In the early 1990s Harmony Korine directed a TV spot, produced by Aaron Rose, that appeared on MTV. Since 2007, when he signed with the UK agency 2AM, Korine has directed other commercials for Thorntons and Budweiser.


In 2007, Harmony Korine directed a TV-spot for the British chocolate company Thorntons, which premiered in November of that year. The one-minute commercial is entitled Stuck.

Stuck is available for viewing here.



Production Details:

Agency: Shop
Agency Producer: Diane Croll
Creative Director: Tom Ewart and Dave Sullivan
Creative: Tom Ewart and Dave Sullivan
Director: Harmony Korine
Production: 2AM Films
Producer: Candice Chubb
Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler
Post Production: The Mill
Editor: Leo Scott
Music: Corker Conboy - Radiant Idiot (Derailer Remake)




Thorntons - Stuck (2007)



The Mill, the post production company that worked on Stuck, gave details of the work involved in an entry on their website, December 11, 2007:
A polo-necked young chap agonizingly deliberates what message to write on his chocolate whilst all around him, the world waits his decision trapped in a silent frozen-time-loop.

This beautifully simple premise forms the basis of the atmospheric Thorntons' spot directed by Harmony Korine for agency Shop.

Harmony, of Gummo and julien donkey-boy fame, worked closely with Adam Scott of The Mill to create the film heightened naturalism. Harmony wanted the grade to remain natural and clear so Adam enhanced the existing palette to have certain colours & characters stand out from the background such as the boy's yellow polo-neck. The telecine was completed in one day as a traditional 35mm Spirit grade.

Once the telecine was complete, Jay Bandlish undertook the subtle and simple clean-up in Frame.



Budweiser - True Dedication (2008)




In 2008, Korine directed a series of four British-TV commercials for Budweiser as part of their True Dedication ad campaign. The adverts, filmed in Nashville, Tennessee, feature Dave Cloud (who made a short appearance in Gummo) and two members of the Silver Jews.

The Budweiser commercials are available for viewing here.



Production Details:

Creative Agency: Fallon London
Agency Producer: Jo Charlesworth
Executive Creative Director: Richard Flintham
Creative: John Allison and Chris Bovill
Planner: Stephanie Newman and Gareth Goodall
Group Account Director: Alex Best
Director: Harmony Korine
Production: 2AM Films
Post Production: The Mill
Audio Post Production: Jungle
Editor: Leo Scott at Speade
Media Agency: Busch Media Group Europe



The press release from Fallon, London, the creative agency responsible for the campaign:
Budweiser’s new TV ad features musicians doing what they love. Inspired by the dedication that goes into brewing Budweiser, the brand’s new advertising campaign captures the passion musicians have for their craft and the social atmosphere that comes from friends getting together.

The ad brings you along with the band as they jam in their basement studio and develop their own version of the 1969 classic instrumental Popcorn. The group also takes the stage at their local club for a rendition of Salt 'n Pepa's Push It. To make the music all their own, the musicians have customised their instruments using Budweiser bottles, kegs and cans.

The band is encouraged and inspired by Dave Cloud, the veteran musician who The Sunday Times heralded as music's “last genuine lost genius.”



In the early 1990s, Harmony Korine directed and acted in a one-minute TV spot that appeared on MTV. The spot was part of Visual Mafia, a series produced by Aaron Rose that also featured other spots by Thomas Campbell, Tobin Yelland, Spencer Tunick, Thurston Moore and Rita Ackermann.

Korine's video is available for viewing here.




MTV - Visual Mafia