Stardust's Ice Breakers Spot for Arnoldnyc Features Inventive Use of Hand-drawn Cel Animation

Under the direction of EVP and senior creative director Sig Gross and his colleagues from ArnoldNYC, bicoastal U.S. creative production company Stardust Studios recently produced a colorful spot for Hershey Canada's Ice Breakers Mints.

Stardust West creative director Brad Tucker directed, and Jonathan Wu served as Stardust's art director, for the :15 spot entitled "A State of Mouth," which debuted exclusively in Canada in April, where it will continue to run for the foreseeable future.

Arnold's project team also included creative director Betsy Guerro, and producer Marianne Toniolo.

"The brief for this project was to create a spot that appealed to the 18-24 year old market," Tucker explained.

"They wanted a confident hero to take the viewer on a journey unlike anything they had seen before," Wu added, "and they wanted to utilize an illustration style that talked to this audience, utilizing cel animation yet not appearing too cartoony."

The spot begins with live-action footage of actor Gavin Beasley reaching into a package of Ice Breakers and grabbing a mint.

When he puts the mint in his mouth, the visuals quickly transform him and his background with a unique animation approach, featuring hand-drawn illustrations and cel animation.