Advertising Agency JBR/McCann Norway, wrote a very amusing script for a “Solo” soft drink commercial. This involved pastiche “Ken and Barbie” dolls that come to life inside a dolls house. The spot has them becoming amorous and involves a risque pay-off. The award winning commercial required careful handling due to a large degree of prosthetic make-up needed to bring the characters to life. Obviously, as we could not infringe the copyright of the Mattel toys and knew that we needed to exaggerate the dolls appearance.
As the budget was tight it was decided that only certain prosthetic parts were necessary. I produced sketches to work out the look and extent of caricature necessary to realize the characters for director Harald Zwart. Once these drawings were signed off on by the agency, some actors had casts made from which to sculpt the prosthetic pieces. Clothes were also made to help cover part of the body and to help reduce the amount of prosthetic pieces. Ken has a somewhat Elvis Presley
By casting a model who had undergone a large degree of plastic surgery, the synthetic nature of the doll’s appearance could be enhanced with shiny make-up. Prosthetic pieces were designed to augment her breasts and forehead to simulate the exaggerated doll features. “Ken” had a complete head and a chest-piece. A crotch piece was made to match that of an action figure.
