Karamel Sutra flavor for European cinema, TV and online audiences

Ben & Jerry’s wanted to dramatically introduce its new Karamel Sutra premium flavor to European cinema, TV and online audiences,  so they chose the artists at BNS in order to do so.

To role out Karamel Sutra and keep up with Ben & Jerry’s signature visual style, BNS director/creative director Dennis Go and his colleagues married photo-real food imagery with a “lo-fi” homemade feel. Tapping into the mind of Woody, the brand’s world famous spokeswoman, the spot primarily uses stop-motion animation to place her in wildly imaginative situations that describe the ice cream’s flavors and the caramel core at its center.

Since we shot the majority of the spot in stop-motion, we had to build larger-than-scale models of ice cream that were disguised as volcanoes, caves and planets so that it wouldn’t melt but would still look real and appetizing. We then built a practical set for the ice cream models to live in. We didn’t necessarily go completely lo-fi but they had a crafty feel that worked well with the premium brand. We also had the challenge of infusing Woody with life, as she has no facial features and only two legs. Along with all of her movements being very purposeful, I felt like this added extra charm and wit to her character.

Denis Go

Creative Director BNS

After completing their design phase, producing an animatic in Autodesk Maya and gaining client approvals, BNS crew shot for five days on stage at London’s Clapham Road Studios. Editing, additional CG enhancement and all finishing took place at the BNS studio in NYC.

The media buy covered cinemas in UK, Ireland and Netherlands, TV in UK, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden and online in Netherlands, UK, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden

Project’s credits

Production Company: Brand New School

Director / Creative Director: Dennis Go

Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro

Cinematographer: Toby Howell

Managing Director: Danny Rosenbloom

Executive Producers: Devin Brook, Kayt Hall

VFX Supervisor/Editor: John Williams

Lead Compositor/Animator: Andy Mastrocinque

Animator: Scott Balles

Designers: Justin Fines, Emeric Trahand, Adam Wentworth

3D Animation: Scott Denton, Anthony Jones, Young Lee, Alec Vacura, Jeff Bryson

3D Lighting/Texturing: Scott Denton, Joseph Ibrahim, Young Lee

Rotoscoping: Anna Heironymus

Model Maker: Paul Baker

Stop-Motion Animator: Matt Cooper

Rigger: Gee Staughton

Producer: Samantha Proctor

Music: APM Stock “Hi-Lo Rag”

Audio Post Company: Sound Lounge

Engineer: Glen Landrum

Asst. Engineer: Craig LoGiudice

Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro

Producer: Darcy Gerbino