We Did It: Longest Lobster Roll Wins Guinness World Record with Kraft Miracle Whip

Above is the LONG VERSION of the spot Big City did soup-to-nuts for McGarry Bowen client Kraft Foods. The mission was to create a video for Facebook in the spirt of the on-air campaign.

Maine Roller Derby girls and volunteers carry a long pan holding the roll.

PRODUCTION STORY: Get up to Maine, and quick!
The e-mail came in cum link to MSNBC story: Guinness World Record attempt for the longest lobster — Recipe includes 45 pounds of lobster meat and four gallons of Miracle Whip. When we got to Portland, Maine we found out that custom technology needed to be created just to bake the 60-foot bun. On the morning of the big event, word passed around that the gigantic bun would not be delivered via flatbed truck, but instead (shock) by the very hands (and wheels) of the Maine Roller Derby girls themselves! If the bun snapped in half on it’s way to the assembly table, the whole shoot would be a disaster since the attempt would be disqualified for a Guinness Record. Anticipation built up waiting for the roller girls to arrive. They were over an hour late and we began to fear the worst: Bun vs. Harley Davidson accident with the hog severing the precious baked-good in two. But that’s our job, not to worry. To keep cool baby. Ready to fire off the first shots on a moment’s notice. And that’s precisely where the editing spots begin: with that Harley we were concerned about providing the perfect open as the riders come upon the crazy scene of a block-long bun being ferried down Commercial Street.

Old Port Festival in Portland, Maine.

Volunteers cut the lobster roll into 4-inch pieces to be sold for charity.

Big City’s Creative Vision

Our goal was to nail the target demographic for the Miracle Whip campaign which aimed to engage young, hip tastemakers. So once we did our three-camera shoot of making the wining lobster roll, we had *yum* a taste for ourselves and then spent the rest of the day shooting youthful revelers at the Old Port Festival. This proved to be a good move since most of the folks assembling the lobster roll at the table were, um, let’s just say not our target demo. So, once we got into the Big City edit suite, we peppered in cross-cuts of the festival-goers which proved to provide the perfect feel for the spots.

Big City’s Special Sauce

DP Rob Featerstone shot with the Panasonic HVX200 dropping hi-definition files to P2 card with the Letus lens adapter and 35mm prime still-camera lenses. Most of his footage was overcranked to 48 frames-per-second slo-motion to give a grand feeling to the moments to be shared with Facebook viewers. Nature provided the lighting. Much appreciated, thank you very much, Nature.

Big City Makes the Cut

We did the long version cut to stock music while clearing the rights for the tune used in the full-up spots: Highschool Hoodlums by New Zealand rockers The Datsuns. An instrumental version was used in our final cuts, but you can listen to the lyrics on the band’s My Space page. Upon viewing the cut, Kraft was so pleased with our work, that they requested a 15 second version in addition to the original 60, both of which can be viewed below. Bon Appetit!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

60 second version

15 second version

Big City's Work for McGarryBowen Agency

Lobster Roll Wins Guinness World Record with Kraft Miracle Whip

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :60

Kraft Miracle Whip Lobster Roll Spot :15

Maya Angelou 2008 Olympic Poem "Amazement Awaits"

Marriott In-Room Video

Reebok Fit - Inspirational Video

Reebok Fit - Follow-Up Inspirational Video

Reebok Sports Brand: The Sport of Lifestyle

Maya Angelou Libraries Greeting

Marriott: Driven Campaign Behind The Scenes

Chevron Shanghai Expo 2010

FROM THE BIG CITY BLOG: World's Longest Lobster Roll

BCP TAPPED: Guinness World Record Attempt with Kraft Miracle Whip

World Record Lobster Roll Bun Baking Requires Custom Technology

Guinness World Record Winning Lobster Roll Media Roundup (Videos)

Miracle Whip Spots

Stephen Colbert Rant on Miracle Whip's Ad Campaign 'Don't Be So Mayo' (Video)

Colbert Report: Miracle Whip Buys Ad Space, Stephen Buys More Delicious Mayo (Video)

Colbert Report Miracle Whip Commercials Attacking Stephen (Video)