How Evan Scott Embraced the Weird When Asking Why Canadians Aren’t Eating Eggs for Dinner

Eggs have always been more than just a breakfast/brunch-time food. After all, they’re delicious, chock-full of good protein, and are an affordable way to fill one’s stomach. 

But, for whatever reason, there’s a strange faux pas surrounding this pastime in Canada. Crack an egg onto a bowl of instant noodles? That’s fine. Fry an egg and place it on a burger? Acceptable. But make an egg-based dish the centre of the dinner table? Well, now you’re walking on taboo territory… supposedly. 

It’s this ridiculous notion which inspired Egg Farmers of Canada to push for change. Asking the simple but relevant question of ‘What’s stopping you?’ (from eating eggs for dinner), the brand worked with Cossette to develop a campaign under the same name, based around quirky, humorous and memorable spots that challenge assumptions about when eggs should be eaten. 

To this day, it’s left quite an impression across the country. As to whether or not Canadians are actually eating more eggs for dinner - that’s a different question, but undoubtedly, people are talking about the ads. And, in many ways, a man who has played a big role in the brand's success has been director Evan Scott, of duo ‘The Dads’.  

Tasked with injecting humour into the brand’s most recent spots, the Impossible Studios-repped director was instantly prepared to embrace his “left of centre” portfolio in order to get this done, although, he admits, it was quite an ask. “I knew I was stepping into big shoes because the last campaign was a huge success and I loved the spots,” he says. “No pressure!”

Discussing what drew him in, Evan adds that he was “SUPER” into the scripts, because each one told a fun little story that he could actually see - a refreshing change of pace, to say the least. “I can’t tell you how many scripts I get that not only DON’T tell a story, but make NO sense,” he continues. “Anyway, these were like little scenes plucked out of short films, and being able to plunge deep into non-verbal emotions is what I love.”

In fact, so eager was Evan upon reading the ‘Affection’ script that he shot a rough demo of it around his own table, while playing all the characters himself. “Really, I had no other goal than trying to make the Cossette folks laugh!”

So where does one start with an undertaking like this? According to Evan, focusing on the tone was everything. With only 15 seconds and no dialogue, quick visual reads would be crucial, and elements like casting, wardrobe and body language would need to be razor sharp, in order for viewers to grasp what was going on in the opening frame. 

“My goal was to drop the viewer directly into a stilted, uncomfortable, weird moment,” he notes. “But, what was important, and something I chatted about with the agency a lot was, ‘Are we sure that it looks and feels like the action is stopping them from eating eggs for dinner?’.”

To this end, storyboard and comic book artist Michael Jasorka would prove invaluable, helping Evan hone the idea while balancing its ability to capture complex emotion and be communicated effectively. 

“From there, what was realised was that it all started with the tagline, and then we could work back. After all, ‘Eggs for Dinner. What’s Stopping You?’ is so funny! I laughed out loud the first time I heard it. What is stopping the average person from doing this? Eggs can make a fantastic dinner - they’ve just been advertised to us as breakfast our whole lives.”

With that in mind, Evan realised that there would be a degree of leniency on what could happen before the tag hit. As such, the desire became to show the most absurd situations imaginable to illustrate what was stopping humanity from having eggs for dinner, be it a partner’s love for horses, or some PDA at dinner.

Bringing it to life would be another matter, however. Across all three spots, location scouting would prove tricky - so much so that Evan actually says it was the biggest challenge of the entire project, hands down. 

“We did not want the ‘stormtrooper’ (white house, black trim) marble countertop, modern farmhouse kitchen seen in every ad,” he says. “We wanted the appearance of age - but from no time specifically. However, our location manager actually laughed when we told him we wanted places that had beautiful wallpaper or brick details. He said nearly every house that had those vintage touches has been ripped up and remodelled. It was sad to hear.”

But, Evan was not ready to give up. Driven by the knowledge that placing something in an ambiguous era would give the spot a sense of timeless appeal, and even going so far as to write down ‘big wallpaper energy’ in the deck as inspiration, he’d find the appropriate locations across three different settings - one for each spot. 

“For ‘Affection’, we found this unbelievable house designed by the couple. It was full of vintage furniture, animals, art, and thriving plants in every direction. On screen, it all amounted to a lived-in home, but it was my favourite location of the 50 or so we scouted,” he recalls.

Meanwhile, for ‘Horse’, the ask was a bit looser. Evan just wanted to find a place that felt as though there were a few horses in stables just outside the window, ensuring the sheer amount of decor placed in every corner would feel as natural as possible. 

From there, casting would be the next task. Citing it as “particularly hard”, Evan notes that finding realistic couples for that quick read was essential, as was showcasing unique faces and people that truly understood the joke and could deliver the whole story via purely facial expressions. 

Specifically, the ‘Horse’ couple stood out to him in this regard. “They auditioned together in the first read, and that was all I needed to see,” he says. “There was something so electric about his smile to disarm the situation, and her grin back that sold it for me. The spot is all about them smiling at each other, and they did it so perfectly!”

In turn, this would also make the shooting process easier, although Evan was quick to provide all his actors with a huge toolkit - something he always does throughout his productions. “I give them backstories and details to run through their mind to help get into character,” he says. “I talk them through everything as though everything is real and give them reasons for everything - the setting, the clothes, the dishes we put on the table. To be really funny it has to ring true - and that’s my goal.”

Breaking it down further, he reveals that in ‘Affection’, he told the couple that they were her parents - not his - and that he didn’t even want them to come to dinner, due to the fact that they are known to act like this all the time. “But, the new layer here is that it was in front of their kids,” Evan continues. “I wanted them to jog through a series of emotions as they just sat there paralyzed - not able to interrupt in fear of being rude - but also just trying to work out why this was happening to them. What did they do to deserve this?”

With ‘Horse’, on the other hand, he explained to the main actress that she loves horses so much that she hasn’t spent much time going on dates or meeting guys, being so ingrained in the horse lifestyle that it doesn’t appear absurd to her that she has that much horse decor. And, at the same time, he told the male-lead that he’s just an aloof sort of guy on a first date, and that the camera would be dropping in the moment he had settled in enough to really take the room in. “I told him that he was realising that entering into a relationship with this woman also meant there would be a third presence in their life - her horse,” Evan adds. “He also just happens to love eggs, so he was OK with all of that and finally smiles to say “I love you!”, and she loves him too.”

Outside of this, Evan says that there were a lot of cool behind the scenes moments that brought the time on set to life. Specifically, given the “downright luxury” of having one day per spot, he and his team used each minute to the fullest, including going so far as to transport every house in the ‘Horse’ neighbourhood from Heritage Estates in Markham… meaning that historic home each was picked up and moved from its original location to the shooting area. 

On the technical side of things, Evan says that there was a lot of thought put into the decisions made here too. In particular, he recalls that DP Jackson Parrell wanted to elevate the look beyond ‘glossy commercial’ and push the spots into a more narrative look, packed with vibrant colour - particularly oranges and greens. 

While Darling Colour & VFX would certainly further this in post, the decision to use the Arri Alexa 35 paired with Hawk V-Lite Anamorphics proved integral. “We framed for the full widescreen 2:39 because we knew we wanted to frame these people tightly within their worlds and draw the eye to everyone's facial expressions,” Evan says. “For instance, for the wide shot of the family, we wanted to build out the perfect wide frame with everyone leaning in staring. It worked out well!”

But between the two, ‘Horse’ is absolutely Evan’s favourite. In fact, it might be his favourite spot of all time, period. “It checks all the boxes for me,” he states. “We had such synergy with all the decisions - we went for the cooler outfits, casting choices and locations with no hesitation. I love when it comes together like that. If I'm fighting tooth and nail for stuff… it’s not an ideal way to make good work.”

Evan’s belief is absolutely validated by the final results. The lack of scrutiny, inherent humour and strong convictions for visual aesthetic made this a textbook example of execution, setting a high bar for how he hopes to see future productions go. “The main lesson would be to not overthink when it’s already great. Yes, find the absolute best actors you can to deliver these zingers, and find the most interesting, beautiful location you can and push it visually to stand out from the pack, but you don’t need to blindly improve a project at every turn.”

Finishing, he adds that what truly made this special was the fact that the whole team recognised this fact, allowing him to join and shepard it along to its full potential. 

That, and of course, Evan leaves us with the all important question, “Are you having eggs for dinner regularly? If not, what’s stopping you?”