There Must Be A Pony In Here Somewhere
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Why a Pony? To be clear, there were no ponies harmed in the making of this blog. The blog’s name, “There Must Be a Pony In Here Somewhere,” comes from an old joke, a favorite of Ronald Reagan’s, that essentially means, with a pile of you-know-what this big, there MUST be a pony—a bright side—in here somewhere!

Ally's Rebranding: Are Those Kids Really Acting?
CNBC.com Staff Writer
Kelly said it was a lot easier doing improv with kids than you might think.
“With kids, they often won’t stop talking! They have an answer for everything,” Kelly said. “If anything, it’s easier to improv with kids!”
The little boy with the truck was actually one of the professional actors. He didn’t know exactly what they were doing but Perlman said he knew his shtick — the obnoxious, bully-type kid.
“He was just so full of life and funny — but nuts, too! He was all over the place!” Kelly said.
He was also pretty savvy, Perlman added. “He made sure we knew that he knew what was going on!”
“Maybe he was duping me!” Kelly quipped.
They did shoots with 10 to 15 kids for each spot in order to make sure they got the reaction they were looking for.
Perlman would do a take, then say, “OK, reset. Let’s try that again.” Kelly explained. “He got some great looks that way … he willed out some of these faces.”
The girl who ultimately ended up in the pony commercial wasn’t an actress. (But after that Oscar-worthy look — who knows!)
The pony commercials were, in fact, the hardest, Perlman said — some of the kids, including the girl who was ultimately chosen for the spot, got upset that they got a toy pony instead of a real pony.
When you think about the fact that they did multiple takes, and each time the girl lost out on the real pony, you can see where that look you saw in the commercial was cumulative frustration like — Are you kidding me? Not again!
But rest assured, she did eventually get to ride on the pony.
It’s important to Perlman that the kids have fun on his shoots. At the end of filming, he’d explain to each kid that it was a commercial and then gave them a ride on the pony — sometimes before filming if a kid looked particularly nervous.
Kelly was also sensitive to the kids, making sure not to push them too far, and putting them at ease by chatting about their favorite games and TV shows between takes.
One funny thing, Kelly said, was that when he asked, “Would you like a pony?” a couple of kids actually said “no!”
“They were either scared or just didn’t want a big pony,” he explained. “Some actually wanted the plastic one!”
Stay tuned: The spots were so successful, they’re shooting more in August.
Who knew? All it took was a few cute kids and some hidden cameras to smooth out this whole banking mess!
If you haven't seen the spots, or just want to see them again, watch them here:
Little Girl With Pony:
Little Boy With Truck:
Little Girl With Bike:
These ads run on several networks, including CNBC.
More on CNBC.com:
- Harry and Louise Return—With a New Message
- New Cars Come Closer to Giving Us What We Want
- Harry Potter vs. James Bond
- The $23 Quadrillion Pack of Cigarettes
- Recession Special: Steak for $5!
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