Why Ogilvy Made a Miniature Homage to Perrier's Lion

Pepsi did it for the Super Bowl LII, and now we have another homage to an iconic ad, in the form of Perrier's sweet little tribute to its award-winning Lion spot.  

But can you ever recreate the magic of an original? Below, Ogilvy & Mather Paris creative team, Alexandra Offe and Julien Bredontiot, and Gang Films director Johnny Green, tell us why the time was ripe to revisit a classic. 

When and how did the idea of revisiting/refreshing the original Lion commercial come up?

Ogilvy creative team: When you think of Perrier, you cannot ignore the iconic ad The Lion, made in 1990 and directed by J-P Goude.  The film actually won the first Grand Prix for France at the 1991 Cannes Lions Festival.  When we were asked to launch Perrier Fines Bulles, the process was simple: it's Perrier, but with smaller bubbles. The perfect opportunity for us to pay tribute to this masterpiece of advertising, with smaller characters, but no less charismatic!

Why was Johnny Green the right director for the job?

Ogilvy creative team: The modernity of this new opus of the extraordinary Perrier advertising saga is also based on the talent of multi-award winning director Johnny Green who immediately understood the challenge and whose proposal immediately seduced us. He was able to bring the needed elegance and sensitivity while respecting the strength of the idea. 

How did you go about keeping the style and feel of the original ad, in terms of frames, cinematography, grade etc and what did you change to refresh it?

Johnny Green: Our biggest challenge has been to tackle this mythical film, which is a true reference in France. The challenge of this remake was to keep the strength of the original idea, while modernizing it, and adding more finesse - in keeping with the petit bubbles of Perrier Fines Bulles. For example: the styling of the little girl, the re-orchestration of the original music, the calibration.  All these details were thought through to update this classic. 

They say you should never work with children or animals – what was it like working with both in one spot?

JG: The little girl was never put face to face with to the lion. The shots are rigged to give that impression, but in fact they were never on the set together.

How do you think consumers are going to react to it - those who remember the original and those who have never seen it before?

Ogilvy creative team: As creative people, we are always looking to create authentic commercials that engage viewers in the brand universe, and we also place great importance on festivals that reward the best ads. 28 years after the first film won a Grand Prix, we’d love to see this little remake featuring a girl and a cub recognised with a little Lion.