating a commercial that would re-introduce their beloved mascot Frownie Brownie. We were beyond excited and immediately got to work developing a video concept that would fit their existing strategy and brand, yet launch the Frownie character into the viral media landscape, with a more absurd over-the-top tone.
Once the creative was laid out, we presented what we had to Kings, and upon approval, got to work producing the spot.
Unlike a lot of video shoots, where everything more or less can be scheduled in 1-2 days, we had to juggle a ton of conflicting schedules: making sure the locations, talent, props, and associated crew members could all meet at the same time, was a huge logistical challenge. Luckily, we had a few tricks up our sleeve. Our producer Zack “The Actor Whisperer” Williams (pictured) is great at casting and coordinating actors and, being an actor himself, made finding talented cast members a breeze. Our other aces included our location scout Jenn Mikitka (who also donned the Frownie costume), our creative lead Dean Bog (who drew the cool storyboards), and Redfishbowl’s Chris Boles + Matei Jordache, who helped us find and rig up the TVs from the spot.
Once filming was done, we put the spot together and delivered everything in time for Frownie’s big launch. So far, the :30 spot has been playing on local Pittsburgh broadcast TV, and the 1:00 Social Spot has been viewed over 35,000 times in less than a week. Huge shout out to the team at Kings for trusting us to put this ad together, to the actors who agreed to stand out in the cold with us to film, and to the crew members whose creativity brought this concept to life.”
