Helping to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the classic Will Farrell comedy "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," production company Spears and Arrows and Director Timothy Kendall teamed with agency GSD&M and auto brand Dodge (part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis) on the new “Life Lessons” ad. The spot features actor Gary Cole reprising his role as Reese Bobby and using the ‘road as his classroom’ to impart pearls of wisdom to his young son Ricky Bobby and best friend Cal Naughton, Jr. as they speed from one questionable adventure to another in a Dodge Durango.
Set to the AC/DC song Shot In The Dark, “Life Lessons” finds Reese speeding through Talladega in 1982 with his young charges hanging on in the backseat as they steal a speed boat, win a drag race, and head for Tijuana – and all while Reese drops hilariously non-sequitur bits of wisdom such as, "just because you grow up, don’t mean you gotta give up” and “life takes 50% bravery and 60% stupidity," spoken as he casually blows up a fireworks stand.
“Gary is a professional who can make any line of dialogue ring true to character,” Kendall says. “He made things easy by effortlessly nailing the paragraphs of dialog he had, as well as being so down to earth and easy to work with. I remember one moment where I unconsciously gave direction to Gary using the same southern accent he was playing with. Gary just chuckled and said, ‘It’s addictive, isn’t it?’ Everyone on the set found themselves quoting Reese Bobby lines all day. It was a blast!”
Jason Wolk, Founder and Managing Director of Spears & Arrows, found the experience, rewarding. "Working with celebs, minors and stunts pose many challenges but our A-Team crew on the east coast made it all run smooth as silk,” Wolk says. "I especially enjoyed locking up Sandy Hook, New Jersey — it felt like we were on a backlot with the amount of control and access we had, so, thanks Sandy Hook. But the most gratifying aspect of the shoot was the opportunity to continue working with our loyal clients at GSD&M. Their values of loyalty, ethics and humanity are aligned with Spears & Arrows, and that just makes the job all the more fun and enriching.”
“Life Lessons” began airing in August 2021.
About Spears & Arrows
Spears and Arrows produces commercials, promos and branded media for international clients. http://www.spearsandarrows.tv
About Dodge//SRI
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.
2021 marks the year that Dodge is distilled into a pure performance brand, offering Hellcat-powered, 700-plus-horsepower SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2021 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the new 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the new 710-horsepower Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful SUV ever. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry's most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.
In 2020, Dodge was named the "#1 Brand in Initial Quality," making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). The Dodge brand also ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market). These results are historic because it marks the first time a domestic brand has earned top spots in both J.D. Power studies in the same year.
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis.
