Christina Aguilera and Latto Sing for Their Supper With Just Eat

Christina Aguilera and rapper Latto belt out praise for U.K. delivery service Just Eat in a lavish ad that fuses hip-hop and opera.

The word “epic” comes to mind, served with dashes of high camp, as a ludicrously lavish mansion, glimmering gondola and buoyant bicycle riders create a boffo scene.

“Oh you thought it was just burgers and fries?
They got more flavors than you tasted or you
heard in your life.
Ooh—this is what the app do, it ain’t only fast food.
Switching styles like opera to rap too.”

The :60 from McCann London and ace music video director Dave Meyers falls under Just Eat’s “Did Somebody Say” banner. It follows tuneful outings with Snoop Dog (recently tweaked for the brand’s GrubHub ops in the U.S.) and Katy Perry. The company credits those efforts with helping boost its biz in European markets, so an encore only makes sense.

“When I heard about the opportunity to work with Just Eat, I was actually abroad on tour using the app,” Latto says in press materials. “It was a no-brainer for me, especially with the iconic Christina Aguilera involved.”

“Working with megastars is a serious operation. They are a brand. And with that comes a carefully assembled structure that ensures they’re represented in a way that feels true to those images and tones of voice,” McCann senior creatives Stephen Yeates and Adam Taylor-Smith tell Muse. “And when you have two artists at the table, you kind of multiply that by three.”

“That’s why you need a director who has skin in that particular game. Dave Meyers has that. He knew how to create the right amount of space and oxygen for the talent to bring who they are in a way that felt right for the brand’s story.”

The talent pairing “was born out of the business challenge in many ways,” Yeates and Taylor-Smith recall. “Just Eat’s brief to us was how do we tell a story of surprise. Long gone are the days when all they’d deliver was a burger, a late or late-night pizza. Their offering has expanded into a diverse range of cuisine for any time of day. So, we had to create something that felt fresh and unexpected to help tell that story.”

Given ths scope of that mission, “an unexpected duo performing within a visual world and musical theme that they weren’t necessarily known for felt like a natural way to help express that idea,” the creative say. “You can already see the reaction in comments sections all over the world, across all platforms. It took people by surprise. Which feels like a job well done, both strategically and creatively.”

In other words:

“I’m a bad girl but my takeout badder.
What you need dude? I can cop a taco platter.
Thai rice sticky icky
Gyoza on the side fried right, cos we kinda picky.
Breakfast or lunch, hon—dinner or brunch,
Wanna find the finest dining? I got a hunch.”

TV, OOH, DOOH, cinema and digital elements have begun rolling out in the U.K. and Ireland, with more of Europe plus Canada and Australia to follow.

CREDITS

Client: Just Eat 
Global VP Brand: Susan O’Brien
Global Head of Brand & Campaign: Stuart Eaton
Global Principal of Brand & Campaigns: Nikita Lensink
Global Senior Campaign Manager: Georgie Maude
Global Principal Brand Digital & Social Media: Richard Burgess
Global Head of Brand PR: Ania Bielecka
Global Principal Brand PR: Sam Bristowe
Global Head of Creative: Emily Ford
Global Lead Art Director: Fran Boyd
Global Senior Art Director Emma Williams

Creative Agency: McCann London
McCann London Co-Presidents and McCann UK CCOs: Rob Doubal & Laurence Thomson
Chief Executive Officer: Polly McMorrow
Chief Operating Officer: Jemima Monies
Regional Head of Strategy, Europe: Nusara Chinnaphasaen
Managing Director: Tommy Smith
Creative Directors:  Rob Webster & Alexei Berwitz
Senior Creatives: Stephen Yeates & Adam Taylor-Smith
Business Director: Francesa Goring
Account Director: Joely Buxton – Smith
Account Associate: Milo Draco
Planning Partner: Natalie Lau
Project Director: Mathilde Bisciglia
Head of Design: Lisa Caranna
Senior Designer: Ben Anthony
Communications Director: Clementine Cuthbertson

Production: Craft London
Chief Production Officer: Ben Clark
Director of Integrated Production: Jack Bayley
Lead EP & Head of Agency Production: Amos Usiskin
Senior Producer: Jacob Gardner
Senior Producer: Gabrielle Flanagan
Music Supervision: Chris Graves
Senior Print producer: Liam White
Print Producer: Martin McGinn
Head of Business Affairs: Clare Betts
Senior Business Affairs: Valerie Boyce

Digital Agency: DEPT®
Managing Director: Ali McClintock
Business Director: Alex Dixon
Group Account Head: Olivia Ellenger
Lead Account Planners: Charlotte Dale & Christian O’Brien
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Bowerman
Creative Director: Chris Boys
Lead Creative: Alice Brine
Production Director: Toby Baker
Head of Post Production: Tara Oliver
Lead Producer: Valentina Carmona
Post-Producer: Agne Acute
Associate Design Director: Amber Silva
Lead Designer: Junaid Ansar
Motion Designer: Simone Vulcano
3D Motion Designer: Matko Mijic
Motion Designer: Alex Croft
Graphic Designer: Cristina Isaac
Editor: Jen Russell
Strategy Director: Sanjit Deb
Senior Strategist: Tom Greeves
Head of Paid Social: Charlotte Scorer
Senior Media Planner: Lydia Burchett
Media Planner: Emma Johnson
Social Analyst: Hattie Rowe

Hero Casting: Talent Republic
CEO & Founder: Anne Batz
Managing Director: Emily Woods
Managing Partner: Charlie Powell
Creative Producer: Ella Barker

Media
Handled by UM

PR
EVP, Head of Client Experience: Joanna Pritchard
Account Director: Jessica Brand
Sr Account Manager: Molly Minter
Sr Associate: Victoria Lambert
Associate: Courtney Davies

Production Company: Radical Media London
Director: Dave Meyers
Assistant Director: Dave Dean
Executive Producer: Ben Schneider
Producer: Dave Bernstein
Producer UK: Kate Noble
DOP: Scott Cunningham
Production Designer:  Nora Takacs
Food Stylist: Maya Bookbinder
Gaffer: Mike Van Meter
Key Grip: David Riggio
Costume Designer (non celeb): Heather Zweigel
Costume Designer (Latto): Todd White
Costume Designer (Christina): Chris Horan
Choreographer: Hi-Hat

Post Production: Final Cut
Editor: Amanda James & Darren Baldwin
Edit Producer: Nikki Porter
Assistant Editor: Maud Barry

Post Production: UPP
VFX Supervisor: Jan Jan Malíř
Post Producer: Štěpán Kříž
Project Coordinator: Tereza Trnková
Art Director: Thomas Scarlett
Colourist: Pavel Marko

Photography:
Photographer: Vijat Mohindra

Music
Title: Did Somebody Say HipOpera
Artists: Latto & Christina Aguilera
Composers: Ben Smith, Jordan Crisp, Toni Robinson, Adam Smyth
Label: RCA and Three Wishes Productions
Publishers: Sentric Music Ltd and String & Tins Ltd
Music Producer: Fred Ball

Audio
Music Co-Supervision: String and Tins
Audio Post Production: String and Tins
Sound Engineer: Adam Smyth
Producer: Eimear Gorey

Christina Aguilera
Makeup – Etienne Ortega & Lora Arellano
Hair – Jesus Guerrero & Kendall Dorsey
Stylist – Chris Horan
Nails – Zola Ganzorig
Artist Management – Roc Nation
Artist PR – imPRint

Latto
Makeup – Melissa Ocasio
Hair – Ashanti Lation
Styling – Todd White
Nails – Eri Ishizu
Management – Kayla Jackson
Agent – UTA