If you'd switched on the TV in Buenos Aires this August, you might have been forgiven for thinking that you'd stumbled across the filmic Dadaist musings of a latter-day Luis Buñuel. Interspersed with the usual drone of insurance/beer/sportswear/banking spots was advertising anarchy: three mustachioed gauchos performing a fantastical, fluorescent light show with lassoes for a crowd in 3D glasses; a love affair between baguettes destroyed by marauding red-eyed pigeons, and a Germanic choir singing as head-mounted mini-fountains spouted choreographed liquor. All unbranded, with just an enigmatic tagline - "1882".

Although nigh on impossible to work out from the bizarre campaign, 1882 is a new brand of fernet. (No, we'd never heard of it either.) Fernet is a heady, herby, highly alcoholic brew consumed with fashionable fervor by our South American friends. Distiller Porta Hermanos approached Madre late last year with the kind of challenge that would send shivers up the collective spines of agency creatives worldwide: to launch a new brand of the liquor to rival market leader Fernet Branca. Or rather market dominator: Fernet Branca is practically a monopoly, commanding a staggering 90% of fernet consumption in Argentina and over the years, sweeping aside upstart brands that have challenged its position.

But in adversity was opportunity. Faced with daunting odds, Madre dreamt up a truly unorthodox solution. Battling Fernet Branca on a rational level (taste, when to drink it, etc.) would be a hiding to nothing when matched against the favored, entrenched market veteran, argued creative director Carlos Bayala. To stand out, 1882 would have to position itself uniquely: "We convinced the client to not do anything that talks about consuming the drink," he says. "We said to them, the only thing that 1882 should be is like a PIN, an access code to very interesting things. Some related to fernet, some not - it doesn't matter. It has to be a very creative, refreshing brand experience everytime you see it."

Fast forward six months to August in Cordoba, the heart of fernet country, where 70% of the liquor is consumed. Its citizens awoke one morning to find the river running through their town covered with a sea of 1,882 blue and silver helium balloons floating gently above it, with no explanation bar a billboard with the words "1882 Dolphins". Mysterious guerrilla-style outdoor posters started popping up featuring paintings, photos and images from local artists that bore no connection to each other or to branding bar the numbers 1882. Intrigue suitably whipped up, the campaign was crowned by the cranial bombardment of the aforementioned TV campaign, helmed by Nunchaku Cine's Nicolas Kasakoff and local directing collective Amautalab (both in our "Directors to Watch" feature).

Although the outré world of 1882 seems completely removed from logic, fellow CD Santiago Lucero insists that it was strictly defined, with various topics, including drunkenness, drugs and sex, out of bounds. The Madre team collectively created and immersed themselves in what they call a feeling for the world of 1882, then bounced around ideas to see which they deemed most apt and entertaining.

That collaboration and immersive sensibility extended into the production with lengthy pre-production discussions between the agency and directors.

"We were very aware - and this was a great decision by them - that we wouldn't make it grotesque," explains Kasakoff, whose deft handling of deadpan humor and assured direction for MTV and others saw him green lit for the live-action elements. "Let's make it sober and real and invent this alternative reality."

"Gauchos" takes its visual cues from the staged shows of the kind put on exclusively for tourists and never attended by locals, but pumped up by lurid Vegas-style bombast and godawful '90s Spanish pop. Featuring real performing gauchos cast locally, the spot was shot in a local theatre dressed to look like a café over one grueling 16-hour day. The elaborate fluorescent lasso work, intended originally to be in-camera, took a painstaking three weeks of post-production to get the required subtlety.

"Choir" - in which Kasakoff crafted the tone to be like a German choir broadcast - was shot appropriately enough in the gymnasium of a local German school. Four local choral groups (cast for their Euro appearance), bolstered by extras, were conducted by Buenos Aires' top conductor. Kasakoff had to avert mutiny over a torturously long winter's day in the unheated gym as the temperamental singers got increasingly cold and hoarse. The synchronized fernet spouting was created in post over a three-week period to appear more choreographed, and to avoid soaking the already cold and disgruntled cast.

Amautalab's animated contributions were created over a four-month period. "Little Face", a squeaking head tormented by a glass of fernet, was created in studio with prosthetics on an actor's face. "Pigeons", a baguette romance ruined by pigeons, required some basic bread puppetry and trained pigeons (yes, they do exist), while inventive 3D animation brought a mustachioed bird and a marauding whale to life in "Freddy".

The proof as to whether this boldly innovative creative campaign succeeds - eagerly monitored by brands and agencies alike no doubt - will be in the consumption. Early reports are good: "Commercially, it's been a success. They are selling more than they thought they would," says Lucero. "The day we put out the dolphin installation there was also a lot of PR coverage, TV, radio. The amazing thing is that people didn't ask many questions, they just liked it."

Madre http://www.madrebuenosaires.com
Nunchaku http://www.nunchakucine.com
Amatualab http://www.amautalab.com