merit
How do we prove that Tan-Luxe’s innovative and luxurious new self-tanning spray is truly the future of tanning? Simple: by having the queen of tanning herself, Paris Hilton, travel from the future to tell us so.
In a meta film, present-day Paris Hilton is tasked by Tan-Luxe’s founder, Marc Elrick, to come up with one of her signature catchphrases to promote their new collab product. To do this, she consults the most renowned expert in the field of iconic pop culture slang: an A.I. robot version of herself from 2004. Which she, of course, keeps in her closet.
When their brainstorm hits a dead-end, however, they’re surprised by a visit from a third Paris — this one a time traveler from 2064 — who states that "the future of tanning depends on it," and provides the missing link to the tagline.
Together with the incredible team at Hungry Man, we designed and constructed a massive and modular walk-in closet with removable walls to allow for maximum cinematic flexibility. We designed all three of Paris’s era-appropriate looks to tap into nostalgia and futurist fashion, then shot the performances separately and practically, before merging them together seamlessly in post.
Paris Hilton in the early 2000s was known for, among many other things, her incredible fake tan, and being the self-proclaimed “Queen of Tanning.” In the 20 years since then, Paris has evolved in incredible ways — and, thanks to Tan-Luxe, so has tanning. Thus the strategy was to draw a powerful parallel between the iconic evolution, growth and success of Paris Hilton, with the same futuristic evolution that Tan-Luxe has brought to tanning.
Moreover, we wanted to tap into Paris Hilton's immense fanbase — and millennial women at large — and their growing nostalgia for the early 2000s.
RESULTS: In the 12 hours after the spot aired, Tan-Luxe sold out of 6 months' worth of inventory.
FILM: The hero film tapped into growing nostalgia for early 2000s pop culture, reprising Paris Hilton's iconic denim romper and bejeweled flip phone that our millennial target audience knows and loves, while also bringing to life a future Paris Hilton the world has never seen.
PRODUCTION DESIGN: We designed and built a closet set worthy of Paris Hilton — and big enough to fit three of her. The set was modular to allow for maximum cinematic flexibility, complete with a self-opening clothes rack for the A.I. Paris reveal, and custom painted artwork of Paris's actual dogs.
COSTUME DESIGN: Ode to the past meets (literally) vision of the future. We created an exact replica of Paris Hilton's iconic look from The Simple Life, from the denim romper to the rose neck band to the bejeweled flip phone, as well as a futuristic latex dress and knee-length platinum wig to create a vision of future Paris fashion.
SET DESIGN: In addition to the hero film, we launched an OOH campaign that showed 2064 Paris posing with the Tan-Luxe product on her home "Pink Planet" — a set we designed and built from scratch.
In the film, 2004 Paris's outfit was an exact replica of her most famous outfit from her early 2000s hit show The Simple Life — one that Tan-Luxe's millennial target considers truly iconic of the aughts fashion era.
