Grilstad "The Lucky Pig"by Jesper Ericstam

Jesper's does it again in this lovely little rasher of Swedish weirdness. 

A little girl gets a pot-bellied pig for her birthday. In a pink roll-neck wooly jumper. What could possibly go wrong?

This new one from Jesper sees a daughter's birthday treat turn into a father's worst nightmare. The fallout (aka droppings) of adopting a pig into family life takes his toll on our doting dad, with the climax of the film seeing him at his wits' end, standing over a frying pan filled with gently sizzling bacon...

It's another slice of what Jesper does best: a charming glimpse into an odd chapter of family life, with a hint of the bizarre making it endearingly unforgettable. 

Radiotjanst "The Whispering Game"by Jesper Ericstam

A new one from Jesper, saying 'Tack' paying your TV licence in a very Jesper way.

The film follows in the footsteps of Jesper's previous little spot of brilliance for Nettbuss. This time though, a host of people over land, sea and snow (and their neighbour's fences) work together to deliver an important message of thank you. How very Nordic. 

As the message is passed around from person-to-person, Chinese Whispers-style, the film takes in an amazing array of Swedish backdrops, so it's no surprise Creativity Online described it as beautifully shot. And when coupled with Jesper's usual selection of quirky characters, it all makes for a pretty charming spot. 

Jesper Ericstam: EPICA-ly Brilliant

(for all you science-heads, spot the elemental mistake in the above image) 

Fantastic news from the 2013 EPICA Awards, where two of Jesper's spots walked away with prizes capping a brilliant year for the big Swede. 

The EPICAs for those who don't know:

"...reward outstanding creativity and help communication agencies, film production companies, media consultancies, photographers and design studios to develop their reputations beyond their national borders."

At this year's awards, the envelope pushing Libresse spot took home a Bronze award, with a Gold award going to his marvellous IKEA 'Night Walkers' film. It's one of our most favourite clips and one that rewards repeat viewings. So watch it again!

Rabbiting On

Jesper's rather wonderfully odd Verisure spot with the rabbits has been going down a storm.

Shots loved it, naming it a Contender, whilst David Reviews loved the spot for its "wonderful weirdness. [The spot is]... the very definition of brave advertising". High praise, indeed!

It even conquered The Guardian's Ad Break, the pick of the week's best adverts from across the globe:

It's always makes us sad bunnies that bar the Guardian's article, you need to pay a subscription to see what Shots et al say about our directors and their work, so to ease you through the pain we made this slightly-trippy, down-the-rabbit-hole(!) Vine:

Getting Vinceptiony with Jesper's new Verisure on the Guardian #vinception https://t.co/1OHhvQtyZl

— Nice Shirt Films (@niceshirtfilms) October 11, 2013

Weird.

Verisure "Rabbit Party"by Jesper Ericstam

Jesper emerges from a busy Swedish summer with a series of spots for Verisure. The campaign, comprising of three spots, centre around various family scenarios using a new feature to control their home's security & lighting via some sort of smartphone magic. Jesper brings his typical charm, warmth and slightly off-the-wall humour to these family home-based comedy spots, that recall his recent highly-praised work for IKEA. 

Our pick of the three spots is "Rabbit Party", which sees the mother happily relieved at the message that her son is home safe and sound, with no knowledge of the ensuing feast he has planned for the family pets.

"A lovely piece of advertising"Jesper's new IKEA

One in ten Europeans are apparently conceived in an IKEA bed. The conception of Jesper's new spot about IKEA beds must've been something immaculate (see what we did there?), as it's been garnering a helluva lot of praise.

It's time to do some scrapbooking on all the great things being said about it:

David Reviews really fell in love with it - calling the film a lovely piece of advertising. Which we agree with! "The skilfulness with which this has been executed cannot be overstated..." 

Shots made it a Shots Contender! 

Creativity Online posted about it, making the idea about spending the rest of your life in bed sound very attractive. 

I Believe In Adv featured it...

Update or Die over in Portugal loved it too, keeping the European theme going. They said it's a "Filme delícia pra fechar a semana" which of course means "Film delight to close the week". 

As a delight to close this post, have this pretty awesome GIF of the mum & dad/grandpa & ma stop-motion bed building. 

IKEA "Bed For Life"by Jesper Ericstam

Jesper's recent run of fantastic work continues with the follow-up to his acclaimed 'Night Walkers' spot for IKEA.

"Bed For Life" is a boy's bed biography: from a cot to a fold-out bed, to his first mattress at uni to the newlyweds' first four-poster, from the 70s & 80s through to present day. (The eagle-eyed would have spotted that the film is actually telling the life story of the nocturnally put-upon mum and dad from Jesper's first IKEA spot)

Fans of Jesper's work know what to expect: small fascinating details that reward repeated viewing, great casting and performance, spot-on art direction with a nod to trends & fads over a thirty-or-so year period and a warm and knowing humour, all shot in Jesper's quirky and distinctive way (plus he keeps up his tradition of having at least one person in their underwear per spot he directs.)

The film was shot with Akestam Holst agency in Stockholm and is his latest in a terrific run of ads for Jesper: his ground-breaking Libresse spot was well-received throughout the industry and his "Save The Future" spot for Subaru features more Jesper magic.  We look forward to what the rest of the year holds for him.

Everyone loves Libresse. NBD.

Jesper's and his troop of excited women have made it onto the Guardian's Ad Break - a weekly round-up of all that's great & fantastic in advertising.

Watch it here:

Impressed with Libresse

OnepointFour has joined the scramble to say how great Jesper's Libresse is, along with Shots, David Reviews, Creativity Online...

Why not check it out for yourself? 

Libresse "Shout" by Jesper Ericstam

"Weeeeeellllleeeeeeeeellllllleeeeelllllll..."

The opening of "Shout" by Lulu is quite hard to get down in word form and while we may not be too sure how you spell it, we are sure it's a great start to a great song that is used to great effect in Jesper's new one. Great!

It's another winner from the big Swede: an infectious song teamed with marvellously observed comedy and spot-on performances. One of the things we always love with his work is the small details Jesper puts in his films that make them extra special: we love the crying-with-joy girl, the chest bump between the girls in the changing room and the snazzily patterned underwear worn by some of the winners.

The tastemaker's tastemaker Shots named it a contender. Which is very nice of them. 

Creativity Online calls it "wacky fun"...

While David Reviews called it "wonderful" and raises a very interesting point about how Jesper's spot isn't typical of the usual slightly rubbish standard of other adverts in this sector. 

Jesper: Banging The Drum

Jesper has made it onto The Drum's "Future stars of TV production" list! He was always a star to us, but it's nice to see other people realise that too. 

Read all about it here. 

The picture they use for the post is great, but is just a crop and doesn't tell the whole story:

Whatever story that might be is beyond us (giant baby?)

IKEA "Grandpa" by Jesper Ericstam

This little short is a follow-up to Jesper's lovely IKEA "Night Walkers" spot (watch here!)

There's a lot to like about Jesper's original IKEA spot, not least of which the underrated star turn by grandpa, popping up at the end after a night's sleep under the kitchen sofa. So thankfully, he gets his own little film here, delightfully showing Jesper's grasp on comedy & endearing characterisation. And scaring children.

We love it and so do Creativity:

Jesper + IKEA = Magic

Night Walking

We all knew here that Jesper's new ad for IKEA (called "Night Walkers") was great, and it seems that a lot of other people do too! Here are some of the sites it's been featured on:

David Reviews made it their headline ad and called the spot "charming" and "strangely comforting". (Subs. req'd)

Creativity Online made it an Ad of the Day, saying it was "cozy". (Dentsu America commented on the spot calling it appropriately enough "nice". Thanks, guys!)

Shots made it Shots Contender. (Subs req'd)

Imadgine of France also loved it! "Gentle and poetic" they said. 

Finally, la Réclame gave it my favourite review, saying it was "le ballet nocturne", which I think means  "night ballet".

Lots of great things, I'm sure you'll agree. Not seen it yet? Why not check it out yourself: 

IKEA "Night Walkers" by Jesper Ericstam

Jesper's new one for IKEA takes a dreamy look at dealing with nocturnal upheavals. Despite being turfed out by your bed by your children/wife/cat and ending up sleeping in the dog bed/bath/car boot, it won't disturb your night's rest due to IKEA's comfy (as well as nicely patterned and probably very reasonably priced) bedwares.

The cosy feeling Jesper gets across here is lovely, aided by the Anita Harris track, with his comic touch apparent too with the dad's underwear & welly boot ensemble as well as grandad popping up at the end for breakfast.

We love it, and Creativity Online do too, naming it one of their faves.

Here are the latest two spots that Creativity Online hyped up here. First up is "Room Service":

And second up is "Copy Cat", which we think is our favourite so far of the campaign, purely for the guy in the turtleneck who owns a Dodge Viper- which is always a great combination.

Don't you worry 'bout a thing

Jesper's work for IF Insurance has been marked out by the fine folks over at Creativity Online:

http://creativity-online.com/work/if-room-service/29489

"Fantastiskt lysande!", which is Swedish for "fantastically brilliant!".

Jesper's Party

Nice Shirt's Jesper is also Social Club's Jesper, Social Club being his production company in his native Sweden. They're throwing a party to celebrate their 10 years of existence (congratulations!) and sent out invites that featured this great pic of Jesper working hard, hardly working.

The party invite requires you to"bring your thirst", so we'll see you there! (provided someone gives us flights, accommodation and breakfast the morning after- preferably something greasy) 

IF Insurance "Judgement Day"

More from the IF Insurance band as they go around playing their immensely catchy song and sorting out people's worries. Shots liked it (making it a Shots Contender) and we're pretty sure you'll like it too. 

IF Insurance "Life on Tour" by Jesper Ericstam

"In 2012, Jesper Ericstam made a (Shots contender) TV commercial based around a crack commando unit working on behalf of a Swedish insurance company. They promptly drive around in a VW minibus, helping people in dangerous yet lighthearted situations in the Scandinavian overground & underground. Playing instruments as they go, they survive as soldiers of fortune- who get flashed from time-to-time by women baring their breasts. If you have a problem, if no-one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the IF Team"

Coop "Every Single Week" by Jesper

Here is Jesper's latest- and we like it very much. It stars the director himself- yet he's almost upstaged by his own son's performance in a Martin Sheen/Charlie Sheen-type vibe.