Fresh New Day Scented Oils

AirWick Fresh New Day Scented Oils fill your home with soft fragrances that won't overpower. To show just how much other scents overwhelm, we decided to build a real potpourri explosion for AirWick's spot with Havas Worldwide. Inspired by filmmakers Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Glazer, we chose a spectacular in-camera approach, with a finished product that stuns from start to finish. 

Before sharing our pitch, we conducted our own R&D on potpourri explosions. With AirWick's emphasis on being natural, we concluded live-action would be the best approach; as it would provide realism, be more time efficient and give us greater creative flexibility. We believe our test was instrumental to us being awarded the work.  

PRE-PRODUCTION | Designing the house

The home's architecture was our first consideration. We wanted a space where you could see the plug-in, and the rest of the room behind it; and one that could look both old and musty but at the same time new and fresh once transformed. A New England-style home emerged as the best solution/fit.

Each room was its own unique set. The space was heavily art directed, with Wes Anderson-inspired symmetry. While at first we considered building the set at two thirds of the scale, this would then call for more things to be changed in post, so we kept it at life size. In the look and feel of the new home, we created a visual connection between the space and the product packaging.

A live action shoot allowed for greater flexibility — and even gave us more time to create additional shots and angles. The house was built over 3 days with team working in shifts throughout the day and night. When we found ourselves with additional time due to the speedy set build, we came up with the shot of the room filled with flowers. This allowed us to elevate the creative and have more options in the edit room. 

Air cannons were used to explode potpourri and show the house bursting at the seams with the overpowering odor. The house's door and eight windows were all rigged with air cannons to explode in unison. On set, our first test failed — the real potpourri, not yet completely dried, was too heavy. However, because of our test during the pitch, we knew it was achievable. A rush back up order of fresh flowers created a lighter load, enabling us to blow the potpourri fifty feet across the soundstage. 

FINAL

Our explosion is stitched together in the wide shot; different takes were combined to create one perfectly choreographed explosion that fills the garden in one sequence. This project was a joy from beginning to end. With the time, flexibility, and realism that live-action allowed, we created a fun and entertaining spot.