Crabs in TV Adverts I

The 2001 Carling advert 'Cracking ' opened on the aftermath of a plane crash on a desert island. The sole survivor, a man, lies collapsed on the beach and we see him being roused by a friendly crab.

To the man's amazement, the crab leads him to a fridge full of Carling but his hopes are dashed when he discovers that the beer is warm. Undeterred, the man proceeds to build an incredible machine out of the debris lying around.

The crab helps the man again by running round and round on the machine to create enough power for the fridge so that the survivor can quench his thirst with a long, cold refreshing pint of Carling.

Finally, the man settles down to watch the sun disappear over the horizon. He takes a long, lingering gulp of Carling and 'Crack'!, tucks into a tasty meal of crab meat!

The advert, used a combination of computer generated imagery, an animatronic and a real Tyangomon crab to create 'Crabbo'. There was a vet on set throughout to ensure that the real crab was neither harmed nor eaten during filming!

The CG crab was created by The Mill (who also worked on the crabs in the Volvo advert).

You can in view the advert at Absolutely Andy's website.

To find out more about the Tyangomon crab (Cardiosoma carrifex), and other crabs from the Seychelles check out Eric De Muylder's website by clicking on the above picture.