TANDEM’S ONLINE GRUB HUB SPOT EARNS TV AIRING
Published in Reel Chicago, February 2015
Chicago-based Tandem Inc recently produced five online spots for Grub Hub and Seamless that generated enough buzz to convince the meal ordering service to move one of them, “On Hold,” into broadcast rotation.
Starring typical twenty-somethings who endure shoddy customer service while attempting to order food on the phone, the campaign mixes the frustration of modern day dining delivery with a dose of slapstick and a pinch of weirdness.
“Gary” stars a Pug who gets fired from his job as personal delivery dog for his owner. “Evil Phone” features a gigantic 70s-era handset that terrifies a couple on a couch. On Hold” documents a consumer’s devolution from enthusiastic would-be taco eater to delusional underpantsed crazy dancer in a series of quick cuts that helped put the commercial on AdAge’s “HotSpots” list in December, prompting Grub Hub to double its length and broadcast it as a thirty second spot on several networks.
The commercials were directed by Tandem founder Tyler Jay, whose reel stretches from LA to Chicago and includes big budget movies and independent film as well as advertising. They combine “hand-held footage and really funy content” to deliberately create the sensation of a well-done user generated video.
Jay regards the style as something of a Tandem halmark.
“We’re very nimble and very agile,” he explains, “but the quality is just as good as if you went with production companies on the coast.”
The genesis of this genre was his 2014 work for the 15th anniversary of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, a campaign that earned praise throughout the trades and caught the eye of GCD Rich McClellan and senior director Suzana Dawursk at Grub Hub, who contacted Jay last Fall.
“They wanted to talk about viral campaigns that hit upon how difficult it is to order food on the phone,” he remembers.
“We came back with twenty scripts and they bought three of them.”
After getting the green light, Jay enlisted the services of line producer Becky Werve and DP Andrew Dryer and filmed for two days in two separate condominiums on Chicago’s North and Northwest sides. All the actors hail from Chicago except the one featured in “Gary,” who is based out of New York
For post production, he contacted Brian Sepanik at The Colonie.
“I knew that this was gonna be a high profile piece of business,” Jay explains. “I’ve got a history with The Colonie and it was a perfect match.”
Comma Music and Particle provided music and sound design, allowing Jay to “pull from their library” to find the “fun, edgy and humorous tone in line with Grub Hub’s brand.”
The Filmworkers Club handled color.
Although pleased with the props he’s received since the campaign launched, Jay is quick to credit its success to the people who worked on it, selected from a network he has developed over years of experience in the agency and production communities from New York to LA.
“We work with the best and we hope they enjoy working with us,” he says.
“That’s why I call my company Tandem, because we want the client to have a fun ride while they’re working with us, too.”