Madheart’s Jan Gleie Makes Olympics Debut with Pampers, Kraft and Target

LOS ANGELES—Director Jan Gleie will be well represented in this summer’s Olympics Games, not on the field of play, but rather during the commercial breaks. A new Pampers ad directed by Gleie, who is represented in the United States by Madheart, will air during NBC’s coverage of the Games. Additionally, branding spots for Kraft and Target that Gleie shot earlier this year are also slated to air prominently during Olympics broadcasts.

Gleie’s new Pampers spot builds on Every Little Miracle, a spot that he directed for the brand last year. Conceived by Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, the commercial presented images of mothers and newborns of every description to show that all births and all children are miraculous. The new ad, Vertical Chair Climb¸ also from Saatchi & Saatchi and produced via Germany’s TwinFilm, shows toddlers struggling to climb into chairs as if they were competing in a pint-sized Olympics event.

The Kraft spot, Make Something Amazing, produced by Madheart for McGarryBowen, features five product lines and is part of Kraft’s largest cheese/dairy campaign in more than a decade. The 60-second commercial also marks a creative departure for the brand, as it features warm, highly personal lifestyle scenes of moms, dads and kids with the products woven into the magic of family life. The spot is visually-oriented with little copy and is designed to inspire families to make creative use of Kraft cheeses, pizza mix, spaghetti and other products.

Gleie’s Target spot, Life Well Worn, produced by Madheart for Minneapolis agency Peterson Milla Hooks, explores the joy of sport, as experienced by ordinary people. It features real-life vignettes of people passionately engaged in running, bike-riding, weight training, golf and other athletic activities. The visuals have an evocative, poetic sense in support of the tagline, “Life Well Worn.”
Each of the spots underscores Gleie’s gift for associating products with basic human emotions, and doing so in an organic, unforced manner. "Branding doesn’t have to be hard sell,” says Gleie. “It can be handled delicately. It can be an invitation with no hidden agenda.”
Madheart is based in Los Angeles. For further information, call 213.995.4555 or visit https://www.madheart.com/. The company is represented on the West Coast by Lisa Gimenez Toliver (lisa@lisareps.com) and Keith Quinn (keithevil.quinn@gmail.com), Hot Betty in the Midwest (cat@hot-betty.com), and, on the East Coast, Dana Dubay (dana@dubay.tv) and Kelly Flint (kelly@strikemedia.tv).
Credits
Client: Pampers
Title: Vertical Chair Climb
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, New York. Tris Gates-Bonarius, creative director.
Director: Jan Gleie

Client: Pampers
Title: Every Little Miracle
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, New York. Tris Gates-Bonarius, Global Creative Director/Art Director; Cliff Francis, Worldwide P+G Creative Director/Writer; Michael von Schmidt-Pauli, Global TV Producer; Con Williamson, North American COO; Jorg Riommi and Adam Kerj, Creatives.
Director: Jan Gleie

Client: Kraft
Titles: Make Something Amazing
Agency: McGarrybowen. Mike Straznickas and Dave Reger, group creative directors.
Production: Madheart, Los Angeles. Jan Gleie, director; Lisa Phillips, executive producer; Joan Sullivan, business manager.

Client: Target
Titles: Life Well Worn
Agency: Peterson Milla Hooks, Minneapolis. Dave Peterson, president; Nick Fecteau, art director; Courtney Vincent, writer; Heather Johnson, account director; Sean Healey, producer.
Production: Madheart, Los Angeles. Jan Gleie, director; Lisa Phillips, executive producer; Joan Sullivan, business manager.