EMILY SHUR SHOOTS GRONK x FANDUEL FOR SUPER BOWL, AGAIN
FanDuel called on Emily to shoot the second installment of their buzzy Super Bowl “Kick of Destiny” campaign after the first was a big success, with 17 million users placing bets on the app. The same can’t be said for Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski’s actual field goal kick, which missed wide left.
“From the moment [Gronkowski] missed last year, he looked up at me and said, ‘Andrew, I’m so sorry. You gotta give me another chance,’” Andrew Sneyd, FanDuel’s executive VP of marketing, recalled in this AdAge interview.
AdAge continues, “The Wieden+Kennedy-led campaign is built around a shot at redemption for Gronkowski, as he again attempts to make a live 25-yard field goal.”
See the publicity stills below—which also feature appearances by Carl Weathers as Gronk’s trainer and John Cena as his rival—as well as behind the scenes info from Emily.
“This shoot was fun from start to finish. I was super excited to hear that not only was this campaign happening for a second time, but that the agency and client wanted to assemble the exact same team from the previous year. This time around, though, everything was amplified—more days, more locations, more talent, special effects—just a larger production overall.
This was one of the largest commercial productions I’ve ever worked on. The nice part of a large production is that usually I can shoot from wherever I want to be without drawing too much attention to myself. I get myself the best angle possible without hindering any part of TVC’s production."
"My favorite memory is the “photo shoot” scene which involved Gronk posing for the cover of Kicking Leg magazine. The whole set up is obviously fake and meant to be a bit silly and over-the-top. My team collaborated with the motion team to set up operational strobes that not only gave a realistic flash ‘pop’ on camera, but we were able to actually use them to take what I like to think would've been the photo that came out of that shoot. We probably had 60 seconds—give or take a few—to shoot our shot before the whole set was wrapped, but I was happy to see that they actually used it and made a hilariously awesome cover."
"In terms of post-production, Diana from Wieden+Kennedy and I made an initial edit of selects for the creatives to choose from, and then I was able to chime in with my two cents during retouching to make sure everything was looking its best and consistent with the overall campaign. I always like to be able to see projects through until the very end."