Tetra Pak Packaging: "Lightning" TV Commercial by LOWE Bull

Advertised brand: Tetrapak
Advert title(s): Lightning
Advertising Agency (Name, City, Country): Lowe Bull , Johannesburg
Agency website: http://www.lowebull.com and www.velocityfilms.com
Creative Director: Rui Alves / Eoin Welsh
Art Director: Chris Charoux
Copywriter: Matthew Berge
Director: Greg Gray of Velocity
Production company : Velocity
Published/Released (Month, Year): 1 March 2010

Truth is stranger than fiction
Truth is stranger than fiction, and in the case of Lowe Bull Johannesburg’s quirky Tetra Pak campaign, the truth is also funnier. The commercial is Directed by Greg Gray of Velocity.
Based on the tragically funny tale of an American Park Ranger, Roy Sullivan, the highlight of the campaign is a TV commercial set in a game park in 1940s Americana. Despite dedicating thirty years of his life to assiduously serving Mother Nature, Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times before finally giving up on his environmental good deeds. The Lowe Bull commercial reconstructs Sullivan’s story with the message that while poor Roy has the right to bear a grudge against Mother Nature and stop doing her favours, the rest of us don’t.
“While it was definitely a challenge to re-create a sombre scene in the American wilderness at the height of a glorious African summer, it isn’t every day that you get to electrocute somebody seven times,” smiles director Gray.
While it is always a mammoth task to change consumer habits, the objective of the campaign was to encourage shoppers to choose Tetra Pak products over items with less responsible packaging. Tetra Pak cartons are designed to have a low carbon footprint, and many of South Africa’s leading brands (predominantly milk and juice) already come in Tetra Paks.
“The Roy Sullivan story was immensely appealing from a creative point of view,” says Rui Alves, Lowe Bull Creative Director. “When you can combine such a wacky true story with a cause as compelling as saving the planet, you know that the outcome is going to be something rather unique.”