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My name is Neil Fleming. I am a writer-producer with Joe Media in Calgary. I have also spent many years in theatre and film building scenery and props. When asked if I knew anyone who could create the giant curling rigs for this commercial, I instantly said: "Someone to go on a shopping spree at Princess Auto to customize some cool vehicles? Me!"
If you're a curling fan and you've been following your favourite teams on the tube (or flatscreen - hey, might as well keep up with the times), you've likely seen our very first TV commercial. It's a pretty slick production featuring uniquely designed vehicles and giant boulders sliding on ice. Neil gladly volunteered to "Frankenstein" these machines together, and judging by how they turned out (especially the sweeper vehicle), you can tell he had fun doing so.
Terrific job, Neil! Thanks for sharing your project with us!
See how they made the commercial here
Q: What is it?
A: This is the sweeper that was built for the Princess Auto "Possibilities" Campaign to be run during major curling events over the 2016-2017 season. It needed to function properly (or at least look like it could), as it was featured on camera in details several times. The Big Game Sweeper is a go-kart fitted with a gas-powered sweeper for playing a game of giant curling using boulders on a mountain lake. The idea came from a Calgary Advertising agency Cult Collective. The creative directors were Sabrina McAllister and Jwee Peng Tan (both are interviewed in the video). I got a call asking if I knew anyone who could trick out three vehicles "à la Mad Max" for a giant game of curling. I said, "Yeah, me." In the end, the concept was altered to be a bit more in line with the typical Princess Auto customer - who is more precise and ingenious than the Mad Max type. So it became about using Princess Auto supplies to outfit the vehicles. The agency came up with the concept, but the execution was essentially up to me. Basically I had to find three vehicles that we could rig or adapt for less than $3,500.00 total (my share of the budget). And the three vehicles had to get gradually bigger as we went along in the story. So I was looking for something small (go-kart) something big (monster truck) and something in between (bobcat loader). The trick was finding things that I knew were in running condition because they had to work on the day. But we were also trying to show a wide variety of vehicle types, so we were hoping for a small tractor but settled for a bobcat that had a trailer hitch receiver already on its scoop. The Monster Truck is my neighbour's 1975 Ford Custom. He had only just finished restoring it, so we had to be extra careful not to scratch anything!! This is when I realized the Trailer hitch section was going to be an important place to spend my time at the Princess Auto store. We could create add-ons for the vehicles and just lock them into place.
Q: What is the main power source for your project? (e.g. electric motor, gas engine etc.)
A: Gas motor for go-kart, gas motor for power sweeper, and a propane canister for cockpit heater.
Q: How do you control your project? (e.g. hydraulic control valve(s), electric switches etc.)
A: Steering wheel and pedals for the go-kart, handle-bar control for the sweeping mechanism.
Q: What components are used to perform the work for your project? (e.g. hydraulic cylinder(s), hydraulic motor(s), sprockets, pulleys etc.)
A: This project was really about attaching things together rather than changing their functionality. As such the main work was accomplished using hose-clamps and a variety of ratchet straps. The sweeper control was run up into the cockpit so that the driver could operate it while driving. The other levers are for the driving of the sweeper itself, but since the wheels were removed, they didn't have a practical function in this set-up.
Q: What design/build challenges were overcome?
A: It was a really fun job to work on. The go-kart came from Kijiji. It's actually meant for two very small children to ride in, and it was very well maintained. I really only had to unbolt parts of the frame and replace the seat so an adult could get into it. Ran great. Overall, the sweeper turned out pretty close to my rough design. The only piece of merchandise I had to alter was the red Hand Cart that makes up the front of the frame and the front bumper/ballast. When we originally attached the sweeper, it sat at the perfect angle with the bristles just touching the ice surface. However, once it was time to feature the contraption, we couldn't get it to start. We discovered that there was an internal kill switch inside the motor that was reliant on the oil level. Sitting at an angle, the oil was all at the other end of the tank. Once we attached it level, everything worked amazingly well.
Q: If you had to build it again, what would you do differently?
A: Adding a power-sweeper to the back of a go-kart is a lot of weight. While we tried to counter that using the ATV tires at the front, there wasn't a lot of weight on the front wheels. This, combined with driving on the ice made it difficult to steer. If we were to do this for real, we would need more counter-ballast on the front end. I think if we had more time, we also would have embellished the bigger rigs a bit more. As the sweeper was featured most prominently, I spent most of my time making it seem the most legit. I would have loved to have had another week to work on the other two... It would have been nice to create a more complex system that looked like it could turn or "curl" each rock.
Q: Which Princess Auto location do you visit most?
A: Calgary North, AB