Nescafe: Stand Up

Credits & Description:

Client: NESTLÉ INDIA
Product: NESCAFÉ CLASSIC
Product/Service: NESCAFÉ CLASSIC
Advertising Agency: McCANN WORLDGROUP INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production Company: EARLY MAN FILMS Mumbai, INDIA
Chief Creative Officer: Prasoon Joshi (Mccann Worldgroup)
Executive Director: Alok Lall (Mccann Worldgroup)
National Creative Director: Prateek Bhardwaj (McCann Worldgroup)
EVP & Head of Planning: Jitender Dabas (McCann Worldgroup)
Creative Director: Kartikeya Dixit (McCann Worldgroup)
Creative Director: Soumya Nagabhushan (McCann Worldgroup)
Account Director: Bani Singh (McCann Worldgroup)
Strategic Planner: Phalgun Reddy (McCann Worldgroup)
Brief Explanation
A stand-up opens on stage: The biggest st…strength of a st…stammering comedian is s..s..s..s..suspense.
The audience is hooked.
As he continues his act on stage, we catch glimpses of his past:
In a flashback, we see him struggling with his stammer at an audition.
The judges look bored.
He takes his cue and leaves.
Backstage, he takes out his frustration on a trashcan.
Day after day (over numerous cups of Nescafé), he tries different ways to overcome his stammer.
We feel his pain but also see his resilience.
One morning, while waiting for his sluggish Internet connection, something clicks.
Next time he gets stuck, he tells his friends: It takes time to b…b…b…buffer.
His friends laugh. We watch him turn his weakness into his strength.
He works his stammering into his jokes.
He tests his new material on various people. It works.
Back on stage: He tips his hat to the one that was with him throughout: Thank God for coffee. It kept me going… and it kept you awake.
The crowd goes wild.
He ends his preamble and launches into the main act with: Let’s get started.
It all starts with a Nescafé.
Creative Execution:
Film opens at a comedy club. A stand-up comic performs on stage.
Comedian: The biggest st…strength of a st…stammering comedian is s..s..s..s..suspense.
Sfx: Audience laughs
Comedian: But not every audience is as pa…pa… patient as you.
We cut to a flashback.
We find him auditioning on a different stage for a panel of comedians in an empty comedy club.
One of them gestures with his hand, for him to hurry along.
Comedian VO: I get st…st...stuck, they move on.
The comedian takes his cue. He apologizes and leaves the stage.
Backstage, the frustration boils over and he takes it out on a trashcan.
Next morning, still reeling from last night’s failure, he has his morning cup of coffee and tries to get his act together.
We see him trying various exercises to overcome his stammer. He feels dejected.
Back on stage, he cracks a joke about how even the ones closest to him can’t deal with his stammering.
Comedian: My fa..family used to say: quick tell us a joke. N…now they say… fa..fa..forget the joke… just tell us quickly.
We feel his pain, but also see his resilience.
Comedian: But I am also st...st...stubborn. Won’t leave without f…finishing my joke.
Back in the flashback, we see him go through his morning ritual.
Integrated Product Window: He opens his cabinet and pulls out a jar of Nescafé.
A spoon dips into the jar and a heaped spoonful of rich coffee emerges.
Milk cascades into a Nescafé mug.
Froth rises.
As he sips his delicious cup of Nescafé, while sitting in front of his laptop, he notices the buffering sign on his screen and something clicks.
Cut to him performing in front of his friends. We hear his VO from the on-going act.
Comedian VO: So I explained to my f…f…friends…
He completes the joke in front of his friends.
Comedian: It takes time to bu…bu...buffer.
His friends laugh. He feels encouraged.
We see him trying out similar material on his landlord.
Comedian: I asked for two...two...two…two. He gave me eight.
The landlord says with a straight face: two...two...two…two makes eight. Very funny.
Then as a delayed reaction he begins to laugh hysterically.
The comic breathes a sigh of relief.
Comedian VO: I explained to my la..landlord… that these days even jokes come in in…in..in…installments
Cut to him trying out his material on a couple of girls in a lift.
Comedian: The po..policeman said that my joke was lo..longer than…
The elevator doors close before he can finish his joke.
He completes it anyway feeling dejected: …the long arm of the la...law.
Just then the doors open and the girl inside says: Girl: Hey! Finish the joke. Don’t leave us hanging in suspense.
The guy can barely contain himself.
Comedian VO: I explained to the world… that patience bears sweet fruit.
Cut to him in a park in the morning.
He thinks of a joke and almost as if in reaction, the nearby laughter club roars in laughter.
Comedian VO: I went to the park one morning. People there figured out everything on their own. Laughter club, they’ll laugh at anything.
Back on stage (in the present), he takes a sip of his coffee and says:
Comedian: Th..thank god for coffee, it kept me g…going and kept you a…awake.
Sfx: Audience applause
He ends his preamble and gets the audience ready for the main show:
Comedian: My name is… He pretends to scratch a record on an invisible DJ console as he says his name.
Comedian: Ra..ra..ra..ra..Rishi. Let’s get started.
Sfx: Crowd goes wild.
A steaming cup of Nescafé rests on a stool in the wings.
Super: It all starts with a Nescafé.