Ricky Gervais records new ad for the ‘marketing nerds at Optus’ in the bath on his phone
Ricky Gervais has made his latest ad for the “marketing nerds” at Optus on his phone in the bath, again playing on the theme of him refusing to do a proper ad for the telco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=703wbGxP9rs
In the new ad the British comedian is shot from the neck up in the bath tub saying his agent called asking him to do another ad, but saying he’s a “bit busy” and “couldn’t really plan anything or come into a studio”.
He ends it with “you’re welcome to use this if you want and put something at the end with what you’re advertising, and if you use it let me know – same money”. The ad, created by Emotive, is the latest in a campaign kicked off earlier this year with spots promoting Optus’ free Netflix deal. The series of ads, with the intial batch taking input from M&C Saatchi, have had more than 3m views between them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waymSm5lP-k
It was then continued last month with a similar setup in a series called “Optus called again” as the telco pushed its iPhone deals, including this spot where he talks about his “artistic integrity”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_1m-FFJWFg
Gervais has recorded multiple versions of the current ad, which was posted to Facebook this morning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qp4BeQge0U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qp4BeQge0U
I guess if you have no marketing idea, then this strategy would seem a great marketing idea.
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How can an unfunny pom putting #@$% on Australia make me a fan of the brand? I have an ear, and I talk, so, yep, phones are handy. But I just can’t figure Optus’ marketing strategy here. They’re obviously too smart for this humble demographic.
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@adgrunt
or alternatively they have been reading a lot of Byron Sharp and have decided that telco’s can’t differentiate their product and they are going for mass market, salient and distinctive marketing instead.
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These ads are stupid and dead from the neck up.
Seriously unimpressed
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I think they’re funny spots, different from other telco’s and are pretty memorable. That said, you really need to have seen the series for the latest one to make sense.
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I must be the only one who likes this work.
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Jumped the shark. Move on.
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Only people in advertising wouldn’t find this funny. The rest of us get the joke and will probably remember the product he’s sruiking.
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Only people in advertising wouldn’t find this funny. The rest of us get the joke and will probably remember the product he’s spruiking.
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Aren’t the setups for these ads exactly the same as the Droga5/Newcastle ads with Aubrey Plaza?
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Barbara is right. I don’t work in advertising. I don’t really like this guy either. But it’s a funny little ad. And memorable. It’s for Optus… isn’t that advertising mission accomplished?
It’s far more memorable than 99% of what I see in advertising. Loosen up folks.
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Looks like a bunch of PR Teams have been busy on the keyboards this morning
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I love the smell of AstroTurf of a morning.
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The best ad Optus has ever made is the smiling Orangutan ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-elD6dLbs
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Absolute fantastic advert – Well done Optus.
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I think these ads are hilarious. And I can remember the brand. They are branding ads. Optus will use other ads to push the products.
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Looks like they’re out-virgining Virgin with the ‘anti-ad’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAyTES9gDAU
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There’s nothing more unfunny than someone laughing at their own joke. This stuff makes me cringe.
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