“This is our Big Game ad.”

That’s what our creative team and renowned film director Paul Feig said while on set in East Los Angeles this fall directing a six-second digital ad as part of the new Diet Coke “Because I Can” campaign. The campaign includes a fresh series of short films and social content, and because of one off-the-cuff outtake, the first Diet Coke Big Game ad in 21 years.

The moment happened when we were filming in a parking lot with Hayley Magnus, an up-and-coming comedic actress from Australia. She started doing her thing between takes — just as you see it in “Groove” — and that was all we needed to create the Big Game ad.

Big Game ads are not made overnight — or at random for that matter. Usually there are countless months of brainstorms, multiple concepts, storyboards, presentations, casting calls, site visits, shoots, edits, re-shoots, screen tests, post-production, more re-shoots. Months can go into making a 30-second ad. Ours took just one take. All Hayley needed was a beat and an ice-cold can of Diet Coke Twisted Mango.

That’s what Diet Coke means by “Because I Can.” The campaign is all about doing the things that make you happy, whether that’s having a Diet Coke or dressing in a three-piece suit every day (like Paul Feig) or capturing a deliciously awkward moment and using it on the biggest advertising stage in the country. In trying to show what “Because I Can” means, we ended up living it.

P.S. How awesome is Hayley?