San Francisco’s steep hills proved to be the perfect setting for Sony’s iconic Balls ad. The electronics company wanted to celebrate colour in order to promote their Bravia high-definition LCD televisions. This was the brief Fallon was tasked to visualise. And to do so, they hurled 250,000 bouncy, coloured balls down the rolling hills of the Golden City, which results in a glorious cascade of colour.

The ad was directed by Nicolai Fugslig (MJZ), who insisted on everything being shot live in camera.

The striking visuals are accompanied by the gentle acoustic sounds of José González which, along with the graceful slow-motion, gives the ad a daydream-like quality that remains with you well after the ad finishes. In fact, the music is so powerful that many people simply refer to the 'Sony Balls' TV commercial as the 'José González advert'.

What you discover:

The shoot took three days

Around 50 students on roller skates were required to use brooms to clear all the balls at the foot of the hill at the end of each take

Agency: Fallon

Creative: Richard Flintham

Director: Nicolai Fugslig

Production Co: MJZ



