Melanie Lawder

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

WARRENS – Have you ever seen a variation of Ocean Spray's signature commercial where an old, slightly uptight cranberry farmer, Henry, exchanges comedic banter with a younger, kind-of-awkward cranberry farmer, Justin, as they both stand in a bog filled with bright red cranberries?

Well, for the first time in its 10 years on the airwaves, that advertisement will be shot in Wisconsin.

For the past few days, the village of Warrens and its cranberry growers have been host to production crews, actors and Ocean Spray employees as the Massachusetts-based cranberry grower cooperative hurries to finish a year's worth of commercials in one week.

Because cranberries are harvested in the fall, and the commercials are typically shot in a red and plentiful cranberry bog, Ocean Spray only has a short window to get footage for the entire year.

For Ocean Spray, October isn't just harvest season, it's also commercial season.

Since the TV campaign's inception in 2005, Ocean Spray has filmed the commercial in a small bog in Carver, Mass., said Courtney Nunley, the vice president and marketing director at Arnold Worldwide, who was involved in the shoot.

But after almost a decade in Massachusetts, Nunley said the commercial needed a "little freshening up," so they scouted spots in Wisconsin, which produces more cranberries than any other state in the country.

"We had a desire to shake the campaign up a little bit," she said.

The two actors — Justin and Henry — will remain the commercial's protagonists, but the new background will give the commercial an added boost, Nunley said.

"The sky is so much bigger, and the landscape gives us totally different angles," Nunley explained.

If you watch Ocean Spray's past commercials back-to-back, you'll notice that the background is essentially the same in each advertisement. Comparatively, Wisconsin's cranberry marshes are much more expansive and flatter — allowing for a variety of camera shots, Nunley said.

Beltz Cranberry Co. in Warrens was one of three cranberry producers with marshes that will be featured in the commercials. President Steven Gebhardt said he was hesitant about camera crews infiltrating his marsh — especially during the harvest season.

It was overwhelming at first, but Gebhardt said Beltz Cranberry was able to continue its harvesting, amidst the cameras and actors.

"It's a lot more work than a person thinks. You think an actor just sits there and says their lines," Gebhardt said, noting that he was surprised about the amount of labor a commercial demands.

This week's filming will produce different variations of four main commercials, Nunley said. Although she couldn't give away too many details about the commercials, Nunley noted that there are some new Ocean Spray products they are excited about.

The commercials are set to debut next year.

"We were just excited to capture it in a way we hadn't before," Nunley said about the TV campaign.

Melanie Lawder can be reached at mlawder@cwnews.net or 715-423-7200. Find her on Twitter as @mel_lawder.