An Interview with Chris Smith
Brand Creative Group Head, The Richards Group
AdChat DFW: What was the client’s direction for this year’s HEB Super Bowl spot?
Chris Smith: The client wanted to celebrate all the flavors of Texas and link that to the fact they sell exclusive products that you will only find in Texas, catering to Texas tastes, and sold in their stores.
AdChat DFW: How did you come up with the concept for the spot?
Chris Smith: We came at it from the angle that Texas is so unique, what would the recipe be to make something as unique as Texas? The whole spot is how you make a Texas. I do a good bit of the cooking at my house and am familiar with cooking terminology, so I had a ton of fun looking for turns of phrase in recipes and put them in the context of a state.
AdChat DFW: Was this the first concept for the spot?
Chris Smith: HEB has been a Richards Group client for over 15 years. We had originally sold in another concept, but then their promotional calendar changed so they had to go in another direction. Over a mid-December weekend, my partner Bo McCord (AD) and another creative team had to come up with something quickly, and the client ended up picking this one. We were so short on time, we went at it from the point of what assets we already had and how we could add to that. Over the past several years, we had shot a lot of footage all across Texas, from strawberry fields to ranches, for another HEB campaign, “Signs”. So we thought we could rely on some of this footage and then supplement it with additional product and specific shots written into the script. We managed to comfortably shoot everything in two days in and around Bastrop, Texas.
Billy Bob Thornton was the VO talent and he essentially read the recipe for how to make a Texas.
AdChat DFW: Why did you choose Billy Bob and what was it like working with him?
Chris Smith: When I wrote this I had his voice in my head as the perfect talent with the right amount of wink. During the recording as he was reading the words, I mentally said to myself, “Oh my God, this an Oscar-winning actor, taking my direction, and being super cool about it.” He gave us as many reads as we needed, and read the script exactly how I heard it in my head when I wrote it. That was wonderful!
AdChat DFW: What was the production company?
Chris Smith: Sugar Films, right here in Dallas, and the director was Chris Smith, also of Sugar Films…not to be confused with myself. There were two of us with the same name. We’ve been working with Sugar on HEB for over a decade and when this spot idea came up, I knew they could nail it and they did.
AdChat DFW: What was the editorial company?
Chris Smith: Treehouse Edit, also out of Dallas. In fact Jayson Limmer, our editor, graciously agreed to fly in from Taiwan, where he is temporarily living now, to edit the spot. That’s a dedicated editor!
AdChat DFW: How did you marry the old footage with new?
Chris Smith: Matt McClain is the colorist from Treehouse Edit, and he recolored everything which gave it a more cinematic effect and that worked great.
AdChat DFW: Where is the spot airing during the Super Bowl?
Chris Smith: It will air between the third and fourth quarters in thirteen markets in central and south Texas, including San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and the Rio Grande Valley.
AdChat DFW: Is this going to turn into a campaign?
Chris Smith: This actually came out of the “Signs” campaign I mentioned which has been long-running, but this spot has been getting such good feedback HEB may find some new homes for it…which pleases us of course. It’s a heartfelt poem about Texas that sums up HEB’s relationship to the state, so we are hoping they use it a lot and not just for this one game.
AdChat DFW: Do you have anything to add?
Chris Smith: Well, the client was supportive and enthusiastic throughout the entire process and our agency producer, Kim Alexander, pulled it off without a hitch, in very little time. It’s really gratifying in advertising when you have an idea in your head of how it’s going to turn out and when it’s done it’s almost exactly what you pictured. Chalk it up to a lot of great people working together committed to getting it done right. It can be a stressful process, but this was incredibly smooth.
Watch “How to Make a Texas” below
