These Freedom Solar Power Ballads Absolutely Rock

Does solar power rock? People, I said: DOES SOLAR POWER ROCK?!

It sure does in a pair of electrifyingly silly spots from Freedom Solar Power and Callen. They star ordinary homeowners transformed into freaky hero-headbangers (or something) after going solar.

First, we meet Jane, who’s…

“A super-powerful lady.
She’s crankin’ her AC to the lowest degree.
Now the summer can’t melt your bones.
Look, she’s flying over tiny homes!”

As for Carl, he’s…

“A mega-powerful man
Who has more money than previously!”

That’s the whole song. What else needs to be said?

Though CGI came into play, much of the spot was produced via practical effects.

“Sawing puppet-dogs in half. Knitting sweaters for pianos. Cutting holes in the studio floor for mailmen’s legs to ‘melt’ through. And constructing a giant 20-foot-tall TV. It all happened and more,” says agency CCO Craig Callen.

Of course, riffing on ’80s bombast is nothing new. It’s as old as … 1990, probably. Still, these deliver the message with enough stupid style to please. (Callen’s picked up the Barton F. Graf mantle for zippy humor, with this effort and loopy work for Ibotta, Nickelodeon and Pabst Blue Ribbon effectively mining our shared sense of nostalgia and the pervading zeitgeist.)

“We’re telling the world about the transformative power of solar through writing and recording unique ’80s power ballad songs,” says David Hughes, managing director of Callen. “There is nothing more powerful than an ’80s power ballad, that’s what homeowners are scream-singing to themselves in their living rooms anyway, right?”

*Scream-sings* THAT’S RIIIGHT! 

Bacon director Carl Sundemo nails the tacky spectacle of early-MTV videos. Note the many fun details, like tiny houses, appliances strewn about some kind of wasteland with big-ass monitors.

Musically, it channels “Real Men of Genius” (the sly, jokey brand-vibe) and, I dunno, Survivor? Night Ranger? Whitesnake? 

That’d be one hell of a bill. Nail solar panels to their amps and crank it up!

CREDITS

Client – Freedom Solar Power
Chief Executive Officer: Bret Biggart
President: Ryan Hunter
Chief Marketing Officer: Sherren Harter
Senior Marketing Manager: Lauren Martin

Agency – Callen
Chief Creative Officer: Craig Allen
Creative Director: Matt Sorrell 
Art Director: Matt Nall
Copywriter: Kyle Davis
Head of Production: Amy Kommatas
Head of Strategy: Julianna Simon 
Managing Director: David Hughes 
Account Supervisor: Payton Brown 
Account Coordinator: Anna Campbell

Production Company – Bacon
Director: Carl Sundemo
EP: Samuel Cantor
Co-EP: Megan Murphee
Producer: Axel Herrlin
Producer: Øystein Dyb
DOP: Fredrik Bäckar
PD: Agustin Moreaux
VFX Company – Bacon X

Co-Production – Epoch Films
Managing Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan
Co-EP: Megan Murphee

Service Company – Icon Films BG
EP: Emil Rangelov
Producer: Deyan Dobrev

Edit House – MackCut
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Assistant Editor: Louisa Phillips
Executive Producer: Gina Pagano
Sound Design: Sam Shaffer

Music Studio – Butter Music and Sound
CCO: Andrew Sherman
Composer: Andrew Sherman
EP: Renée Massé
ECD: Dan Zank
Producer: Warren Wolfe

Audio Post – Mr. Bronx
Sound Design/Mix: Eric Hoffman
Assistant Mixers: Michael Artuso and Elvira Gutierrez
Audio Post EP: Hanna Choi
Audio Post Associate Producer: Maggie Norsworthy