Spec Ad Comedy Food and Hospitality

It’s A Trap

Someone broke into a Dublin cinnamon bun bakery. The right response was clearly a spec comedy ad.

Client It’s A Trap, Dublin
Format Spec Ad / Comedy Short
Film Cinnamon Cravings
Year 2024

The bakery got broken into.
So we made an ad about it.

It’s A Trap is a Dublin bakery with a loyal following and, apparently, very attractive cinnamon buns. In early 2024, they posted on Instagram to let their customers know the bakery had been broken into. Again.

Mike saw the post and had a thought: what if whoever broke in was not there to rob the place, but because the cinnamon buns were genuinely that good?

This was not a paid brief. It’s A Trap did not ask for a video. It was a creative gesture, a spec piece built around a real local moment, with the idea that the right story was already there and just needed someone to see it.

Project details
  • Self-initiated spec concept
  • Written and directed by Mike Van Rose
  • Comedy short format
  • Actors: Nano Awad and Marianne Mc Cullen
  • Inspired by a real Instagram post from It’s A Trap
  • Created in Dublin, 2024
The concept

Cinnamon Cravings.

A couple at home late at night, watching a film. The woman is heavily pregnant and gets a craving. Her partner knows the look. He knows it is going to be something ridiculous.

Cut to: a bakery at night, shot like CCTV footage. The man is behind the counter, searching. He has broken in. Not to steal money. Not to cause trouble. He is looking for cinnamon buns.

The voiceover lands the punchline:

“People are willing to do crazy stuff for our Cinnamon Buns.”

The It’s A Trap logo fades in. Film over.

What makes it work
  • Based on a real event the bakery had posted publicly
  • Flips a negative moment into something shareable
  • No product shots, no forced testimonials
  • The brand personality lands through the joke, not a tagline
  • Short enough to hold attention, long enough to earn the punchline
Cinnamon Cravings · Spec Ad · 2024

The film.

Written byMike Van Rose
ActorsNano Awad · Marianne Mc Cullen
FormatSpec comedy short
LocationDublin
Why this is on the site

Not every project starts with a brief.

This piece is not here because of its scale. It is here because of what it shows.

The idea came from a real Instagram post. No client asked for it. No brief was written. Mike saw something in a local story that other people had scrolled past and turned it into a piece of work with a clear concept, a cast, a visual style and a punchline.

That instinct, spotting a story before anyone asks you to, is one of the things Van Rose brings to every project. This is early proof of it.

It also shows that you do not need a large production budget to make something that feels considered, funny and shareable. Small food brands can punch well above their weight if the creative idea is right.

What this demonstrates
  • Ability to find a story before being asked
  • Turning a real moment into a creative concept
  • Comedy writing and direction
  • Working with actors on a minimal budget
  • Brand personality through storytelling, not promotion
  • Making small brands feel fun, human and shareable
ClientIt’s A Trap, Dublin
IndustryFood and Hospitality
Year2024
TypeSelf-initiated spec work
Written and directed byMike Van Rose
CastNano Awad · Marianne Mc Cullen
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