Kuru Says: When Zombies Attack, Good Shoes Matter

Orthopedic footwear for outrunning (or stomping on) the undead

Mom: “I found a pair of Kurus on a half-eaten corpse.”

Dad: “And they fit!”

Orthopedic shoe brand Kuru’s and agency Little Big Engine play the end of civilization for laughs in our second zombie apocalypse spoof this week.

Xfinity’s take on the genre boasted blockbuster production values and cinematic scope.

Kuru’s campaign … has zombies, that’s for sure. And they’re clearly low-budget, with barely any makeup. The whole thing looks like it was shot in and around some random crappy house.

But all of that works in the advert’s favor. This feels like a campy indie short, packing considerable punch and an especially sharp script.

The best bits involve a couple’s ghoulish son chained to a wall while growling like a freak.

Mom: You know how teenagers are. They eat anything.

Dad: Or anyone.

When the kid snarls and rages, pops wags a finger and warns, “OK, young man. You’re pushing it!”

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“We needed to help shift the perceptions of an entire category while building awareness, engagement and preference for Kuru,” says Patrick Maravilla, ECD at Little Big Engine. “We created an execution that grabs attention, entertains, demonstrates the problem, introduces the product and dramatizes the relief it provides.

Indeed, the brand proposition—that these kicks provide comfort and relief in rough situations—slices through the horror hokum. Like fiendish teeth tearing into tender flesh, or some such.

Breaking across TV and social, the work also aims to combat ageism, noting that orthopedic shoes can provide cross-generational utility with a range of styles, Maravilla says.

“We challenged the conventions of a boring and unpopular category by meeting consumers where they are, being honest about what living with foot pain can be like and introducing a solution to one of life’s many difficulties.”

Here, Maravilla chats with Muse about the project:

How’d you hit on the notion of zombies?

The big idea from the jump was, “At least my feet don’t hurt.” The scripts were stories of people in horrible situations who stay happy and see the silver lining because Kuru has removed their foot pain. It came down to two concepts:

“Forgotten Safe Word” – A story of a guy in the middle of getting whipped by a dominatrix who forgot his safe word. He’s getting whipped and his back is in pain, but at least his feet don’t hurt! This idea was tabled. For now.

“OutBreak” – This was the spot we ended up making. Shaun of the Dead was our inspiration. We were like, “Let’s do that but for an orthopedic shoe commercial.” Plus our clients are BIG zombie fans.

What were your biggest challenges?

When dealing with a small budget, which we definitely were, you have to pick and choose where to invest and what can be less of a priority. We chose to invest in set design and talent. We used our producer’s sister’s house for the location. We thought of ideas that wouldn’t need additional post investment. A zombie pushing a mower while our hero dad is in a homemade shower was simple and funny without adding to the production cost.

Local actors in the cast?

Many of the extras were friends, family, Kuru employees and some of the students I was teaching at Utah Valley University. Blake Brown, the director of brand and creative at Kuru, is one of our Zombies too.

The dialogue’s especially amusing.

Improv is a BIG part of every one of our productions. We always go into a shoot with a great script then work to beat it when the cameras roll. So lines like, “Honey can I do head and you do shins?” and “It mows the lawn or it gets the kerosene again” were riffed on set and they made it into the final cut.

Fun fact: “You know how teenagers are. They eat anything. Or anyone.” The CMO at Kuru came up with that line on set.

Will there be a sequel?

When all is said and done, we love how the spot turned out. And we delivered enough footage to Kuru’s internal marketing teams to build an entire funnel of bespoke creative assets. This allows them to constantly cut alts and optimize versions to find the winning edit that sells a ton of shoes.

CREDITS

Client: Kuru Footwear
Campaign Title: “At Least My Feet Don’t Hurt”
Head of Brand: Blake Brown
CMO: Damian Dayton
Video Content Creator: Tyler Brown
Agency: Little Big Engine
Executive Creative Directors: Brandt Lewis/ Patrick Maravilla
Partner, Head of Accounts: Ben Myers
Production Company: Little Big Engine
Executive Producer: Duff Rich
Director of Photography: Mun Powell
Postproduction: Cosmic Pictures
Editorial Company: Little Big Engine
Editor: Dan Aronin
Music/Sound Design: Jam Music Collective
Music Producers: Sam Clawson and Kyra Brewer