Bi-coastal production company m ss ng p eces brings a wide array of cultures to the table for Google Translate, illustrating that food is a universal language. Director Josh Nussbaum’s colorful and sensual short, #EveryoneSpeaksFood, captures the journey of Small World, Google Translate’s free pop up restaurant in New York.
m ss ng p eces conceived the pop up restaurant idea with Google, designed all branding components, and produced every aspect of the experience, telling the vibrant story of the experiential event in the #EveryoneSpeaksFood film. The project was helmed by PARTY Executive Creative Director Masa Kawamura, who had recently joined the m ss ng p eces roster. Executive Producer Kate Oppenheim explained the impetus for the campaign, “Everyone Speaks Food is an idea that celebrates the connections that we build over a meal and the richness of food cultures around in the world. We were inspired by the way that Google Translate creates functional and personal connects between people everywhere.”
When Google approached the production company, the brief was starkly simple: create an experience that celebrates Google Translate’s ability to bridge cultural divides. Cam Luby, head of the cultural activations for Google’s brand marketing explains, “There is something very unique in how Google Translate can break down cultural barriers. Behind best-in-class AI is a very simple product that addresses one of the biggest obstacles to universal understanding: language. We wanted to demonstrate this to people in a simple and relatable way. The culinary metaphor was the perfect stage to demonstrate the role of our technology”.
The resulting #EveryoneSpeaksFood campaign was a multi-faceted event experience which goes far beyond the tasks normally performed by a production company. Creativity was deployed on all elements of guest interactivity and engagement, and event details no matter how small, including the menu, decor, posters, the website and a globally inspired playlist. There was even a very special (and very popular) Small World donut cart, which distributed over 30,000 donuts to passing New Yorkers and prompted millions of organic social media impressions through Instagram, and custom Snapchat geo-filters.
Highlighting tasty dishes inspired by dozens of global cultures, artfully prepared by a cadre of 18 acclaimed chefs, the film piques interest in a pop up café featuring menus in multiple languages (necessitating diner’s use of Google Translate), and meals incorporating dishes from cuisines as far flung as Israel, Korea, Italy, Sweden and Ireland. The surprise and delight diners experience during this ‘very tasty experiment’ in New York City are all fodder for Nussbaum’s 2:44 film, which places the viewer right at the flavorful heart of the pop up.
Creative Credits:
Client: Google
Production Company: m ss ng p eces
Executive Producer, partner: Kate Oppenheim, Ari Kuschnir, Brian Latt
Director: Josh Nussbaum
Executive Creative Director, PARTY: Masahi Kamamura
Creative Director, PARTY: Jamie Carreiro
Head of production, partner: Dave Saltzman
Project Management Director: Brian Mitchell
Art Director: David Trumpf
Art Producer: Kari Anderson
Project Management Supervisor: Sara'o Berry, Kathryn Berk
Project Management Coordinator: Jonathan Figueroa, Zachary Kislevitz
Copywriter: Gideon Jacobs, Cassie Marketos
Designer: Jordan Bruner, Costa Damaskos, Stephane Rodriguez
Campaign Video Line Producer: Mike Prall
Campaign Video Production Manager: Jason Reif
Google
Head of Google Brand Creative: Michael Tabtabai
Head of Cultural activations: Cameron Luby
Marketing Manager, Google Brand: Ben Quesnel
Marketing Manager, Google Translate: Jesse Friedman
Head of Brand and Reputation, Events & Experiences: Michelle Rosen Sapir
Brand Marketing Manager: Kyle Gray
Marketing Manager, Social Lab: Jane Hall
Events Marketing Manager: Katrina Lau, Melissa Luu, Lorin Pollack
Brand Marketing Manager: Tracy Hepler
Communications Manager: Evan Barbour, Kara Berman
MP Shift
Co-Founder, The MP Shift: Amy Morris, Anna Polonsky