Next Advertisement For El Bulli: "The Spirit Lives On"

By Anthony Todd in Food on Feb 13, 2012 7:40PM

We've posted several of Next Restaurant's amazing, food-porny videos, created to promote their different menus. This one is different. Rather than a reverent look at the beautiful food, the ad for the newest incarnation of Next, El Bulli, feels like an attempt to get us to storm the barricades. With a driving soundtrack, quick cuts and the occasional white-on-black caption screen, we almost expected it to end with a shot of a luxury car and a MSRP*. The tagline "The spirit lives on" could be at the end of Clint Eastwood's super bowl ad. NBC Chicago wondered if it was effective - we think they're off the mark. Anyway, whatever Next is doing, it's working.

Eater reported this morning that season tickets, which finally went on sale Saturday afternoon after months of anticipation, generated an online queue of over 6,000 people. Needless to say, they're all gone.

If you want to eat at Next, there are still a couple of options. First, Next is going to start holding "Dutch Auctions." In a Dutch Auction, the price of an item starts out absurdly high and slowly drops, and the first bidder to take the price gets the item. A table for two each night will start at the bargain price of $4,000. If you really want to eat at Next, you can simply buy your way in. On the plus side, the proceeds will all be donated to the University of Chicago Cancer Center, a wonderful way to do some good with the insane popularity of the restaurant. We suggest keeping an eye on the Facebook page for same-night tickets if you don't have a spare $4,000. Or, you can watch the ad on repeat.