Ruben Guthrie
Scarlett Films
Issue 35 | June 2015
Agency
George Patterson Y&R Sydney
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Ben Coulson Executive Creative Directors David Joubert Bart Pawlak
Production Team
Production Kate Fenwick
Other Credits
Other Elissa Maine
Date
April 2015
Background
In June 2015, distributors Madman and production company Scarlett Pictures released Australian actor/playwright Brendan Cowell's debut film 'Ruben Guthrie'. To announce its premiere to the press, a DM piece was created to instantly capture the films two major themes.
Idea
The story is about ad executive Ruben Guthrie battling both the bottle and the city that won't let him put it down, Sydney.
By day he is the most talented creative director in town, by night he is a party animal until the day he jumps off a hotel roof into a shallow pool and nearly kills himself.
His girlfriend gives him one last chance to save both himself and the relationship. But he has to stop drinking for a year.
The two themes of advertising and alcoholism were captured in the design of a hip-flask disguised as the much coveted advertising award, the D&AD pencil.
This was sent out as an invitation to the press and key influencers to attract them to the launch.
Results
The film was selected to open the Sydney Film Festival on June 3rd.
Our Thoughts
What is most interesting to me about this mailing is who did it. Three seriously heavyweight creative talents.
Ben Coulson has more awards than seems fair, across a breadth of media channels including TV, Branded Entertainment, Mobile, Digital, PR, and even Design.
David Joubert and Bart Pawlak have won awards at Cannes, D&AD, Asia Spikes, New York Festivals etc.
But in this instance, when the target audience was clearly identified, when the budget was tight without being ridiculous and when the subject matter interested them, these top creatives saw mail as being the perfect solution. They also saw it as an opportunity to do some distinctive work.
Maybe that’s precisely why they are top creatives?