Severn Trent Water

Pass The Dutchie

Timeline: 3 weeks
Brand: BBD Perfect Storm | Severn Trent Water
Behind the scenes: North London

Brief

BBD Perfect Storm approached us to help them create a behaviour changing advert with supporting social content. The campaign would be a selection of simple tips and tricks to help save money and reduce water wastage in our homes.

One of the easiest methods to save water is to reduce the length of a shower and this was to be one of the key behaviour changes.

It’s easy to get carried away in the shower and many of us are guilty of spending much longer than necessary, the solution was to show the financial benefits and suggest a fun way of monitoring the length of your shower.

The plot was simple, every time our protagonist turned on the shower, ‘Pass The Dutchie’ from the brilliant Musical Youth would blast from what firstly appears to be the shower head, we are then shown that the music is in fact being played live in the bathroom, the fun and comical approach, an effort to help keep the message lighthearted and memorable; shower to a 5 minute song to help reduce the length of your showers.

The production

BBD Perfect Storm had a great idea for this ad and it was a pleasure to help develop it and bring it to production.

The delivery time was super tight due to the time sensitive nature of the message after what has been a very dry summer. We quickly put together a robust plan to ensure we delivered the project on time and within budget.

The production was very smooth and the band were great to work with and in a bizarre coincidence, the day of filming, it was the 40th anniversary of the song hitting No1 in the UK charts!

Phil Hawkins, the director, commented:

“I really liked the surreal and comedic concept. The idea of featuring the actual members of Musical Youth playing in the ad - and performing such a classic song - was an opportunity too good to miss.

“We had a very quick turnaround so it was all hands on deck to find a location big enough to fit a band, a bloke in the shower and the space to film them in the same wide shot. We didn’t have the time to build a set. Luckily, we found a real bathroom that worked with a bold colour palette as a bonus. The team at Film Punks were great to work with and effortlessly put this production together in one of the quickest turnarounds I’ve seen.

“I also had a lot of fun working with the members of Musical Youth. They were lovely to work with, never complained (despite making them all squeeze into a bathtub together at one point!) and I think their charm and charisma shines through in the commercials.”