Haines recently played host to a 16-member production crew shooting a Coors Light commercial for a national television debut in mid-June.
Members of The Sweet Shop production crew worked with Southeast Alaska Backcountry Adventures to film local creeks, waterfalls and mountains for the beer commercial.
The Sweet Shop has made commercials for other national brands including Lexus, Nissan, McDonald’s and Starbucks.
Jon Stern, director of media relations for MillerCoors, said the company was filming a new campaign that still focuses on its established theme of “Rocky Mountain cold refreshment.”
Unfortunately, the Rocky Mountains aren’t so cold and refreshing in May.
“Obviously, at this time (of year), you are kind of limited on where you can shoot these things,” Stern said.
Scott Bussen, director of marketing communications for MillerCoors, said the commercial will splice previously recorded footage from the Rocky Mountains with the footage gathered in Haines.
“When we finalized the scripts we needed additional footage. Based on weather in the Rockies, we couldn’t get that footage right now,” Bussen said. “That was kind of the motivation for coming to Alaska.”
SEABA’s “adventure specialists” were one of the draws for selecting Haines, Bussen said.
The production agency was in Haines for 12 days and left last week.
SEABA owner Scott Sundberg said the crew enjoyed working in Haines and exploring the town. They were particularly intrigued by the old “White Fang” movie set in Dalton City, he said.
“Being mainly from Hollywood or Chicago, they liked to get out and sneak out on a quick hike, see a waterfall,” Sundberg said.
One of the more interesting moments was when the crew rented a local cold storage unit to store glacier and lake ice they had collected, Sundberg said. The storage unit allowed the crew to play with light and formations and work with the ice in a controlled environment, he said.
Bussen said the production company is currently editing the footage. The commercial should air by the end of June, he said.