Challenge

Gorton's wanted to celebrate 176 years of putting seafood on American tables — but they needed a summer campaign shot in the dead of winter. The creative called for iconic New England coastline, period-authentic set pieces spanning multiple eras, and a fresh take on one of the most recognizable brand mascots in the grocery aisle: The Gorton's Fisherman. The ask was big. The timeline said do it now.

Solve

We went global. After evaluating production locations that could double for the rocky New England shore, we landed on Cape Town, South Africa — a near-perfect geographic match with the light, the landscape, and the infrastructure to pull off an international shoot at scale.
From there, Vagrants handled the full production. We built period-accurate sets and fabricated custom props, including a vintage newspaper designed to ground the historical storyline. We directed on location across multiple setups, bringing The Gorton's Fisherman to life through different time periods — each one rooted in brand heritage but told with a modern eye.
In post, we layered editorial, motion graphics, and archival footage to blend past and present into a cohesive visual narrative. Every frame needed to feel both nostalgic and current, and that balance drove every decision from color to pacing to music.

Impact

The result was a fully integrated campaign that honored a legacy brand without treating it like a museum piece. It was fun. It was culturally relevant. And it proved that a 176-year-old fisherman still has a story worth telling — you just have to know how to tell it.