Superprime celebrated a year of expansion in 2022—including its first work with A-List talent Chloé Zhao, signing a partnership with director Ian Pons Jewell's ProdCo and growing revenue by 30%.
Special Report: Agency A-List & Creativity Awards
Superprime grew revenue 30%, produced first work with Chloé Zhao
Superprime is No. 9 on Ad Age's 2023 Production Company A-List
Credit:
Taco Bell
Zhao, who won the Oscar for best director (“Nomadland”) in 2021, arrived at the 2022 Super Bowl with a dramatic and cinematic take on Budweiser’s iconic Clydesdale mascots.
“A Clydesdale’s Journey,” created with VaynerMedia, showed the majestic animal running free in a breathtaking mountain pasture. The spot is very theatrical in its depiction of the horse injuring itself on a barbed wire fence, the audience then following its path to recovery via another American icon—a golden Lab. The finale is an explosion of headbanging, fist-pumping triumph perfectly tailored to the Super Bowl crowd, alongside the message, “In the home of the brave, down never means out.”
Despite polarized reactions, the spot added a welcome dose of classic filmmaking spectacle to last year’s Big Game.
In a regional Super Bowl spot, Superprime showed off its visual effects acumen for Visit California. Working with agency The Shipyard, director Rodrigo Valdes took viewers on an unexpected odyssey through the state—less Hollywood and more surreal American dream.
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Set to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,” it showed a woman leaping from an airport terminal and spinning through the skies, although her sanity may be in question after she has a conversation with a bear. Sure, she careens past the Hollywood sign and catches a ride in a flying vehicle with Mario Lopez, but she also encounters lush forests, snowy mountains, a boardwalk roller coaster, talk-show fame, a coastal golf course, a baseball player drifting over the Golden Gate Bridge and a sky full of hot air balloons—you get the picture.
The over-the-top production was an exciting shakeup of tourism ad tropes, combining wonder and beauty with a good helping of absurdity.
Another big swing in the VFX department was a faux action film trailer for Taco Bell’s Nacho Fries. Created with Deutsch LA and based on fan-submitted tweets, director Sean Baker went full Marvel on the spot.
A woman is stuck in a “Groundhog Day” time loop where specialty Nacho Fries never leave Taco Bell’s menu—but her food fun is disrupted this time around as a supervillain can’t let the hungry gal snack in peace. The woman and her friend are sent racing through a cat-and-mouse sand dune chase (How? It doesn’t matter), complete with a slow-motion, fry-in-cheese dunk.
Superprime was also tasked with helping to launch 2022’s NFL season in grand fashion. If any pandemic hesitancy remained as to whether the league was officially back, this pep rally featuring the likes of Lil Wayne, Saweetie, Pusha T and NFL players DK Metcalf, Derwin James and Cam Jordan left no questions. Directed by The Malloys and created with agency 72andSunny, “It Feels Good to Football” was a loud, triumphant celebration of the sport.
