Hasta La Motion!

Gillette’s “Perfect Isn’t Pretty” commercial provides a glimpse into training for the 2016 Rio Olympics for Brazilian footballer Neymar Jr., Chinese swimmer Ning Zetao, American decathlete Ashton Eaton, and English cyclist Andy Tennant. Reaching their best is a beautiful thing, but the path, the sacrifices, the pain, and the anguish to attain precision, is anything but. Driving their story further is “Unstoppable” the hit written by Sia, with rapper Pusha T, Brazil marching band Banda Olodum. The three-minute “Perfect Isn’t Pretty” music video appears on YouTube but will appear in a 60-second edit during NBC television coverage opening ceremonies for the Rio Olympic Games on August. 5. The original mix in the Gillette Perfect Isn’t Pretty video is available globally on Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud.

Carlos de Jesus, North American Shave Care brand director for Procter & Gamble, explains the thinking behind the Gillette Perfect Isn’t Pretty campaign: “It’s a little different spin on what you see from Gillette. You see the behind-the-scenes work these guys put in every day to be the best. That includes injuries, or “the guy having trouble holding down his fluids. All that was inspired by real-life work they went through. The parallel is the challenges and difficulties we go through in our business to be the best. It’s a very challenging business, and we have to go through some ups and downs to deliver the best razor in the world. We were inspired by that grittiness from the athletes.”

Singer/songwriter Sia talks about her approach to the Gillette Perfect Isn’t Pretty music video: “When I was working on Unstoppable, I wanted to write a sports anthem; the kind of song played before a big game to get the players pumped. As I learned more about Gillette’s ‘Perfect Isn’t Pretty’ campaign supporting the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, this collaboration felt right and this film was a perfect place to unveil this new mix.”

Gillette Perfect Isn’t Pretty Credits

The Gillette Pretty Isn’t Perfect campaign was developed at Grey New York by chief creative officer Andreas Dahlqvist, executive creative directors Jeff Stamp and Leo Savage, senior creative directors Asan Aslam and Noah Will, project director Hank Romero, project manager Kelsey Longo, director of broadcast production Bennett McCarroll, director of integrated production James Mcpherson, producer Katy Hill, music supervisor Zachary Pollakoff.

Filming was shot by director Karim Huu Do and director of photography Daniel Bouquet via Caviar Content.

Editors were Gary Knight and Stacy Peterson at Cut & Run.

Post production was done at The Mill, New York.

Sound was produced at Heard City by sound designer Phil Loeb.

Music, “Unstoppable”, was written and performed by Sia, with an original rap from Pusha T of the duo Clips, percussion from Brazil marching band Olodum. Music was produced by Ariel Rechstshaid and executive producer Josh Kessler at Heavy Duty Projects.