Film composers brighten Folgers Coffee Campaign with “Happy Morning”

By Patrick Luce Jul 24, 2006, 15:11 GMT

Los Angeles based composer and lyricist team Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner provide the song "Happy Morning" for the new Folgers Coffee national campaign, produced by Saatchi & Saatchi. With it, Folgers takes an innovative new approach to advertising, both by only showing the commercial online and possibly in theaters and through its unusual content.

In the unique commercial, figures dressed in yellow represent morning sunbeams that prance around and wake sleeping people by singing Zachary and Weiner's song. For the song, the two combine an upbeat melody with quirky lyrics that include the repeated phrase "You can sleep when you are dead."

The result is a humorous, tongue-in-cheek, extremely catchy tune that subtly mocks the coffee drinker who has not yet had his caffeine boost. Paired with award-winning director Steve Ayson's unique visuals, it demonstrates a fresh approach to commercial making.

Zachary and Weiner's credits include several collaborative projects in both musical film and theater and non-musical film. They have worked extensively with Disney, writing the score and original songs for the film "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True," for which Zachary won Best Original Score at the DVD Exclusive Awards, and the books, lyrics, and score for the stage production "Twice Charmed: An Original Twist on the Cinderella Story," premiering on the Disney Cruise Line.

Currently, they are finishing work on the film "Cinderella III." In addition to their work with Disney, their family musical, Mystery of the Dancing Princesses," was presented at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and the National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival in New York. Non-musical credits include the films "Man of the Century" and "The Time Machine."

For their upcoming projects, the two will work with Broadway producer Adam Epstein on an animated musical film, and with writer Rupert Holmes on a Broadway adaptation of the New Line Cinema film "Secondhand Lions."

The commercial can be seen at YouTube.