Albino ape-men parachute into the mall parking lot. One of the invading creatures thunders across the asphalt, snatches a young woman and carries her off over his shoulder. Her stunned mate can only stare at his bad luck until a sympathetic bystander offers to buy him a delicious Mike's Hard Lemonade.

It could happen.

The Cliff Freeman creative team of Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal have teamed with director Rocky Morton and MJZ to follow up on their casually gruesome first wave of Mike's spots.

Those first three :30s track a lumberjack, a construction worker and an aquarium deck hand enduring insanely hard days at work.

"It was more of a send-up of classic beer advertising, we took manly pursuits and guy interaction to the absurd," says art director Vitrone. "This year has evolved. We wanted to stick to the Hard Day thing, so how do you do that without taking off a limb or skewering somebody with a six-foot piece of rebar?"

The answer, it seems, is creatures. The first snarls inside a patient's gut, another grows from the shoulder of an office drone and the third kidnaps suburban shoppers.

The new spots required an experienced hand comfortable with effects, dry humor and delicate performances. "We talked to a lot of directors. But because these spots involve so many elements, Rocky was top of mind from the get go," says Vitrone.

Writer Reichenthal elaborates: "Rocky was great at bringing these weird creatures to life. We had an idea what they'd look like but needed his help to make them real."

Morton, who came to LA 15 years ago for the feature DOA and never left, is a veteran of effects-laden projects: "The challenge of this spot is trying to create a balance whereby the effects aren't taking over. The commercials are really about the characters and the humor, but because the effects are so outrageous they will very quickly tend to take over."

Morton calls the pool's production designer and creature designer Patrick Tatopoulis "unbelievably talented," but makes a point many post-heavy spots seem to miss: "I don't care how amazing the effects are. To me they're just not impressive unless there is some emotional connection to the characters in the story."

It is the talent behind those characters that most interests Morton. "Anything that comes from Cliff Freeman immediately gets my interest. They really care about every aspect of the filmmaking process, especially the casting, which is great, because my main thing is casting.

"We saw well over 1,000 people [in LA and Vancouver] for six characters. There has to be something I believe in them and their performance. It has to do with transcending the lines and just becoming the character."

Clair Grupp, Freeman's head of broadcast, illustrates the spots' reliance on the fusion of effects and casting:

"'Second Evil Head' really came into focus with the casting of John Baggio. We took his face and an approved sketch and went into Photoshop and manipulated it."

Grupp says they decided to shoot in Vancouver because of the limited budget, and knew the shoot would be serviced by Quixote Films, who have worked with MJZ in the past. "It was a really good experience up there," adds Morton.

Grupp says her secret ingredient in putting off a quirky campaign like this is the brains and bravery of her client. "Mike's really understand who they're speaking to. And Glenn trusts us."

Glenn Wong is head of marketing for San Fran-based Mike's Hard Lemonade Company and describes his brand as, "A David in the land of the Goliaths. Whatever we do we have to be better. We can't compete by just pouring money into the market."

Awareness of Mike's bolted from 28% to 72% after the first Hard Day pool and Wong says he's really happy with the new stuff, "They'll go a long way to help people have a laugh and keep us noticed."

"Ape-like Man," "Second Evil Head" and "X-ray" were finished at The Mill's brand new Manhattan facility and run from April 2002 until the fall.

CREDITS:
Agency: Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York
SVP, Creative Director: Eric Silver
Writer: Ian Reichenthal
Art Director: Scott Vitrone
Executive Producer: Clair Grupp
Account Supervisor: Shana Brooks
Account Executive: Jorge Hernandez
Production Company: MJZ Productions, Los Angeles
Director: Rocky Morton
Executive Producer: Jeff Scruton
Producer: Victoria Howard
DP: Julian Whatley
Production Designer: Patrick Tatopoulis
Post: The Mill, New York
Flame Artists: Neil Davies, Phil Crowe and Richard de Carteret
Producer: Austen Humphries
Editing: MacKenzie Cutler, New York
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Producer: Sundy Procter
Production Services: Quixote Films, Vancouver
VP International RTD Strategy:
Glenn Wong, Mark Anthony Group, Mike's Hard Lemonade Co.