Amy Poehler makes classic fairy tales less absurd in campaign for Pure Leaf

What if the female characters in classic fairy tales acted with a little more gumption? Amy Poehler imagines such a world in new ads for Pure Leaf iced tea that put a female-empowered, modern twist on “The Princess and the Pea,” “Rapunzel” and “Hansel and Gretel.” The video series, called “Once Upon a No,” was produced by Golin and directed by Rashida Jones, who co-starred with Poehler on “Parks and Recreation.” In Poehler’s updated take on "Princess and the Pea," for example, the protagonist refuses to even get on the multi-mattressed bed because she's afraid of heights, the mattresses look "questionable" and the room itself is too stuffy. She requests a drink instead. In her updated “Rapunzel,” the lead character refuses to let her hair down, which in the classic version a witch uses to climb to gain access to the tower. “Either build a staircase or install an elevator,” Poehler’s Rapunzel’s snarks, before chopping off her long hair in favor of a pixie cut. The effort comes a week after the brand announced Poehler as its new spokeswoman for a broader campaign called “No Is Beautiful,” which targets women by encouraging them to say no to more activities in hopes of relieving some stress. It debuted with a new spot from DDB New York that featured Poehler's voiceover questioning the merits of saying "yes" to too many things. Pure Leaf is part of a joint venture run by Unilever and PepsiCo. "Saying no is at the heart of how we brew our iced tea," said Katrina McDonald, senior director, Pepsi Lipton Partnership, in a statement. "At Pure Leaf we embrace the beauty of saying no, but also understand that today's society operates differently ... We wanted this campaign to remind people that saying 'yes' to more 'no' isn't always a bad thing because no is beautiful."

Amy Poehler makes classic fairy tales less absurd in campaign for Pure Leaf

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