In Best Buy’s first-ever Super Bowl spot, rocker Ozzy Osbourne stars with a then fresh-faced 16-year-old singing sensation Justin Bieber in this aging dude versus up-and-comer spot from Crispin Porter & Bogusky.
Shot as a TV commercial movie spoof for some kind of wireless phone -- 4G, 5G and finally 6G terms are tossed around -- Osbourne plays the tech-befuddled middle ager, while Justin comes to the rescue and takes over the star spot. When Ozzy muses off-stage, “What’s a Bieber,” a bearded Bieber disguised as a crew member says, “I don’t know, kinda looks like a girl.” The real, and still innocent, Bieber was excited to work with Ozzy and tweeted out to fans at the time “Can’t really say what I was up to today, but when u guys find out it’s gonna be funny as heck,” according to People.
The ad was filmed at Universal Pictures and directed by Bryan Buckley, whom The New York Times has dubbed the King of the Super Bowl and who broke into Super Bowl directing with Monster.com’s 1999 hit “When I Grow Up.” Buckley also directed Audi's ad in the same game as "Ozzy vs. Bieber" ("Release the Hounds").
Production company: Hungry Man. Director of photography: Scott Henriksen. Executive producers: Cindy Becker, Kevin Byrne, Dan Duffy. Producer: Mino Jarjoura.
Creative directors: Steve Babcock, Dave Swartz. Creative: Michael Danko, Drew Pautler. Agency producer: Anthony Nelson.
VFX: The Mill. VFX producer: Enca Kaul. VFX shoot supervisors: Phil Crowe, Elad Offer. 2D lead: Phil Crowe. 2D assistant: Narbeh Mardirossian.
Editing: No6. Editor: Chan Hatcher. Editorial producer: Chrissy Desimone. Editorial assistants: Miek Campbell, Daniel Reitzenstein.
BRAND: Best Buy
YEAR: 2011
AGENCY: Crispin Porter & Bogusky
SUPERBOWL: XLV
QUARTER AIRED: Q3