A baby wants his mother’s coffee. She tells him it’s only for grown-ups. So he turns himself into a fully grown man and takes it.
That’s the whole premise of “All Grown Up,” the new campaign for Jones Coffee Roasters and the second killed script resurrected through Dead Ad Society, hungryman‘s “anti-award show award show” for good ideas that died too soon.
The script that wouldn’t stay buried
Jagger Moore wrote it as ACD Copywriter at INNOCEAN USA, years ago, for a different coffee brand. He and his creative partner were asked for something funny about the world’s best-tasting coffee, so they wrote dozens of scripts. Another idea moved forward. This one didn’t.
Moore never let it go.
“This one stuck with me because it’s such a simple setup and it has a little element of surprise that just works so well,” Moore said.
250 submissions, 16 scripts, one stage
He entered it in hungryman’s second annual Dead Ad Society Awards. From more than 250 submissions, “All Grown Up” made the 16-script shortlist and was performed live by improv actors at The Mint in Los Angeles last September while a jury of leading creatives deliberated in real time.
It won Gold. The prize isn’t a trophy — it’s a production, with hungryman shooting and support from Dead Ad Society’s partners: Antfood, ARC Creative, Synapse Virtual Production, Sonic Union, Work Editorial, The Screen Actors Guild and Uncle Lefty.
Finding a brand that wanted the weird one
INNOCEAN USA championed the script and hunted down the right home for it: Jones Coffee Roasters, a family-owned Southern California roaster with roots going back generations.
“As a family-owned business, we take our coffee seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” said Chuck Jones, founder of Jones Coffee. “When we read the script for ‘All Grown Up,’ it made us laugh. It was unexpected and definitely not your typical ad.”
An ordinary brand-agency-production partnership, assembled in exactly the wrong order.
“It’s a traditional creative partnership that came together completely backwards, which feels very Dead Ad Society,” said Caleb Dewart, managing partner of hungryman and founder of Dead Ad Society.
Jason Sperling, CCO of INNOCEAN USA, added: “Great ideas don’t stop being great just because they didn’t make it the first time.”
A director who already knew it by heart
Hungryman handed the spot to Lena Beug, whose grounded-but-surreal instincts suit a premise that only works on full commitment. She had a head start — she directed the actors through all 16 finalist scripts on stage that night.
“Stripping the ideas down to their essence really reveals whether they work, without all the bells and whistles that production brings,” Beug said.
What she found underneath was older than advertising. “It showed us that this idea has something ancient to it, metamorphosis — if you want something badly enough you might just be able to transform yourself into something altogether other to get it.”
“It is a really nice reminder that we can make things that are funny and interesting and weird,” Beug said. “The whole process has been good for the soul.”
Kill your babies, then let one grow up
Moore has watched work die his whole career. This one made it out.
“The phrase everyone uses is ‘kill your babies,’ right? This time, my baby gets to grow up all the way — even if it is only for a matter of seconds,” he said.
Dead Ad Society is already hunting the next one. Year Three submissions are open at DeadAdSociety.com, with the show set for November 19 at LPR in New York City.
Learn more
Dead Ad Society
hungryman
INNOCEAN USA
Jones Coffee Roasters
Jagger Moore LinkedIn
Lena Beug LinkedIn
hungryman LinkedIn
INNOCEAN USA LinkedIn
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