Biscuit’s Bine Bach crafts surreal worlds full of delightful absurdist humor

If you’re looking for charmingly surreal deadpan humor in richly odd visual worlds, look no further than Danish director Bine Bach. The former Wieden+Kennedy creative, now repped for commercial directing by Biscuit Filmworks, has been building quite the reel of absurdist comedy—with wonder-filled visuals and deadpan deliveries in spots that feel unique for each brand yet are united by Bach’s clear joy in bringing offbeat visions to life. See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here The Danish director took her craft to a new level in 2023, and has earned the distinction of Director to Watch at Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Awards. First, her Old Spice spot “Smells Like Romance” freshened up the brand’s long-running silly streak with a send-up of a high school Shakespearean production. A series of Klarna spots focused on financial challenges faced by new parents, pet lovers and gamers. The spot below featured a rather peculiar dishwasher. For BBC Bitesize, the British broadcaster’s online study support resource, Bach profiled a series of “randoms” offering alternate learning methods. Though it turns out you really don’t want to learn from these people. And for Uber Eats, Bach constructed simple wordplay-based spots explaining what you can’t/can get through the delivery service—things such as yeti/spaghetti, parrots/carrots, drums/drumsticks, etc. In its entry, Biscuit said Bach’s understanding of both the agency and client sides of the industry “often means less stressful productions” and her background of writing treatments for directors early on in her directorial career “adds yet another layer to her keen sense of what it is that brands and creatives are truly seeking.” The Creativity Awards jurors were uniformly impressed by her work. “The visual choices and the timing in her work are just stellar,” said one. “And it’s distinctive for every brand. It doesn’t feel like there’s some kind of house style. She finds a way to be fresh regardless of the brand.” Others said it was great to see a female comedy director operating at such a high level. “Her work is really fun, right?” said one juror. “I also quite like the ingenuity that’s in there. Some of that work had quite low budgets, which is always a challenge. Some directors to watch have big money behind them. I thought she did a really good job with what she had.” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Creativity Award winners here

Biscuit’s Bine Bach crafts surreal worlds full of delightful absurdist humor

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