What does Omega Mart have in store for you?
Making the cut this week is a piece of work that requires some explanation!
Meow Wolf is an arts and entertainment group based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It creates "immersive and interactive experiences using art installations, video and music production, and extended reality content."
To launch Omega Mart, its newest creation in Las Vegas this month, Meow Wolf and Wieden+Kennedy Portland, produced an ad to promote the grand opening of this art installation experience in a superbly crafted ad.
It's a brilliant pastiche of every bad American supermarket/mall ad ever.
According to its website, Omega Mart is a place where people can "explore an extraordinary supermarket that bursts into surreal worlds and unexpected landscapes."
It heroes a 'fake' Willie Nelson (musician and a celebrity "you can trust") casually walking through the aisles selecting products and interacting with the odd staff. As the ad progresses, we see Willie glitching and exposing that Willie is in fact, superimposed onto someone else's body.
Willie talks of under-refrigerated dairy, "free-range staff" producing eggs for their valued customer and how suspicious the prices are.
Andy Lockley, creative partner at Havas, gives us his ironic take on this work below.
What has Omega Mart got in store for you?
Andy Lockley, creative partner, Havas
The new Omega Mart commercial has left me utterly bewildered.
Why on earth would anyone choose, at this present moment in time, to launch a new supermarket? What’s more, in time honoured supermarket advertising tradition, the entire campaign hangs on little more than an lazy celebrity endorsement and an irritating jingle.
It’s not even clear who Omega Mart are trying to target. They have taken a huge gamble on Willie Nelson’s ability to convince weekly shoppers to switch stores. Not a basket I would put all my eggs into if I were the Omega Mart marketing Director.
The closest thing we have to Omega Mart in the UK is B&M Superstore, only it’s less likely anyone would try to take a dump in aisle of Omega Mart on account of the travelator-style moving floor. (That’s a ‘code 8’ in staff announcement speak).
The creepiest thing about Omega Mart is the deli guy, that rack of ribs in his hands looks suspiciously human. The Krusty the Clown looking ginger dude is actually what my lockdown mullet looks like currently.
All this being said, an un-refrigerated dairy smelling place full of Willie Nelsons and lemons with eyeballs is a lot more appealing than the horrific dystopian nightmare we’ve been waking up to for the past 12 months. As soon as they open one in Bletchley I’m there. Sorry Aldi. All together now – ‘Oh-o-Oh O-mega Mart – you have no idea what’s in store for you’!
Credits
W+K PORTLAND
ECDs: Eric Baldwin
Creative Directors: Matt Sorrell, Jason Kreher
Art Director: Robbie Rane
Copywriter: Alex Romans
Director of Production: Matt Hunnicutt
Executive Producer: Heather Hanrahan
Agency Producer: Katie McCain, Austin Shore
Associate Producer: Eunice Pang
Design Producer/Print Producer: Sarah Starr
Designer/Studio Specialist: Matt Blum
Strategic Planning: Rebecca Russell
Media/Comms Planning: Ryan Craven, Kallie Tenzeldam
Account Team: Katie Gurgainus, Nai Jin Gregory
Business Affairs: Connery Obeng
Broadcast Traffic: Billy Mucha
LAUNCH PRODUCTION
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Andreas Nilsson
Partner / Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Producer: Jeff McDougall, Jill Sartore
Head of Production: Rachel Glaub, Sean Moody
Directory of Photography: Igor Jadue-Lillo
Production Designer: Ethan Tobman
LAUNCH EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Joint
Editor: Steve Sprinkel
Assistant Editor: Kris Faris
Post Producer: Sarah Usmen
Post Executive Producer: Leslie Carthy
Director of Joint: Patty Brebner
LAUNCH VFX
VFX Company: Kevin
Creative Director/Partner: Tim Davies
2D Lead Artist: Robert Murdock
2D Artists: Steve Cokonis, Susanne Scharping, Tim Bird, Chris Sonia
Senior VFX Producer: Jami Schakel
VFX Producer: Andrew Cowderoy
VFX Executive Producer/Partner: Sue Troyan
Shoot Supervisor: Steven Tether
LAUNCH COLOUR
Company: a52 Color
Colorist: Daniel de Vue
Color Assists: Corey Martinez, Dylan Bursick
Producer: Jenny Bright
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson
LAUNCH AUDIO
Company: Joint
Sound Design, Original Music, Mix: Noah Woodburn
Original Music, Sound Assist: Natalie Huizenga
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