Turtle or goldfish?
The Mentos film «The Man With A Coin»—another successful production from the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg’s talent incubator. Mentos’ enthusiasm, however, has been somewhat limited—so far.
For Mentos, the film academy, known beyond Germany's borders, tells the story of the man who left every difficult decision to a coin. Sometimes with more, sometimes with less success. The at times somewhat Wes Andersonesque look and style may already be familiar, but the result is nevertheless at least as refreshing as the legendary "Freshmaker" commercials of the 80s and 90s. Student director Christian Schilling was in charge of "The Man With A Coin".
As always, when the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg draws attention to itself with a film, the question arises as to whether and to what extent the client shown was involved. For example "Black Stallion" in consultation with a small New Zealand brewery and then used by them. Mercedes-Benz found the sensational "Recognizing dangers"-The company was not very amused by the ad with Hitler as a child and demanded at least a clear label stating that it was not authorized. Volvo gave for the pitch-black commercial "ABC of Death" at least the agreement. The globally acclaimed Johnnie Walker commercial "Dear Brother" was filmed without the knowledge of the whiskey producer.
No support from Mentos
Christian Schilling shot the commercial "The Man with a Coin" as part of his third year at the Film Academy. Perfetti Van Melle, the parent company of Mentos, was contacted before the shoot, explains the director when asked by Werbewoche. However, with moderate success: "At first it seemed as if they were well-disposed towards us, but then they decided not to support us financially. Apparently the concept didn't fit in with their current advertising strategy." While Mentos' current slogan "Who says no to Mentos" refers to the fact that nobody refuses an offered Mentos, the main character "The Man with a Coin" decides to do so himself.
Despite the lack of financial support from Mentos, the film was still made. "Ultimately, we financed the project with prize money from previous commercials, a budget from the Film Academy and private funds." And there was at least some support from CFP Brands, the German distributor of Mentos: the company provided the film team with the Mentos rolls visible in the commercial.
It remains exciting
Whether Mentos can still warm to the spot remains to be seen. "We have now sent the finished commercial to the marketing department. So far, we haven't received any feedback," says Schilling. "So it remains exciting. Let's see if they get in touch and what they have to say about the commercial. In the meantime, we're sucking on our Mentos and trying to land a Coke sponsorship." (hae)
