Crocs released the short film “Let Your Human Out” last week to introduce their new global brand narrative, Wonderfully Unordinary, saying it reflects a “shift towards growth, self-expression, and the future version of both the consumer and the Crocs brand.”
Brandcenter alum Hope Jordan (Art Direction, 2010) served as Creative Director on the project, collaborating with creative agency Flower Shop, acclaimed Swedish filmmaker Adam Berg, and a slew of creative and production professionals to bring the vision to life.
We caught up with Hope to hear more about the project.
Tell us a little bit about the process. Who did you get to work with? What was your role?
Crocs asked creative agency Flower Shop to help launch their new global brand platform, Wonderfully Unordinary. Together, we created a campaign that celebrates self-expression and invites people to embrace their real, imperfect, very human selves.
Flower Shop brought me in as a Creative Director at the start of the production process to help bring the script to life. We collaborated with director Adam Berg, who was chosen for his cinematic sensibility and ability to amplify the tone and feeling of the work. It was very important to CCO Al Merry and me that the work held onto a bit of levity while still delivering beauty and emotion.
We shot 3 nights in a row, 6pm-6am. I’ve done night shoots but not so many in a row before, luckily Mary Lou (Flower Shop CEO) made us a nap schedule to train for it.
Imagining all-night shoots get wacky! Any fun behind the scenes stories? Late night snacks?
While we were waiting between setups the Crocs Brand team and I had an impromptu dance-party-sing-along, mostly *NSYNC. Al Merry and our Line Producer seemed to very much be delighted by our whimsy. They’re probably still thinking about it.
Sao Paulo Crafty made Grilled cheeses after we were done every night. 4am “Toasties” gave us life!!
How did the mannequin look and visual transition come together?
That was a whooole thing. That process was something we were all concerned about and occasionally discombobulated by. Our director took the lead, and we partnered with an amazing VFX company, House of Parliament, who phased the mannequin-to-human transition from practical masks, to a mix of practical and VFX, to mostly human-face and makeup. It ultimately took a lot of trust from everyone and just letting Parliament cook, and they did an amazing job.
Was there anything from Brandcenter that unexpectedly came back to you while working on this?
Brandcenter gives students clear standards and the confidence to protect them. As creatives, it’s our job to have a point of view, know what we like and why, and not apologize for it. That’s the role of a creative director: protect and defend the vision, whether that means a strong opinion or something as simple as sketching an idea in pre-pro to help sell it through. In other words, it’s good to be a little snobby (but **stay kind** obviously).
I credit my own snobbiness to the insanely talented professors and classmates I learned alongside in the Brandcenter Class of 2010. 💛
Anything you’d like current Brandcenter students to know?
I want students to know so much. I’m overwhelmed with this question, but I’ll answer it with my Crocs goggles on.
Music and VFX were a huge part of the Crocs spot, and the music process is something you won’t really learn in school. Here’s how it usually goes: you write a script, fall in love with an iconic song (or don’t mention music at all), sell it through… then maybe a producer gently reminds you that the song you suggested costs a kabajillion dollars. Music often gets pushed aside while bigger decisions happen. Don’t do that. Start early. Build playlists. Think in vibes. Eventually you’ll brief a music house, explore options, and cut against a few tracks. If you’re lucky, one clicks.
The big point is this: music can drive the entire spot, so start thinking about options way earlier than you think you need to. We got lucky. Our director, Adam Berg, found a track that fit almost immediately, and we were able to license it from the band (YAY).
What’s something you’re paying more attention to now than you did early in your career?
Early on, I was focused on making the best work possible for myself before I really knew what “good” work even was. That just comes from time and proximity to people who know more than you, and eventually you learn to recognize good work while it’s still cooking.
What I pay much more attention to now is the business around the work. Advertising is a business and embracing that as a creative actually makes the work better. Understanding what the client needs and as a freelancer, what the agency that brought me in needs, creates guardrails, and those guardrails often lead to more interesting, unexpected ideas than what I would’ve done on my own.
‘Wonderfully Unordinary’ was our north star. We wanted to celebrate real, imperfect humanity, and that served as the guardrails that guided us through this project.
What are you most proud of with “Let Your Human Out”?
There’s a lot to be proud of here! The message that being alive and being human is something to celebrate, especially right now. Also the amount of time, care, and energy poured into crafting every detail. And then the casting and creative choices that avoided the obvious and fully leaned into the brand line. Overall, I love that the work has a clear point of view, both conceptually and aesthetically.
And let’s credit everyone involved. I feel very strongly in giving credit, and it gives a chance for everyone to see just how many people it takes to make a spot like this:
Crocs
- Chief Brand Officer: Terence Reilly
- Chief Marketing Officer: Carly Gomez
- VP Creative: Ginny Golden
- Global Brand Director: Elise Longbottom
- Head of Global Creative Studio: Deb Rosen
- Global Marketing Operations: Carry Solberg
- Sr. Creative Director: Carleton Rouleau Peck
Agency: Flower Shop
- Chief Creative Officer: Alastair Merry
- Chief Executive Officer: Mary Lou Bunn
- Chief Strategy Officer: Mark Aronson
- Strategy Associate: Noor Valvani
- Executive Director, Business: Allie Lightcap
- Sr. Project Manager: Danielle Hillman
- Creative Director: Hope Jordan
- Art Director: Nate Able
- Copywriter: Reuben Hower
- Creative Consultant: Justin Moore
- Creative Associate: Dakin Moore
- Executive Producer: Joyce Roughley
- Head of PR: Elizabeth Hess
Production Company: SMUGGLER
- Director: Adam Berg
- Executive Producers: Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody, Carlin Wilson-Webb
- Managing Director: Sue Yeon Ahn
- Director Of Photography: Steve Annis
- Line Producer: Daniel Arfwedson
Business Affairs: HAILSTORM
- Sr. Business Affairs Manager: Jennifer Sefa-Boakye
Production Services // BRAZIL: Ocean Films
- Executive Producer: Zahra Staub
- Editorial: Trim Editing
- Editor: Andreas Arvidsson
- Executive Producer: Anne Lai
- Executive Producer: Luiza D. Naritomi
- Assistant Editors: Joey Henshaw, Magdalena Plugowska
Post Production // VFX: House of Parliament
- VFX Supervisor: Dan Fine, Siro Valente
- Producer: David Ziek, Rachel Greco, Krystle Trimm
- Creative Team: Phil Crowe, Alex Koester, Ben Sartory, Myong Choi, Sherryn Pattarawuttiwog
Color: TRAFIK
- Colorist: Mark Gethin
- Producer: Rebecca Boorsma
Audio Post: Barking Owl
- Mixer: Stuart St. Vincent Welch
- Junior Mixer: Henry Gilchrist
- Lead Sound Design: Gus Koven
- Executive Producer: Ashley Benton