A Beard Legend Is Born in Campaign for Blonde Beard’s Buffalo Sauce

From Futuristic Films, director / writer duo Mike Slane and Adrian Bishop create a legendary beard for the first-ever Blonde Beard’s Buffalo Sauce campaign. Working closely with the Denver-based wing sauce company’s founders, the duo wrote and directed three quirky scripts featuring a bold beard with a mind of its own (and of course, lots of wings!). Blonde Beard’s was co-founded by former agency creatives and producers, Adam and Cara Nelson, aka Mr. and Mrs. Blonde Beard. The couple decided to turn their mutual love for wings into crafting their own wing sauce made with real butter. Available online and locally in Colorado at Whole Foods, Sprouts and King Soopers, the brand has five wing sauces and a dry rub.

“From the beginning, Adam and Cara shared our weird and subversive vision for these spots. Being agency expats, they understood instinctively that pushing the boundaries of what’s expected is the best way to stand out, and keep people talking. They were our creative partners the entire way through,” notes Mike & Ade.

Mike & Ade’s playful style and offbeat sense of humor was honed directing short films and content for Sesame Street, where they began experimenting with puppetry, animation, and set design. The pair later brought their talents to the commercial realm, founding Practice Studios, and recently joining Futuristic’s growing roster of directors.

“We like to start our process with a list of ideas that are somewhere between outlandish and really freakin' bizarre,” commented Mike & Ade. “We'll ask ourselves questions like "can this be done with puppets? What would a jingle sound like?" The name Blonde Beard's immediately puts us in a wonderful world where a beard has fantastic abilities, and grants its wearer next level charisma that, like the sauce itself, is the life of the party.”

The charismatic 'Beard Man' is played by the multi-talented Sam Billen. Sam not only boasts the legendary beard on-screen, but also composed the custom 'wingle' with his team at Primary Color Music, where he’s also a partner. Sam and his team channeled some big beard energy into the campaign’s catchy tune (“Oh, what a beard!”) that describes its many talents.

Futuristic Post senior editor Matt Wade and colourist Mathison Davis brought this campaign across the finish line, working closely with Mike & Ade and their VFX partners to bring the beard to life.