https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1FOqr7828
It’s nearly Halloween, and these “Bite Size Horror” films from Mars Candy brands are some of the best horror ad shorts in years. Via Adweek:
The films are very well made. Obviously, it’s easier to present something convincing when you don’t have to squeeze the brand or product into the plot. (The giant product images that lead into the films were apparently the compromise here.) But underwriting long-form content like this, in a deal with a broadcaster to air on its network and cable properties, makes for a very entertaining product—and reflects well on the brands themselves.
AdFreak spoke with “Floor 9.5” director Toby Meakins and writer Simon Allen about their creepy creation. Meakins said the idea for the plot came from a pile of unused ideas that Allen has lying around his office.
“The fragment was a single line—someone being followed from the front,” says Meakins. “We thought how weird and creepy that would be, if someone was always a few steps ahead of you no matter which way you turned. We plugged that into the loop/hell of ‘Floor 9.5,’ which is intended to be a metaphor for modern working life.”
Meakins said he wanted “Floor 9.5” to feel like a “short Kafkaesque nightmare.”
“It had to be all about tone and atmosphere rather than creating jump scares,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love a good jump scare, but if you can chill someone to the bone, the film tends to stay with the audience. We also wanted it to feel contemporary, like a two-minute Black Mirror, to find create a situation that anyone could imagine themselves in and then twist it.”
More of the ads are in the link above.