Henry Scholfield Delivers One Story in Three Acts for DoorDash Canada

DoorDash Canada has created a stylish, kinetic, and theatrical 'three-act' marketing campaign telling the story of a ruined birthday cake, and showing the delivery service - as well as one of its merchants and Dashers - coming to the rescue.

Created by the brand in partnership with Toronto-based agency Hard Work Club, 'One Delivery in Three Acts' unfolds over the course of three 30-second spots: 'Act 1: The Party,' 'Act 2: The Order,' and 'Act 3: The Dash.' The campaign is Hard Work Club’s third for DoorDash in as many years.

Together, the spots tell the story of DoorDash from three different perspectives: the customer whose child’s birthday party has potentially been ruined by a smashed cake (the result of an errant shot from a slingshot), the restaurant that is suddenly pressed into action to save the day by creating a replacement cake, and the Dasher enlisted to quickly deliver the new cake to partygoers.

The first two spots debuted on Jan. 10th, with the third spot appearing during coverage of the NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 18th. All three spots will run throughout the game.

Heather Cameron, head of brand and creative for DoorDash Canada, says the campaign underscores the vital but often unnoticed work performed by its partners and Dashers to deliver food to customers.

“It can feel like you push a button and just like that, a delivery arrives at your door,” she says. “But of course, there is a whole neighbourhood hustling to make that happen. This work gives merchants and Dashers their due, putting a magical spotlight on the whole flywheel that makes what we do possible.”

All of the action takes place on an elaborate neighbourhood set that takes its inspiration from stage design, complete with a series of revolving and sliding platforms. Both the sets and actors remain in constant and highly choreographed motion throughout the spots, with actors moving fluidly as they dip in and out of the fantastical world.

Acclaimed commercial and music video director Henry Scholfied, repped by Spy Films in Canada, helped shape the vision, bringing it to life through a combination of practical and digital effects. Choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid were brought on board for their expressive yet narrative approach to dance. The routines are set to a series of modern updates to Sam & Dave’s famous ‘60s soul song 'Hold On, I’m Coming' mixed by SNDWRx in Toronto.

“We wanted to show the connective thread that weaves through each neighbourhood and every order - bringing the customer, the merchant and Dasher stories into a single arc,” says Hard Work Club co-founder and executive creative director Meghan Kraemer. The goal, she adds, was to campaign that celebrated the craft of artistic expression without feeling like an ad.

The main spots are also being supported by a series of cutdowns and digital content tailored towards merchants and Dashers as part of the company’s respective 'DoorDash for Merchants' and 'Dash to It' platforms.

The media buy by Wavemaker is focused on English and French programming, and coverage within sports. It is being supported by an online video buy.