Keen to pitch their products towards artisans and builders who work in premium wood and woodcare products, Cabot’s Australia was looking to make a brand film that generated an emotional response in its audience. A reimagining of the Pinocchio fable was the answer – an alternative history, where Pinocchio was never transformed into a boy but instead lived into middle-age preserving himself with Cabot’s woodcare products. The great challenge of the piece was to bring drama, comedy and emotional resonance to an inanimate object – a wooden puppet with limited facial mechanics. The strings and mechanisms would intentionally be laid bare, so that the awkward reality of life as puppet could truly be appreciated.
Directed by Jake Robb and produced by Jackie Fish at Fiction, the commercial follows a day in the life of Pinocchio, now 42 years old and still yearning to be a real boy. Maintaining his youthful glow, Pinocchio fights the visible signs of ageing with the help of Cabot's Premium Woodcare Range. Evoking a mixture of pathos and joy we champion Pinocchio as he soldiers on, ever the optimist.