Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro has created many fantastical worlds on the big screen. His latest work is a 30-second commercial for Patrón Tequila featuring a skeleton worker.
Director Guillermo del Toro directs new commercial for Patrón Tequila
“Frankenstein” director Guillermo del Toro directed Patrón Tequila’s new commercial, “The Perfect Pour.”
Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Frankenstein, won three Oscars. But he’s already moved on to tequila commercials.
The renowned filmmaker directed Patrón Tequila’s cinematic short film, “The Perfect Pour,” which the spirits brand is using as the centerpiece of a global marketing campaign.
The new 30-second video premiered during ESPN’s Golden State Warriors vs. Boston Celtics NBA broadcast on Wednesday night, March 18, and features all the hallmarks of a del Toro film: visceral sound, dramatic lighting, and a supernatural feel. Yes, there are skeletons.
For years, potential commercial clients have been intimidated by the director’s aesthetic. Think of spooky, fantastical images like the movies “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Shape of Water.”
Most clients would balk at del Toro’s proposal. But when it came to Patreon, “I said, ‘What if we start with straight shots, like product shots, and then gradually get a little bit crazier and start having skeletons popping up here and there?’ … and the project took off from there,” del Toro told USA TODAY.
Check out the new Patrón commercial directed by Guillermo del Toro
The completed commercial follows del Toro’s original premise. The action begins with a tight shot of the glass placed on the bar, after which the waiter pours the tequila over the ice in the glass. Narration begins. “Did we really need one of the most iconic directors for a simple kitchen sink shoot?”
The words “Directed by Guillermo del Toro” appear in the bottom right corner of the image, you hear “Cut,” and a voiceover continues, “Of course we did it. We are patrons. When we do things, we do them right. There are no shortcuts.”
Then, as del Toro hinted, things get a little weird. A skeleton hidden at the end of the bar will appear, followed by another skeleton, and then a third skeleton will appear from behind the bar. As the shot continues to recede, a fourth skeleton is seen sitting on a ladder with a boom microphone.
A fifth skeleton appears from behind del Toro and can be seen giving a thumbs up. “So did Guillermo need to bring in the skeletons of his crew?” the voiceover continues. “Of course he did. Just like the rest of us, he never compromised.”
Eventually, a dozen skeletons make up the film crew. “It feels like a tiny little movie,” director del Toro said. “The way we proposed it was, let’s do it in one shot…[and]step back and reveal the whole world behind it. So it’s very cinematic.”
Although the commercial only runs for 30 minutes, it has nearly 100 production credits. A motion control robot operates the camera. Two motion capture performers provided the skeleton’s movement, which was later animated. They purposely moved as if they were stop-motion animated puppets, a device del Toro used in his 2022 film “Pinocchio.”
Del Toro’s longtime cinematographer Guillermo Navarro was on board, and concept artists included Guy Davis (Frankenstein), Pete de Save (The Hoppers), and Carla Castañeda (Pinocchio).
Castañeda, a native of Jalisco, Mexico, designed the skeleton’s exterior. Each skeleton is a different color and decorated with Day of the Dead iconography and Patron’s trademark bee symbol.
“We wanted to give them personality and joy and bring them to life,” del Toro said. “We didn’t want these skeletons to feel like slickly processed CG (computer-generated). We wanted them to have a stop-motion, papier-mâché feel.”
Guillermo del Toro continues to use stop-motion animation in new movie ‘The Buried Giant’
Director del Toro has made stop-motion animation commercials in Mexico, but this was his first live-action commercial. He says he has a connection to the tequila brand. The director was born in Guadalajara, the capital of the state of Jalisco. Guadalajara is where most of the tequila is made and Patrón’s manufacturing headquarters is also located here.
“Patron’s philosophy and mine were very similar,” said del Toro, who prefers straight tequila with large chunks of ice, as seen in commercials. (But his favorite? Patron XO Café with coffee.)
Del Toro’s next film is a stop-motion film adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Buried Giant, which is set in medieval England and tells the story of an elderly couple searching for their estranged son. Director del Toro said the film is timely because it is “really about memory and regret.”
Del Toro worries that distractions like social media are preventing us from making memories. “I think we’re in a very dangerous moment where we do something and then we quickly push it aside and don’t stick to something monumental,” he said. “We don’t have time to process things humanly, emotionally or spiritually. … This is a very, very dangerous tipping point that we’re facing spiritually, and this movie is very spiritual.”
This story has been updated with new information.
Mike Snyder is a national trends news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, and X, and email him at: mike snyder & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
