Ogilvy and Aardman Come Clean Over Persil Ad

Following the success of Persil's stop-frame animation last week, shots tracked down Ogilvy's global ECD André Laurentino (L) and Aardman's creative director Merlin Crossingham to find out just how difficult and frustrating it was to create the spot.

Much to our surprise, they actually enjoyed the challenge. Hearing them speak about the project, we're even more impressed than we were last week as it seems it was far complicated and time consuming than we'd initially anticipated.

André Laurentino (AL):

What was the brief you received from Persil?

AL: It was quite simple: they asked us for a product demo that people would actually enjoy watching.

This campaign is very ambitious but also incredibly time-consuming. What made you decide on doing a stop-frame animation?

AL: Ha! The answer is in the question: it's very ambitious. We fell in love with the idea of turning what could be a simple product demo into something delightful – while, at the same time, being essentially a straightforward product torture test.

How and why did you choose Aardman studios for the job?

AL: We chose Aardman for a number of reasons: in the first place, craft is what they are all about. And we need heavy doses of it. Secondly, they're as madly in love with ideas as we are. Passion is never a problem. Also, Aardman are a joy to work with, they turn even a conference call into something you look forward to.

How did you decide which stains were the best to use? And what did the overall research process involve?

AL: It was a combination of colour and range. We wanted to use food, liquid and the things kids get dirty with while playing, like grass and mud. The research was all about which of those would work well as paint.

What were the biggest challenges of working on the shoot?

AL: The process was slow. Traditional animation (ie painting each frame by hand) is already time-consuming and demands incredible talent. Now add to that the fact that we had to wait for every shirt to get washed, cleaned and dried, so it'd be ready for the next frame! Over and over again. After it was all done and dusted, Kode Media did a wonderful job of filming all the live action. Their editing is particularly clever as it had to effortlessly explain how the animation comes to life.

I can imagine that creating stop-frame animations must have been an incredibly frustrating and intricate process. How did you make sure that each animation matched up with the previous frame?

AL: Aardman created a system for this. They used computer monitors as light boxes and fixed a metal frame around them to hold the shirts firmly in place. Then, after the shirt had been painted, they would turn the monitor off and light up the set to take a photo of it. Each resulting photograph was literally a frame of the animation.

How important was the post-production part of the process?

AL: Post production made the whole thing seamless. But we wanted to stay as close to the original artwork as possible. You can still see the folds and creases of the cloth throughout the animation. Bits and lumps of jam and gravy are also there too.

Rather than create a traditional spot looking at the before and after effects of washing, why did you decide that a fun branded content/artistic piece was best way forward?

AL: Product demos need to deliver factual information. If you're not careful, they end up being dry and uninspiring. That's really not an option. We had to demonstrate Persil's efficacy in a way that lives up to its fabulous brand heritage.

Aardman; Merlin Crossingham (MC)

How did you approach the project?

MC: We had to approach the Monster Stains project with a parallel focus on the technical ‘how on earth are we actually going to achieve this’ question alongside the more traditional creative processes of story and design. The technical R’n’D took us down some fascinating paths, the most interesting from a creative point of view was what did and didn’t make the final pallet of pigments. We were briefed to use every day ‘stains’ derived from food and dirt. We found that many foods that look vibrant simply don’t look interesting when blended down and painted on white shirts, and others that looked great but were not stable enough to actually paint with. As a result we often used pigment recipes using mayonnaise as a stabiliser. The final pigments were chosen to fit in with the story and design process. I really wanted the textures of the Monster Stains world to emphasise not only the fabric we were animating on but also the textures in the pigments. We could have blended everything to a smooth paste, but I felt that seeing the lumps and bumps boil helped reinforce the honesty of the real life stains.

What was the inspiration behind creating the two characters?

MC: I remember when I was a boy I used to come home covered in mud with a wide grin on my face. I felt feral, wild and it was ok. I wanted to capture a little bit of this in the characters - and childlike monsters just seemed like a natural fit.

How difficult was it to create an animation that showed the true values of what the brand does?

MC: In this case the actual animation process was the product demonstration, the Persil washed out stains from white shirts over and over again, so I think we nailed that one. But it is the concept behind the animation that is where the smarts are. The idea that ‘every stain tells a story’ is at the heart of this project. In the story animation itself, but also in how we actually made it.

You’ve worked in many different mediums – clay animation etc. How did this project and working with stop frame animation compare with other work that you have done?

MC: Most established mediums are known quantities, we have experience in clay, CGI and 2D animation and we know how and where we can push it. But with this project, we were stepping into the unknown. The main challenge for us was creating a look that didn’t cheat, we really did paint on shirts over and over again, and that delivered rich texture and colour together with a system that would deliver it.  We actually set up a laundry in the studio to keep the animators supplied with clean shirts. Once we had this established the underlying craft of storytelling with character animation is familiar territory for us.