About 20 students decked out in costumes crammed onto a set in a house near campus Tuesday night to shoot a TV commercial starring seniors Brennan McMahon and Sarah Fowler for Krystal fast food restaurants.
Dressed as things that start with the letter “t”—tennis players, toilet paper, a taco—the students re-enacted McMahon and Fowler’s favorite memory involving Krystal food, a sorority theme party, for the restaurant’s ad campaign.
McMahon and Fowler were two of five Vanderbilt students selected out of 41 Vanderbilt students interviewed on campus last week by Krystal representatives to appear in TV commercials for the chain. Junior Andrew Smith, sophomore Luke Bidikov and freshman Charles Page were also selected to star in upcoming ads.
Howard Curtis, president of Varnson Group, the advertising agency in charge of the Krystal ad campaign, said he looks for students who are comfortable in front of the camera and passionate about the brand to share their real-life Krystal stories on TV.
“Their passion for the brand is so over and beyond. It came through,” Curtis said of the Vanderbilt students selected.
Senior Bill Weimar, a friend of the two students who played a partygoer in the commercial, said it is easy to see why McMahon and Fowler were chosen for the ad, which is the 142nd commercial in the Krystal campaign.
“If you have been to a late-night Krystal session with Brennan and Sarah, you know exactly why they are perfect,” Weimar said. “It’s right up their alley.”
McMahon and Fowler’s favorite Krystal memory involves a sorority theme party saved by Krystal sandwiches.
“We got stood up for a date party, and instead of being sad, we decided to go to Krystal and get Krystal Chiks and bring them to the party,” Fowler said. “We were the life of the party.”
McMahon said Krystal representatives contacted her last Friday about the commercial. Since then, she said, it’s been nonstop action. McMahon and Fowler went to Hendersonville Monday to film part of the commercial at a Krystal restaurant there, and Tuesday evening they rounded up friends to re-enact the party scene.
The students arrived at the set and were ushered through hair and makeup before going to a room decorated for the party. Directors instructed the students to dance and cheer when McMahon and Fowler arrived with plastic bags of Krystal sandwiches.
“It’s been so, so much fun,” said McMahon, who was dressed as a “tacky teal girl” in a turquoise feather boa, tiara and blue minidress.
“I’d never even been to Krystal, and Brennan made me try it,” Fowler said. “It’s been love ever since.”
At least one of the Krystal commercials featuring Vanderbilt students will begin airing on TV stations throughout the South in late October, and the rest will begin airing in late December, said Brad Wahl, director of marketing for Krystal restaurants.
Wahl said all the commercials will be posted on Krystal's Web site on Oct. 29, where visitors to the site will be able to view the ads and rate their favorites.
To see more photos of the shoot, click here.
