“Close the fridge!” was my mother’s repeated plea when I was growing up, as my brothers and I stood in bafflement staring into the fridge for minutes on end—unable to formulate a plan, yet just as incapable of walking away.

It’s a weirdly universal problem that continues into adulthood. In a recent study by TBWA Worldwide, 95% of U.S. adults reported having stared into their refrigerator without a plan. The average U.S. adult spends 12 minutes a day looking into the fridge, the study said—which adds up to 73 hours a year.

A new spot for LG—the first campaign for the company from TBWA\Chiat\Day New York—both frames the problem and presents a solution, employing some impressive time-lapse technology along the way.

The father was filmed in one continuous shot, with no cuts. The time-lapse idea came from director Filip Nilsson at Object & Animal.

“One of our main challenges early on was how best to land the concept and idea—that Dad had been ‘fridgegazing’ long enough to cause a few funny problems—in just 30 seconds,” said Walt Connelly, executive creative director at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY. “When we saw the film treatment from Filip, and the one-shot approach, it opened the idea up and took it to the next level. And we ended up with not just a film that was visually beautiful and interesting, but a piece of advertising that lands the product-benefit in a clearer, much more effective way for the audience.” 

The tech is one thing—the spot really works only because it has the human truth, as well.

“A large focus of our strategy when we pitched for LG [in 2022, becoming global AOR] was separating LG from the category using human insight and empathy,” said Connelly. “The appliance and technology category is rife with conventions—particularly sterile, cold, and inhuman ones. Our approach from the beginning of our relationship with LG has been to find the human insight, and build the story from there.” 

The spot marks another first for LG. It introduces a consistent color style and system that the brand will use to give all of its advertising a distinctive and consistent look and feel. The agency partnered with colorist Stephan Sonnenfeld at CO3—the result is a unique algorithm so any film now made for LG uses a bespoken film LUT.

The LUT “creates a heightened sense of reality, taking away filters you usually see on content to bring out the real colors in the film,” said Connolly. “The treatment is free from artificial filters and additive grain, which actually took inspiration from their OLED technology. So we use true blacks and clean whites to create a cinematic look that embraces the full color spectrum, in a similar way to how the OLED technology actually works.” 
 
The agency is now working on a new global brand positioning campaign coming later this year. 

“LG was founded on principles of ‘human centered-innovation’ and the ‘warmth to power a smile,’” said Taehyeong Won, Professional, new product marketing team, home appliance and air solution brand communications at LG Electronics. “In finding human truths behind the incredible innovations, we’re not just demonstrating that we understand our customers and how they live, we’re also telling stories that are true to LG, and building the brand through their own truths. Through ‘Fridgegazing’ we’re able to tell the LG story of innovation and product functionality in a positive, enjoyable experience for our customers. We are truly excited to bring this to life with TBWA\Chiat\Day New York and look forward to telling more stories that surprise and delight our customers.”