Crime Spoof Suits Warburtons Crumpets to a T

Oscar winner Olivia Colman lays down the law

“Drop that crumpet!” commands Academy Award winner Olivia Colman in a terrific 2-minute crime drama spoof for Warburtons.

She plays a cop. Or does she? Cheeky twists and turns lead to one place: a buttery, cheesy repast with branded bakery goods as the main course.

Mustard on crumpets? Only for us ugly Americans.

Colman excels, snapping off one-liners that ricochet like hot lead from a funny gun. Or something.

BAFTA and Emmy-winning director Declan Lowney—a frequent Warburtons collaborator—sets a brisk pace with deft visual puns (note Olivia’s oven-toasty footwear around 1:50). There’s a lot going on, but he gives Colman ample room to strut her thespian stuff.

“Every shoot has its challenges,” Lowney tells Muse. “In this instance, we had very limited time with our star, so making the best use of every minute was key.”

“I really felt for Olivia as we quickly moved her from one set to another to another,” he recalls. “But she’s a trouper and rolled with it all so wonderfully, remaining upbeat and keeping her comedy antennae finally tuned the whole time.”

Naturally, the famished crew helped themselves to crumpets here and there.

“Once they’re being toasted on the set and the smell hits you, it’s pretty impossible not to reach out and grab one,” Lowney says. “The food stylist was rapping a lot of people’s knuckles.”

“And when we were shooting in the Warburtons’ bakery, and there were literally thousands of tempting warm crumpets gliding past, that was really was some sort of crumpet heaven.”

Agency Joyful & Triumphant helped develop the concept, with Merman handling production.

CREDITS

JOYFUL & TRIUMPHANT
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Billy Faithfull
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Andy Lee
SENIOR COPYWRITER Jonny Porthouse
PROJECT MANAGER Kirsty Ferris

LIPSIUS CREATIVE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Sally Lipsius
PRODUCER Charlotte Lipsius

MERMAN – Production Co.
DIRECTOR Declan Lowney
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Siobhan Murphy
PRODUCER Simon Monhemius
PRODUCTION MANAGER Harriet Staples
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Sorcha Anglim
1ST AD Sam Dawking
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Tat Radcliffe
LOCATION MANAGER Jacques Groenewald
PRODUCTION DESIGNER Damien Creagh
FOOD STYLIST Fergal Connolly COSTUME DESIGNER Natalie Rogers

FREEFOLK
VFX SUPERVISOR Jason Watts

STITCH
EDITOR Leo King