Chic sheep: W+K creates a yarn about flocculent celebs for Merino wool

Seeing the above video first thing this morning made Ad Nut wonder if someone had dropped mild hallucinogens into Ad Nut's coffee.

The video introduces 'The Merino Sisters', a trio of laniferous humanoids who inhabit an oddly surreal mansion. The apparently famous creatures extol the virtues of Merino wool to an Anna Wintour-type who gets shepherded around their property by a somewhat rude murderous beast.  

The work, by Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai, launched on September 21 and is the first brand campaign in China for The Woolmark Company. 

According to Follen See, art director at W+K Shanghai, the fantasy-tinged world that had Ad Nut wondering about mind-altering substances was no accident:

We created a one-of-a-kind visual world for the Merinos to occupy. It’s luxurious, stylishly beautiful, and filled with surprises. And that’s just how we wanted Merino wool to be recognized. 

The content went live first on ecommerce channels, where the 'sisters' also appeared in livestreams, according to Aier Xu, W+K copywriter:

The livestream world has seen nothing but human celebrities in recent years. We wanted to try something different. The Merino Sisters are the first celebrity sheep to embrace the medium. And they showed up other places too—Tmall, Weibo, WeChat, basically anywhere that they could get the spotlight.

The brand's ambition for the sisters is high, according to W+K creative director Tree Chan:

For beef, there’s Kobe beef. For roses, there are Damask roses. For sparkling wine, there’s Champagne. We want to make Merino wool the most prestigious and respected family of wool for people in China.

CREDITS

Executive Creative Directors: Ian Toombs, Vivian Yong
Creative Director: Tree Chan
Copywriter / Art Director: Follen See, Aier Xu
Producer: Bernice Wong
Account Team Member(s): Jim Zhou, Edith Wang,
Head of Strategy Planning: Renee Zhang
Senior Planner: Jennings Liu
Business Affairs: Jessica Deng

Production: The Pandemic Story
Director: Ding Yu Chen
DP: An Zheng
Executive Producers: Wong Ay Wei
Line Producer: Areta Mak, Lee Ser Ping
Editor: Zhang Yi Bo

VFX: Fin Design + Effects
Executive Producer: Emma Daines
Producer: Chye Yee, Liu Fan
VFX Supervisor: Segundo Fernandez
Lead Compositor: Joseph Tsang
VFX Artist: Gu YiChen, Lilia Zheltiakova, Carlo Maria Rossi, Ran XiaoXu, Camille
Shen, Jessie Qi, Ted Tsui, Echo Zhao, Zuo Chen

Color: Fin Design + Effects
Colorist: Fergus Rotherham

Music:
制作人Creative Director: 沈力 Lee Shen
歌手Singer: 杨默依 Moi Yang
作曲Composer: 沈力 Lee Shen
编曲Arranger: 彭轩 Bruno Peng
混音Mixing: 邢铜 Xing Tong

Sound design: Big Knows Shanghai
Executive: Arthur Monnet
Sound Designer: Charles Monnet

Mix: Hush Shanghai
Producer: 邬乃星Bonie
Final MIxer: 王祎晟Eason, 王嘉熙 Jiaxi

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.