While many of us still bear the scars of the fateful game where Maradona proclaimed that the ‘Hand of God’ knocked England out in 1986, Wallace and Gromit exact revenge in the new npower TV ad set to air on Wednesday 12th May.
The new TV ad supports the ‘Back the Bid 2018’ campaign for England to host the FIFA World CupTM. As an Official Supporter of the Bid npower is getting behind England 2018, as hosting the World Cup would provide a huge boost for British businesses large and small.
In one of the funniest football ads to be shown on British TV for many years, Wallace & Gromit, the eternal entrepreneurs, are all set to profit from a tournament in England with their madcap pie-making business – “WAG’s Pies Ltd”. As usual, their best-laid plans are threatened when Wallace’s latest invention – a pie-delivery machine – threatens the game with an errant pie.
Gromit sprints through the stands and onto the pitch making a leap for the runaway pie. As he flies through the air and catches hold of the pie, his other paw accidentally makes contact with the football sending it hurtling past the goalie and into the goal.
The advert ends with Wallace smugly viewing the success of his small business venture and Gromit enjoying a read of the local rag. The front page carries a photo of a very familiar dog scoring a goal under the headline “Hand of Dog”!
The new advert was created by the agency VCCP and Aardman Animations. The 30 second format will be shown on national television. There is also a 40 second clip available exclusively online that features the unforgettable and original 1966 script and voiceover, which declares “They think it’s all over...it is now!”
Making the Back the Bid advert – Fun Facts:
• The commercial took 3 ½ weeks to shoot
• The commercial features Bob the engineer from previous npower commercials, and the smart meter from “widescreen” is featured in the pie hut.
• The team colours were blue & white and red & white to reflect the colours in the new npower logo. The crowd features supporters of both teams to show a harmonious atmosphere.
• The pitch was made by painting towel fabric. This created a great replica of turf on a football pitch.
• The newspaper that Gromit is reading in the final shot has articles which mention npower staff, agency personnel and Aardman crew.
• The initial stadium shot was used by shooting a miniature stadium with several streets dressed onto the set. These were then duplicated in post production to create a whole environment. Several elements were added in post production to make the shot “come alive”. These included adding players, a crowd, camera flashes, clouds and flags as well as moving traffic.
• The pie machine, built by John Wright Modelmaking, has been dressed to make it look as if it’s been built by Wallace and has been used already, which makes it fit into their world better. It features a “special delivery” barrel, slots for the pie tins to shoot out of (as if they are shot cartridges), magazines full of pies, and a scope to seek out customers.
• The scope on the pie machine is fully animatable and can be moved into several angles. The black surround of the binoculars was made by painting fabric plasters which created a realistic texture.
• The shot that features Bob waving to Wallace was created by mixing stop motion animation of the characters, then adding a “scope” effect with crosshairs in CGI. The camera move and focus pull were also completed in post production.
• The shot of Gromit sliding down the rails was produced by compositing several layers together. These included the primary animation of Gromit, together with several layers of crowd characters and the stadium in the background
• The animation of Gromit catching the pie/ knocking the ball was shot and edited using a mixture of normal speed and slow motion.
Kevin Peake, Marketing Director at npower, commented: “We believe a successful bid to stage the FIFA World CupTM in England would be fantastic for the country and particularly for Britain’s businesses. We’re already committed to helping our business customers save money by saving energy; Wallace & Gromit illustrate, in their fun and endearing way, how hosting the FIFA World CupTM in 2018 could also benefit businesses’ revenue.”
The advert is part of an exclusive npower series of animations created by Aardman Animations.
Lucy Wendover, Marketing Manager at Aardman, said: “We have enjoyed working on the npower adverts so far which focus on Wallace & Gromit’s approach to energy efficiency, but it’s been especially exciting for us to take them into the world of football and, as usual, see Gromit saving the day.”
npower’s Back the Bid campaign is part of its role as an ‘Official Supporter’ of the England 2018 FIFA World CupTM hosting bid.
ENDS
For further information, interviews and images please contact:
Ben Dobson at Resonate bdobson@resonate.uk.com or Lisa Crawford at Resonate Lcrawford@resonate.uk.com or dial 020 7861 2525
