Budweiser teams up with BizNasty for National Backyard BBQ Commercial
Come July, barbecue is a BIG deal for Americans. The same goes for our Canadian beer-drinking friends up north eh!
Ambient had the pleasure of partnering with Budweiser Canada for their latest commercial spot “Budweiser BBQ Insurance.” This hilarious spoof playfully mocks the notorious “Jake from State Farm.” It features professional hockey player Paul Bissonnette aka “BizNasty.”
In the commercial, Paul offers Budweiser insurance claims to fans who have a BBQ gone awry. Unreasonable Studios developed this concept for Budweiser Canada and needed a pro co that could handle the high pressure production in the sunny state of Arizona.
And wouldn’t ya know… the AS team was up to the challenge. Why? They eat pressure for breakfast. And the two companies were simply vibin’. Together, they took on the ambitious concept and constructed a state of the art BBQ Insurance Office in a matter of days.
Biznasty entered the building and just crushed it with his enthusiastic energy and great attitude. As a result the team was super pumped.
Budweiser BBQ Insurance from Ambient Skies Productions on Vimeo.
Overall, it was a stellar shoot with a rockstar team. They locked in the goods for Unreasonable studios and it all ended on a good note. With happy attitudes, hugs, and absolutely no bridges burned. And at the end of the day, that’s the definition of a successful shoot my friends.
MEET BIZNASTY
A fan favorite in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Canada, Paul Albert Bissonnette, aka “Biznasty”, was born in Welland, Ontario with hockey in his blood. The Canadian native started and ended his career in his homeland, making a few stops in between.
One of those stops included his five year run with the Phoenix Coyotes. He was a valuable asset and a force to be reckoned with. Biznasty won over his fans with his outrageous personality. A rare breed amongst most humble pie hockey players.
Retiring from hockey in 2017, Biznasty enjoys his life in sunny Arizona. He is now the color analyst for the Arizona Coyotes radio and a host on the Barstool Sports hockey podcast Spitten’ Chiclets.
BBQ INSURANCE SET BUILD
So Ambient was tasked with executing Unreasonable Studios vision. Great! But there was a catch. AS only had a few weeks to prepare and get it in the can. So… that meant that we had to kick art direction into high gear.
(Insert record needle stop)
But the concept was shifting around… A LOT! So when it finally came down to a final decision, Ambient was literally left with a week or so to prepare.
There were three problems. We had to build a BBQ Insurance office lobby area, a legit looking fine art gallery, and a CEO office for Mr. Bissonette. That didn’t sound like an easy ask initially, but Ambient had to put their heads together and come up with some quick solutions.
The solution that saved the day was finding a single location where we could build all three sets.
The commercial’s set build had some other inherent challenges. For one, the location selected for production was on the 23rd floor of the US Bank building in downtown Phoenix. And with an ever shifting concept, the art department needed to find quick solutions to the demands of the creative.
When building the three unique sets the team embraced existing elements in the space. As an homage to the Jake from State Farm commercials, set one was meant to look like a legitimate lobby area at an insurance company building. A meeting room was already present. This element gave art department a foundation to work with.
Set two was a fine art gallery. Just one that displayed Budweiser bottles and backyard barbecues. The exposed air ducts on the ceiling gave it an urban vibe and supplied a starting point.
And with set three, they constructed a CEO office for Biznasty. Using a large open area, they placed office props and furniture in front of a false window frame. Behind the frame, a backlit translight backdrop of skyscrapers. This translight was massive! And it served as a great tool to overcome exposure issues and dial in the desired look.
So overall, it was a stellar shoot with a rockstar team. John Schaus, the 1st AD held it down for the AZ crew and communicated directly with the directors and producers remote to ensure that everything moved according to schedule. Brandon Sullivan showed up with his still photography skills and captured some super clean imagery for Budweiser’s marketing channels. Craig Fleming brought that veteran touch to the lighting and made everything look amazing. And to all of the rest of the crew that made it happen, you killed it!
Needless to say, AS locked in the goods for Unreasonable studios and it all ended on a good note. With happy attitudes, hugs, and absolutely no bridges burned. And at the end of the day, that’s the definition of a successful shoot.
If you want to dive into our process a little more and take a gander at everything we provided for Budweiser Canada, you can view the full case study here.
Credits:
Director, Unreasonable Studios – Sean Mcleod
Executive Producer, Unreasonable Studios – David Stulberg
Ambient Crew:
Producer – Richard Charney
1st AD – John Schaus
Locations Manager – Denton Hanna
Locations Assist – Gavin Boughner
DoP – John Belinski
1st AC – Carter Kovacs
DIT / VTR – Drake Dewar
Photographer – Brandon Sullivan
Audio Technician – Steve Boehme
Production Designer – Ted Sorensen
Art Assistant – Terry Cornwell
Gaffer – Craig Flemming
Best Boy – Scott Benjamin
Key Grip – David Klotz
HMU – Aeni Domme
Wardrobe – Kim Pieper
Office PA – Jonathan Hinckley
Set PA – Heidi Joy
Prompter OP – Cheryl Goodyear
Catering (Creations in Cuisine) – Jennifer Laister
BTS Video/Photo – Trenton Massey
