Portal A shot Glad’s “Off-Road Kitchen Challenge” on a ranch in Simi Valley, Calif., where parts of Westworld are filmed. It follows last year’s “Upside-Down Cooking Challenge,” in which Hannah Hart made a giant burrito while suspended from the ceiling. That clip ultimately garnered more than 5 million views across all platforms. 

“With the success of Hannah’s video, we saw potential for a Glad kitchen challenge series, pushing the product and and a creator to hilarious and unprecedented new limits,” says Portal A senior project manager Grace Emery. 

Helbig, who often tackles food content in her videos, had never tried making a poke bowl before, “and thought the contrast of wild-west chaos with a trendy snack was hilarious,” Emery says. “This video was unscripted, so any of the language you hear in there is 100 percent Grace.”

Thanks to the delightful effects of gravity, Hart’s upside-down adventure made for more surreal viewing. Helbig’s ride is a joy in its own way, and because it was shot on location, rather than in a controlled studio setting, actually posed more challenges for the crew. 

The production designer and stunt coordinator tethered Helbig between the wheels (not on top of them) so that the motion of the truck would mainly shake up the knick-knacks in the kitchen, but keep the ride safe for her.
  
“When the truck took off for the first time,” Emery recalls, “Grace slid completely sideways and the entirety of the carefully prepared ingredients skyrocketed from the truck.” 

Wait, they left that bit out of the video? 

During filming, the truck pulled Helbig in a 400-meter loop and covered about three miles overall. 

“After each take, our crew had to carefully comb the truck tracks to pick up bits of poke bowl and the dishes that were scattered across the grassy expanse,” she says. “The kitchen was equipped with delicately stacked plates, loosely hanging utensils and decor meant to rock ‘n’ roll—after a few takes we had some fallen dishware and hanging plants that had seen their final day.”

CREDITS

Client: Glad
Agency: Portal A
Executive Producers: Zach Blume and Nate Houghteling
Creative Director: Kai Hasson
Head of Creative: Erin Schmalfeld
Creative Lead: Jackson Adams
Director: Ian Plaff
Head of Production:  Elyse Preiss
Lead Producer: Eduardo Castro Fonseca
Project Director: Emma White
Senior Project Manager: Grace Emery
Head of Post Production & Lead Editor: Arturo Morales
Assistant Editor: Bee Rhodes
Lead Designer: Angela Chang
Head of Talent: Brittani Kagan
Senior Talent Producer: Kelly Egan
Director of Strategy: Matthew Ward
Strategist: Karen Janssen