Arby’s brings loaded Italians to your area
Blinkink and Tombras team up to bring Loaded Italians to your area for Arby’s.
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Arby’s has teamed up with creative agency Tombras and Blinkink director Zach Tavel to launch a tongue-in-cheek campaign promoting its new limited-time Loaded Italian Sandwich.
The centerpiece film riffs on the late-night dating hotline genre, seducing viewers with lush, sensual imagery of glamorous Italians in lavish settings and the tantalizing promise of “hot, juicy Loaded Italians in your area.” Those looking to connect are invited to text 929-ITALIAN, though the reveal is as savory as it is surprising.
The double meaning quickly comes into play: the “Loaded Italians” aren’t people at all, but Arby’s latest creation: sandwiches stacked high with premium Italian meats.
Front and center is LA Rams quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who joins an eclectic cast embodying different “Loaded Italians.” From a leopard-print-clad woman reclining on a Venetian sofa to a suave long-haired gentleman, each vignette sneaks in Arby’s new Loaded Italian Sandwich (keen eyes will spot the framed painting in the dining room scene).
Credits
View on- Agency Tombras Group/New York
- Production Company BLINKINK
- Director Zach Tavel
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Credits
View on- Agency Tombras Group/New York
- Production Company BLINKINK
- Director Zach Tavel
- Executive Producer Josef Byrne
- Head of Production Alex Halley
- Producer Alexander Handschuh
- Color Studio RM
- Colorist Myles Bevan
- Sound Mixer Will Farrell
- Mixer Dusty Albertz
- Creative Chris Brailey
- Creative Bryan Barnes
- Senior Producer Caroline Deason
- Art Director Kelsey Miralles
- Producer Drew Toresco
- Production Designer Helen Morales
- DP Justin McWilliams
- Color Producer Paloma Bido
- Music Cody Ackors
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Credits
powered by- Agency Tombras Group/New York
- Production Company BLINKINK
- Director Zach Tavel
- Executive Producer Josef Byrne
- Head of Production Alex Halley
- Producer Alexander Handschuh
- Color Studio RM
- Colorist Myles Bevan
- Sound Mixer Will Farrell
- Mixer Dusty Albertz
- Creative Chris Brailey
- Creative Bryan Barnes
- Senior Producer Caroline Deason
- Art Director Kelsey Miralles
- Producer Drew Toresco
- Production Designer Helen Morales
- DP Justin McWilliams
- Color Producer Paloma Bido
- Music Cody Ackors
The campaign extends beyond the hero film with a pair of mock-newsreel shorts documenting people who took the ad’s promise literally–expecting romantic encounters, only to find themselves at Arby’s with a Loaded Italian Sandwich in hand.
Shot in Los Angeles on both 35mm and 16mm, the campaign was produced in collaboration with Tavel’s own creative studio, Easy Pete’s, bringing an extra layer of handcrafted satire to the work.
Reflecting on the process, Tavel said: “I don’t think I’ve ever read an ad script with so much horniness and hilarity all bundled into one (which I suppose is often one in the same, really), so the team and I tried to maintain that spirit throughout the process—by making pieces that feel as genuinely salacious as they are satirical, and trying to make ourselves laugh by how far we could extend the joke out. If every job would allow me to hang out with hot Italians in LA shooting on 35mm film, I wouldn’t be upset about it at all.”
Someone from Tombras was overheard saying: “Let us be perfectly clear: this campaign concerns Loaded Italian sandwiches from Arby’s, nothing more, nothing less. Any insinuation to the contrary is unfounded and frankly absurd. We take no responsibility for those who believe they were meeting up with a Loaded Italian who would satisfy anything other than their appetite.”
With “Loaded Italians,” Arby’s and Tombras embrace parody at its most indulgent, delivering a campaign that’s as bold and flavorful as the sandwich itself.
