Category: Food
Media: Film
Brand: Slim Jim
Agency: Match Marketing Group
Geo: United States
Client: Slim Jim
Agency: Match MG, Chicago, IL
Creative Director: Dave Wasserman
Creatives: Lauren Hystead, Lauren Swago
Producer: Carrie Lewis
Production: Spears & Arrows, Los Angeles, CA
Director: John Grammatico
Executive Producer: Jason Wolk
DP: Luca Fantini
Producer: Peter Oad
Assistant Director: Keith Giebrescht
Casting: Jigsaw Casting, Toronto, ON
Casting Director: Shasta Lutz
Editorial: Cutters, Chicago, IL
Editor: Grant Gustafson
Visual Effects: The Mill, Chicago, IL
VFX Supervisor: Udesh Chetty
Post Production/Color Correction: The Mill, Chicago, IL
Published: December 2017
Synopsis:
The three spots have a similar set up, with each protagonist complaining about their hunger while those around them all munch on Slim Jim’s and display zero sympathy. However, the absurd punch lines are all uniquely their own. In “Heimlich” an EMT performing the Heimlich on a choking restaurant patron complains that he’s hungry all while his co-workers and literally every customer in the restaurant, including the eventually saved victim, eat Slim Jim’s. Each spot ends with the voiceover saying “Snap into bold flavored protein -- snap into a Slim Jim.”
“What I appreciate about Slim Jim’s branding is that it’s unapologetic about its comedy and unafraid to be absurd,” Grammatico says. “There were many times during the process when presented with options the creatives and I would look at each other and run toward the silliest one. You don't get to do that very often in this business." He adds, “The campaign is called ‘No Excuses’ and I felt like that's appropriate for the creative process too. There are no excuses if you can't have fun on a job like this where everyone comes together in the interest of a brand to simply make people laugh. It never got bogged down with any red tape or office politics. It was just good old-fashioned stupid fun -- my favorite kind.”