The Audition
A web advertisement for LaCoste rooted in the brand’s tennis heritage. A talent contest.
Two actors audition for a LaCoste print ad and are asked to perform increasingly difficult and strange tasks, all for the delight of the off-camera director. In French, but intended for American audiences, this ad would have been part of a campaign featuring a series of auditions with multiple actors culminating in a final photo shoot, all filmed and then broadcast on the web at lacoste-theaudition.com
Jean René Lacoste (July 2, 1904 – October 12, 1996) was a French tennis player and businessman, nicknamed “the Crocodile” by fans because of his pugnacity on court; he is also worldwide known as the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.
Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers, French tennis stars who dominated the game in the 1920s and early 1930s. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles in the French, American, and British championships but never made the long trip to Australia to play in their championships. He was the world number one player for both 1926 and 1927.
In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt which Lacoste often wore when he was playing, which had an alligator (generally thought to be a crocodile) embroidered on the chest.
Inspired by French New Wave cinema and Italian Neorealist technique.
Shot with PANAVISION lenses and cameras.
