The Hollywood movie actor, Stephen Dorff is the star of the latest
spine-tingling Tia Maria commercial by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/
Y&R.
The ad, which continues the ’Princess of Darkness’ theme introduced in
1996, opens with a close-up of an eyeball checking out a photograph of
Dorff in a magazine.
It cuts to Dorff browsing at a newsstand. He suddenly drops his coffee
and walks in a trance through dark and dangerous parts of Los Angeles -
unaware of the ghoul-like figures watching him.
He then enters a flat, where the woman whose eye it is rubs her finger
around the rim of a glass, creating a high-pitched sound. The tension is
punctured when she unexpectedly hands Dorff a jar to open - revealing
the real reason for summoning him to her flat.
The film was directed by Academy’s Walter Stern, who directed the latest
Caffrey’s spot for Roose & Partners, but is best known for his Prodigy,
Massive Attack and the Verve promos.
It was shot on location in LA and the apartment scenes were filmed in
the hotel used for several scenes in the Brad Pitt thriller, Seven.
The commercial was written by Mike Boles and art directed by Jerry
Hollens.
Media buying is through Optimedia.
Boles said: ’There are a lot of movies out at the moment that are dark
and scary. We wanted to treat it like a film and spook the audience. It
works the way a film works, by motivating and manipulating the
audience.’
Dorff is perhaps best known to UK audiences for his role in Backbeat,
the Beatles film.
