Walmart has secured feature filmmakers to direct three :60s that will run during commercial breaks of the Feb. 26th Oscar telecast on ABC. Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer, last year’s The Magnificent Seven) is set to direct one of the ads, as are Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, The Kite Runner) and the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (The Interview).
The premise of each Walmart :60 centers on “how every receipt tells a story” with the directors challenged to bring their visions to life.
The three creative films are part of Walmart’s larger multi-year partnership with the Academy Awards that is aimed at highlighting Walmart’s commitment to the art of storytelling. Walmart will also be making a $250,000 donation to The Academy Grants Program for FilmCraft.
The six items on the Walmart shopper’s receipt are bananas, paper towels, batteries, a scooter, wrapping paper, and a video baby monitor,
“I’ve been a storyteller for as long as I can remember,” said Fuqua. “This was a wonderful challenge from Walmart that allowed me to do just that: tell an extraordinary story shaped around six ordinary objects.”
Forster stated, “Telling a personal story has always been gratifying to me as an artist. The uniqueness of this challenge from Walmart allowed me to exercise my passion for storytelling in a very exciting way by crafting a story that revolves around people’s everyday needs, wants and desires.”
Tony Rogers, Walmart’s chief marketing officer, said, “For us, this campaign is celebrating creativity and storytelling, something our customers do every day. A Walmart receipt tells a story as diverse as the customers who shop us. We think of our business beyond simple transactions–Walmart is about serving the people behind those receipts and saving them time and money. This unexpected way of telling our brand story is a perfect fit for a night where compelling storytelling is celebrated.”
