Is there any halfway-popular '80s song left that hasn't been used, sarcastically or otherwise, in a TV commercial?
Eric Carmen's "Hungry Eyes," that unsettling ode to leering, stalker-ish types everywhere, from the movie Dirty Dancing, gets trotted out in this latest ad for Pretzel M&M's from BBDO, New York. And sure enough, the plot revolves around the Orange M&M and Pretzel Guy trying to avoid the gaze of a creepy dude at a bar—while making eyes themselves at an attractive lady across the room. The hungry-eyes guy is played humorously by comedian Nathan Barnatt, who's rocking the bushy mullet as he contemplates the giant piece of alluring chocolate two seats away.
Mars has a hit on its hands with Pretzel M&M's lots of play lately, with consumers voted them the 2011 Product of the Year in the candy and snacks category. Pretzel Guy himself, a literally salty character introduced in last year's darkly comic laboratory commercial where he prepares to be stuffed inside Orange, is also proving popular, too. BBDO even whipped up a fake-bloopers reel (see below) for the "Hungry Eyes" commercial, in which Pretzel Guy has particular trouble with the phrase "salty sweet snack."
All in all, pretty sweet stuff.
CREDITS:
Client: M&Ms
Spot: "Hungry Eyes"
Agency: BBDO, New York
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars
Creative Group Head: Tim Bayne
Creative Group Head: Lauren Connolly
Producer: Helene Balzarini
Copywriter: Lauren Connolly
Art Director: Tim Bayne
Music Producer: Melissa Chester
Director: Filip Engstrom
Production Company: Smuggler
Edit House: PS260
Editor: Maury Loeb
Animation: LAIKA/house