Our favorite, the Oscar-winning Julia Roberts has been the face of the Italian Calzedonia hosiery global brand since 2014.
Although Calzedonia, founded 35 years ago, has worked with several celebrities, she is the absolute perfect match! Roberts – with whom several commercials have been filmed in recent years – embodies everything that the brand represents for a real woman.
My personal favorite is the first commercial born from the collaboration between the brand and the actress, directed by the also Oscar-winning Grant Heslov in 2015.
Situational comedy and personal charm
Who wouldn't smile at the basic situation: the „What a Woman” is mistaken for a shop assistant, who doesn't mind at all and actually enjoys the various situations she finds herself in... It's convenient for the customers that she can reach the top shelf, that the tights look good on her, and even a baby can be entrusted to her for a few minutes while the mother runs to the fitting room.
From the very first moment, this commercial gave me the feeling that the scenes were cut from the imagined continuation of the 1990 hit Pretty Woman in which the main character, Vivien Ward, steps out of the store as a wealthy wife. 25 years later, Julia hasn't changed at all: charming, kind, elegant, perhaps we just miss Richard Gere from the picture...
It was clearly a perfect match for Calzedonia to commit long-term to the beautiful, eternally young actress, who was also named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine in 2017 (not for the first time!). The brand recognized early on that Roberts is the perfect face of the brand: beautiful, elegant, yet playful, an exciting woman with incredible charisma and an unimitably beautiful smile. The embodiment of the female ideal. Moreover, she looks really good in tights...
Only in Calzedonia!
What does a good commercial need? An excellent quality product, a charming, good-humored, international star that fits perfectly, and a great story.
In the role, Julia Roberts shapes her world-famous self. Her acting is professional, effortless, natural, and purposeful: we get just enough of everything to grab attention from the very first moment, to hold us in place, and finally – evoking an instinctive smile on the viewer's face – to close the experience. She does all this while not distracting from the essence, with the brand and the product present throughout, but the viewer also has a good time.
For me, this is a perfect commercial: it uses the actress and the product/brand's appearance while maintaining ideal proportions, keeping the “pleasant with the useful” principle in balance throughout. It generously gives to the viewer so that in the end, it receives. This commercial remains entertaining throughout without feeling intrusive: it first engages, provides an experience, and only then wants to convince, sell, and encourage purchasing. It closes the short film with a catchy message: “Only in Calzedonia!” In other words,
This can only happen in Calzedonia!
Of course, we know well that the chances are lower in Hungary, but who knows, maybe one day the miracle can happen to us in a local Calzedonia store...
