Do They Have A Food Truck Ordinance?
July 17, 2012 by Andrew Schneider
The tiny town of Bethel, Alaska, population 6,000, is so remote (about 400 miles north of Anchorage) that everything, both people and supplies are brought in by plane...the same plane.
So there’s not too much to do except mess with your neighbors. One teenager leafleted the town with a bogus flyer saying a Taco Bell was going to open. When the company found out about the hoax they decided to do something about it.
This 30-second spot, courtesy Draftfcb Orange County and Optimus Santa Monica, follows the operation that airlifted a Taco Bell food truck equipped to serve enough tacos for the whole town. It debuted last week.
“The idea was completely new and exciting, to bring this truck into Alaska, to bring a town a day of Taco Bell,” says Nathan Cali, who edited the spot. Cali was only recently promoted to editor at Optimus.
With only three days to shoot and edit the spot, everyone involved had to be on their game. The speed with which Optimus edited the work was remarkable. The team shot July 1st, screened and began editing on the red-eye back to L.A., had a marathon edit session on July 2nd, and finished on the 3rd.
Cali really enjoyed being involved in the spot – getting to meet the people of Bethel was fu.
“They’re contained in their own little world,” he says. “They were all great people, natives that were just a different way of living up there. Fishing is their main source of income and with Taco Bell coming in, there was a big uproar it was like nothing that ever happened.”
Basically the entire town took the day off for the event that resulted in the 30 and a longer 90 for special exhibitions.
“When we got the footage, they had the EPIC Red, five 5Ds, they were shooting everything,” Cali says. “There was enough footage where I could make a doc on Bethel. We probably had thirty hours of footage to go through.”
Cali and Optimus Santa Monica EP/Managing Director Therese Hunsberger note that the quick turn-around was possible, despite the huge amount of footage the event produced, because of great planning and coordination between the post house and Draftfcb.
“We were brought on just enough during the pre-planning process to be ready,” Hunsberger says. “This was more of a tactical plan – everyone was on the same page before anything happened.”
The entire project, from concept to finishing was done in about three weeks.
“It’s just great that Taco Bell caught wind of it,” Cali says. “It was great for everyone and just such a great day in Bethel. It had the feeling of a street fair – that everyone took the day off to do the event. It brought the whole town together.”