Let me start with a disclaimer. The person writing this belongs to that subset of Millennials who still praise and miss The Sopranos, and who can’t quite understand why the Gen Z crowd around them keeps talking about the next season of Stranger Things. I’m one of those people who, when watching The Residence on Netflix, thought it was bizarre to see Gus Fring as the Chief Usher of the White House, and who can’t look at a photo of George Clooney without immediately thinking of Dr. Doug Ross.
Which is exactly why I can’t wrap my head around the fact that no one is talking about the new San Pellegrino US campaign for the launch of their sparkling drink “CIAO!”.
Released on April 5th, the main piece of the “With Love, Italy” campaign is a short film titled The Nice Guys, created by Ogilvy New York and produced with Hogarth New York, Spark & Riot, Cabin, and Company3. The stars? Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa, whom we all met on the small screen as Christopher Moltisanti and Bobby Baccalieri. At this point, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, please stop reading and start The Sopranos from Season 1, Episode 1 (and don’t skip the opening credits, seriously). If you do know, keep going.
The short film, released on social media in 9 separate episodes, follows the two ex-gangsters from New Jersey as they embark on an unusual mission: delivering a batch of San Pellegrino CIAO, found in a shipping container, to their neighbors for free. But even the simplest task becomes complicated for the two former members of the Soprano family, because apparently their reputation precedes them—and people are, understandably, terrified.
San Pellegrino US Marketing Director Thomas Conquet explained that casting Imperioli and Schirripa was a natural choice, as both proudly embrace their Italian-American roots. For the record, Imperioli’s heritage traces back to Lazio and Sicily, while Schirripa is the son of Italian immigrants from Riace, Calabria.
Seeing them back together hits you right in the feels, and all the Sopranos references make it even better. All that’s left for you to do is go watch the full short film.
