Chicken Licken: Sbu 2.0

Credits & Description:

Media: Web Film
Category: Restaurants & fast food
Client: Chicken Licken
Agency: Joe Public Johannesburg
Production: Carbon Films
Country: South Africa
Director: Rob Smith
Creative Director: Martin Schlumpf
Art Director: Gareth O'callaghan
Copywriter: Cameron Fraser
Executive Producer: Kirsten Clarence
DoP: Tom Revington
Post production: Chocolate Tribe
Head Of TV: Di Cole

ROMANCE FILMS Cape Town, South Africa Entrant Company
ROMANCE FILMS Cape Town, South Africa Idea Creation
ROMANCE FILMS Cape Town, South Africa Production
JOE PUBLIC Johannesburg, South Africa Additional Company
Greg Gray ROMANCE Final Casting
Amber Mackeurton Joe Public United Group Account Director
Jamie Ramsay ROMANCE Director of Photography
Ricky Boyd Deliverance Editor
Chris Bass ROMANCE Production Designer
Rob van den Bragt Chocolate Tribe VFX
Pepe Marais Joe Public United Chief Creative Officer
Xolisa Dyeshana Joe Public United Chief Creative Officer
Roanna Williams Joe Public United Executive Creative Director
Martin Schlumpf Joe Public United Creative Director
Jean Du Plessis Bladeworks Online Operator
Craig Simonetti Bladeworks Colorist
Louis Enslin Produce Sound Sound Engineer
Rag n' Bone Man Sony Music Composer
Marc Algranti Pulse Music NY Music Licensing

Synopsis:
Due to the recent success of Sbu 2.0, chief designer and science teacher, Sibusiso Ndlovu, gives us an exclusive look at his design philosophy and the inner workings of what many have described as his very own masterpiece.

Implementation
We needed to find interesting and naturally funny characters. As this commercial was aimed at the South African target market, the primary search for the lead artist took place in two cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Our lead needed an impeccable sense of comic timing, mastering the subtle and demanding physical comedy required, even when wearing prosthetics. The robot characters’ physicality - his movement and expressions were critical in selling the idea that he was a machine. He had to communicate visually that he was using up energy or battery power, the basics like standing up, sitting down, turning a corner, all needed to occur in way that is counter intuitive to how a human would traditionally do things. Our lead's innate ability to bring these two characters to life through mirroring robotic movement, meant that little augmentation was required.
Entry Summary
Chicken Licken is a proudly South African fried chicken brand, and their agency Joe Public, always tries to create ideas that are relevant to the local market. Their aim is to showcase real South Africans on the fore of global playing fields in an entertaining and humorous way. We currently live in a world on the brink of an artificial intelligence revolution. In recent times, we have seen everything from a robot being interviewed on live television, to a robot being granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia. When it comes to AI though, South Africa has never really been viewed as being at the forefront, until now...In SBU 2.0, a South African science teacher builds a real life, functioning, robotic replica of himself. The final result, is a commercial that cleverly creates a sense of pride and patriotism with fictional local heroes.
Brief Explanation
SBU 2.0 is a dark and cerebral comedy about an unassuming science teacher who invents a robotic version of himself to fill in whenever his craving for Chicken Licken Hotwings strikes. It shows the extreme lengths Chicken Licken fans go to in order to satisfy their craving.
In the secrecy of his garage workshop, Sbu uses a miss match of recycled metal and computer parts, to creates a functioning, somewhat autonomous, robotic version of himself. His very own S’bu 2.0. The advert plays out a variety of scenarios where the real S’bu has been replaced with his 2.0 version – confusion and chaos ensue. While some situations play into his robotic counterpart's strengths - doing the 'robot' dance and dutifully satisfying the needs of his wife - other situations breed odd and awkward hilarity.