What happens in the baseball stadium doesn’t stay in the baseball stadium. Rather it “is felt by us all out there,” says the narrator of a new spot for the Toronto Blue Jays directed by Kevin Foley, who is represented for commercial work by Supply & Demand. “The bigger the hit, the bigger the ripple,” the voiceover continues over a montage of explosive images of windows breaking, houses shaking and buckling and plates smashing as players, including star first baseman Vladimir Guerrro Jr., belt the baseball out of the park.
The new Blue Jays spot–produced by Toronto-based Scouts Honor, which reps Foley in Canada–is a dynamic tone poem, a lyrical ode to the team and its legions of fans that brings to life the team’s new tagline: “Lights up. Let’s go.” On the soundtrack, Shirley Bassey belts out her iconic 1967 version of “That’s Life.”
“This is a film for the fans. It captures the connective tissue between in-stadium moments and watching games while sitting on your couch,” said Foley, who collaborated with the team and creative shop Tall Poppy on the brief for the spot. “The idea is to bring more character to the game and demonstrate why fans show up at the stadium. Baseball has that thing that it does, it’s called anticipation. It does anticipation better than any other sport. You go to a game and you may see something that’s never been seen before, like a shortstop turning an unassisted triple play or Vladdy walking it off, throwing his bat twenty feet in the air in celebration.”
Foley is no outsider to the game. He played college baseball at the University of Pittsburgh and won a gold medal in the Canada games in 1997. He has directed commercials featuring almost every sport, from Olympic launch films for the IOC to hockey spots for the NHL and the Maple Leafs, and golf campaigns with Tiger Woods. Foley’s documentary film Never Say Die about #1 ranked golfer Jason Day, earned a Sports Emmy nomination in the “Outstanding Short Sports” category. His films include collaborations with Kevin Hart, Ryan Reynolds and Usain Bolt as well as global brands such as Mercedes, IOC, VRBO, NHL, Netflix, Red Bull, Adidas, NBC and HBO.
