MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY — Yerba Armiño, the traditional Uruguayan yerba mate*, has launched its new campaign by production house Dogstar, directed by Oliver Garland, and developed by creative agency Notable. Under the concept “Wherever we are. We are from here,” the TV spot develops a story entirely produced in zero gravity and dramatizes the close bond between Uruguayans and the mate.
In Uruguay, mate is a symbol of friendship and is deeply rooted in the culture that is part of the country’s identity. In Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Brazil, mate and its ritual play a very important role in life, regardless of age, occupation, or social status. The campaign humorously portrays the “desperate” need that this infusion generates for those who have the habit of drinking mate every day.
“When the script came to us, we were instantly passionate about it and were faced with a huge challenge: to create a piece of action, drama, and comedy in a convincing zero-gravity spaceship. We did deep research and successive rehearsals to discover techniques used in films like Inception and Interstellar. We aimed to achieve flawless execution while keeping it within a viable budget. We have seen that even international pieces with big budgets sometimes failed to achieve the effect without showing the people hanging. In Uruguay, there is no precedent for such a piece,” Dogstar Films Partner and Executive Director Federico Cetta and Partner and Director Oliver Garland.
Federico and Oliver furthered, “So, we set out to do it with excellence and we are really happy with the results. We are very grateful for the trust placed in us by Diego Lev, DGC, and Tati Villamatos, DC of Notable, for such a beloved brand as Yerba Armiño. With this new know-how, we are looking forward to continue experimenting in future projects.”
*Mate is an infusion made from the leaves of yerba mate, a plant native to the Paraguay and Paraná river basins. These previously dried, cut, and ground plants form yerba mate, which has a bitter taste due to the tannins in its leaves.
