UPDATE: Today we were informed that the commercial is being pulled from TV and Youtube because of an entry for Joy Nugget on Urban Dictionary.com. Don’t let #joynuggets die!
When our banking partner, M&T Bank, sent a casting director to the brewery one day in January to interview us about who we are and why we do what we do, we never thought we’d really make the cut. And to be honest, we weren’t even sure if we would want to be in a bank commercial, on the off chance that they didn’t see a trio of silly buffoons who just really like drinking beer.
But then the call came. Arrive at the set call time. Bring several changes of clothes. Um, ok. Are we gonna do this?
We all agreed that M&T had been crucial partners in helping us grow and they really believed in us, and shooting the commercial would definitely be weird, but also potentially kind of fun. So we went.
We arrived, 15 minutes late, at a serious commercial soundstage. A huge ensemble of crewmembers were anxiously waiting for us. First we had a wardrobe consultation, then makeup, then we were propped up in front of a massive green screen and the cameras rolled.
We left that day with no idea when the commercial would air and I think we were all a bit nervous about it.
A couple weeks later we get a call with the news that they thought we were great but our bit wouldn’t be used in the spot it was shot for but they wanted to use it as its own piece to be aired, possibly, at a later date.
We assumed that was industry speak for “not quite ready for primetime”.
And then, yesterday morning, a friend posts a picture of his TV, with our faces on it, that he took while watching ESPN and the words “Joy Nuggets”.
So, we are now in a TV commercial, for a great bank, that has helped us grow our business and produce more nuggets of joy to send out into the world. Check it out below:
For the full recap, check out the Baltimore City Paper article “A short list of substitutes Union Brewing and M&T Bank could use for ‘joy nuggets.'”
