NEW YORK, USA — On August 17, following the hottest July on record for New York City, with heat records being set in a number of US cities, air-conditioner brand Midea teamed up with creative agency Pereira O’Dell to treat New Yorkers to a 90-minute film featuring the Midea U at Manhattan cinema, Village Easy by Angelika.
New Yorkers were able to escape the heat of the city to the air-conditioned cinema, to attend the premiere of 90 Minutes of Air Conditioning, a feature-length film about an air conditioner cooling an NYC apartment, accompanied by free popcorn and soda.
Pereira O’Dell entertainment conceived the Warholian 90-minute film starring the air conditioning unit Midea U, seizing the moment of the record-breaking NYC summer heatwave, combined with the New York habit of escaping to an air-conditioned cinema when it’s really hot outside.
60 and 15-second clips of 90 Minutes of Air Conditioning will run on social channels and give more people the chance to “watch” the film and laugh at the insider joke riffing on the NYers’ habit of going to an air-conditioned cinema to escape summer heatwaves.
Rather than tell people to turn off their phones, as is usual at the cinema, the film encouraged people to keep theirs on, chat during the movie, watch something on their phones, and enjoy being cool.
Robert Lambrechts, Chief Creative Officer, Pereira O’Dell described the 90 minutes of a single product shot as “likely the longest product placement in the history of advertising.”
The Observer said of the film, “Today’s coolest movie: A 90-Minute Film of an Air Conditioner.”
Moviegoers lined up in Manhattan for the screening, commenting afterward, “It was relaxing,” “The AC was nice,” and “Bring a date!”
Getting relief from the summer heat, especially in a densely populated city like New York can be hard, with many people waiting for sweet, or sweat, relief from the air conditioning at a store, on a train, or in an icy cold movie theater. So 90 Minutes of Air Conditioning was the perfect escape from the heat. The concept for the air-conditioning movie starring Midea U came from the habits of New Yorkers.
Robert further explained, “I would describe it (New York) in a heatwave as the seventh circle of hell waiting on the subway platform. People will commonly go to movies for some relief from the ‘oppressive’ New York heat. One summer I even went to see the movie ‘Cowboys and Aliens’ twice in the movie theater for reprieve.”
Attendees of the premier were offered a discount on a Midea AC unit so that they could bring the air-conditioned movie-watching experience home. The draw is the chill, not the content. The film may make you fall asleep. It simply shows a Midea AC unit cooling an apartment with a person occasionally coming into frame.
“When it’s a hard summer, you walk into any store, whether it’s a CVS or a clothing store, just to feel the AC,” said PJ Pereira, Creative Chairman, Pereira O’Dell.
PJ shared that the idea for the marketing video came about three weeks ago when he and other New Yorkers were enduring brutal temperatures in the city. He said, “Viewers can just get dry and get their body temperature to a reasonable place, check their emails, make a couple of phone calls if they want. It’s the same shot for 90 minutes. Nothing else happens.”
The Midea brand, which is headquartered in China, is using this campaign to break into the U.S. market. The film showcased its Midea U model, which is designed to have a window seal close over it, rather than having one that requires people to seal up with sides with duct tape or foam, making New York the best place to launch the brand and product, according to Lambrechts. The campaign will feature OOH as well and hopes to expand outside of New York in the future.
CREDITS:
Agency: Pereira O’Dell
PJ Pereira – Creative Chairman
Rob Lambrechts – Chief Creative Officer
Mona Gonzalez – President, East
Nick Sonderup – Executive Creative Director
Fernando Passos – Creative Director
Julie Rutigliano – Creative Director
Cain Luke – Copywriter
Monica Andrade – Art Director
Eduardo “Dudu” Gomez – Head of Art
Luis Bacellar – Design Director
Gabriel Iatchuk – Designer
John Redmond – Brand Strategy Director
Breanne Brock – Director of Communications Strategy and Media, East
Stewart Goossens – Media Supervisor
Erin Shanahan – Director of Brand Management
Erica Black – Brand Director
Melanie Christian – Brand Supervisor
Darbi Fretwell – Executive Producer
Kasia Olczak – Producer
Shirley White – Director of Business Affairs
Stephany Stinson – Manager of Business Affairs
