A gigantic dinosaur, a disguised alien, and snow blizzards on a tropical beach are just some of the bizarre plot elements and story ideas submitted by people on the streets that were used for The Alien and the Dinosaur, the latest video commercial for the new ASUS ZenFone 3 smartphone series. The video was compiled from hundreds of spontaneous ideas obtained from pedestrians, who were engaged on the streets of New York by two comedians. The ‘improvised directors’ were shown the new ZenFone 3, briefed about its unique features — such as its stylish full-metal body with invisible antenna, Hi-Res audio system and powerful camera — and requested to narrate entertaining, outlandish story ideas on the spot for an advert featuring the smartphone.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goh5ZPOr5NY]
Incredible is Now campaign
This ‘streetsourced’ advert is part of the ASUS Incredible is Now campaign for the new ZenFone 3 series, a range of smartphones with class-leading capabilities that empower users to do anything they want. In this spirit, The Alien and the Dinosaur reflects the campaign by bringing the contributors’ wildest ideas and imaginations to life. For example, one of the plot elements of the video involved photographing a UFO flying at high speed, to demonstrate the ZenFone 3 PixelMaster camera’s rapid-focus capability when capturing moving objects. Another scenario had ZenFone 3 saving a party by using its incredibly loud speaker to replace a malfunctioning audio system.
Behind the scenes
Ideas for The Alien and the Dinosaur were collected and acted out by Matt Rubano and Betsy Kenney, two rising stars from the acclaimed New York-based improvisational comedy group, Upright Citizens Brigade. They stopped and interviewed New Yorkers on the street for impromptu ad ideas and stories, eventually amassing hundreds of them and distilling the best into one great advert for the ZenFone 3. With the key plot points acted out and lip-synced by the comedy duo, the resulting video ad is a refreshingly honest example of crowdsourced content. Some of the behind-the-scenes interviews can be viewed here.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnF7jW4dusY]
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