Tinygiant director Mark Nickelsburg recently directed “Wedding,” a humorous spec spot for Tide To Go that went viral after Nickelsburg posted it on his personal Facebook page, surpassing one million views in less than 24 hours.
The lighthearted :30 spot focuses on marriage equality, as two grooms have to deal with a virtuous Church Lady on their wedding day.
“We were completely blindsided with the overwhelmingly positive response,” said Nickelsburg, who has made a career of directing comedy spots, as well as short films. “It just goes to show how powerful comedy and short-form storytelling can be when you want to get a message across, online or on TV.”
While some camps in the online community initially mistook Nickelsburg’s lampoon for a bona fide Tide ad, others across social media pleaded for Procter & Gamble, Tide’s parent company, to actually air it.
“As with any spec spot, the goal is to make it look as authentic and high-end as possible to showcase your production chops to the fullest extent, so you can’t help but be flattered when viewers think it’s legit,” said Nickelsburg. “Ultimately, though, this project was a labor of love for everyone who graciously donated their talent, time and resources to create something fun yet consequential – as artists, professionals, and citizens.”
Nickelsburg credits New York-based freelance creatives Shiraz Gani and Barbara Graetzer for coming up with the original idea for the spot. He met the duo last November as he was looking for a dialogue-driven script.
“Meeting Shiraz and Barbara was serendipitous,” said Nickelsburg. “Their script immediately grabbed me on so many levels. The dialogue and the misdirect with the Church Lady was just brilliant. We further developed the script, which was originally an exchange that took place in a park, and decided to raise the stakes by making it a wedding.”
