MAGGI | OPÉRA BŒUF | 1957
Cattle dance, opera sings. This is a 1957 ad / MAGGI "OPÉRA BŒUF"
1957. This is a MAGGI pot-au-feu ad where cattle sing and dance in the style of an opéra bouffe (comic opera). The moment I saw the title, I tilted my head and thought, "Beef opera?"—but once I watched the video, it all made sense. For an ad of its time, this is wildly bold.
The idea
The idea: take MAGGI's pot-au-feu (a beef stew) as the subject, and have cattle play the roles of opera characters who sing and dance. It's remarkably experimental filmmaking for the 1950s, using special effects to give the cattle movement and singing voices. Opéra bouffe was a 19th-century French genre of comic opera known for its satire and parody. By bringing that tradition into advertising, the ad plays up the "beef" side of the product with plenty of humor.
What happened
This film won the Grand Prix International du Film Publicitaire. This international advertising film award was a forerunner to the Cannes Lions, and at the time it represented the highest recognition an ad could receive.
Afterthought
1957—before TV advertising had really taken off, pulling off something this boldly creative is genuinely impressive. An opera starring cattle. Even watching it today, you can't help but admire its audacity and sense of humor. The ads that stand the test of time tend to have exactly this kind of courage: the courage to show people something they've never seen before.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Grand Prix 1957
