Optus recruits Josh Thomas to promote More Yes positioning
Optus has recruited comedian Josh Thomas to promote its “live more yes” positioning as it seeks to amplify its ‘Yes’ branding through new price offerings and services.
Created by M&C Saatchi, the new campaign features Thomas – best known for his former role on Ten’s Talkin ‘Bout Your Generation and in ABC’s Please Like Me – exploring how much Optus would say yes to, including gigantic kittens, a helicopter shot and A-ha’s 80s hit Take On Me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXkMv7O3xg8
Optus head of brand Nathan Rosenberg said: “Yes has always been our ethos and now we’re amping it up because life’s better when there’s more of it.
“This year we’re going to show more people why Optus is the right choice for them in a truly different way.”
The new campaign follows on from the telco earlier this month unveiling a number of new mobile phone plans as it seeks to lure customers away from market leader Telstra.
Launching over the weekend, the TV ad is complemented with digital, outdoor, print, in-store and direct marketing.
Product spots focusing on the newly launched plans will also run concurrently to the brand campaign.
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Fun & well done, great work all involved.
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I’m pleasantly surprised by this one. I’m still not sure what the yes thing means, but I certainly feel warmer to Optus after watching it – unlike when watching Telstra’s latest efforts.
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At last a really big TVC.
Hallelujah!
Yeah,yeah ,yeah I’m sure they’ve done a whole lot of the new shit ,everybody does these days, but what a pleasure to see a big idea bought to life by a big name director.
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Bravo Optus! Make a bold statement in a BIG way! Excited to see how this one rolls out 🙂
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Really Optus, Josh Thomas? Great way to switch off 95% of the population.
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I LOVE it. Nice work, nice ideas, beautiful presenting.
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@Larry, I agree… though the commercial was charming in an artsy way
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I guess Larry likes his commercials fronted by straight men, as opposed to those ‘other’ people that he presumes 95% of the population dislike.
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Clearly anyone who hates the ad is a homophobe.
Nothing to do with the incredibly annoying over-the-top delivery, “OMG we’re so wacky” attitude, or the fact that it says absolutely nothing about Optus.
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I am with you @Larry
@huh – hold the homophobic horses, its got nothing to do with Josh’s sexuality its because I am not a fan of immature unfunny comedians. Although my thoughts are irrelevant as I don’t think I am in the demographic that Optus are after with this ad.
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Belting ad this, so un telco-like. Big, bold, funny and hell bent on not taking itself too seriously. It’s a yes from me.
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I’m sure Larry likes the Vodafone campaign.
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Its the same reason i love the Project and Talkin Bout Your Generation. I can avoid every sh1t comic in Australia in a couple of hours.
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sure its a little fun and quirky, bold, fancy, colorful, wacky.
What’s the point though? Is this just a reminder to everyone that Optus is still alive?
Doesn’t really sell anything? Doesn’t say nothing about the products.
So if the purpose of the ad is to just say “HEY! WE’RE BACK!” then “YES” pointed taken.
PS. I’m not a homophobe and I don’t like Josh whatshisface either.
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It’s different
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I was a pleasantly surprised by this, they could have gone smugly corporate (hello, Jimmy Barnes) but I felt warmer towards them after watching it and interested to see if there’s more coming.
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What is all this homophobic cringe business?
Some years back I admitted in public that I don’t find Whoopi Goldberg funny. On the strength of this, I was clobbered by seemingly hundreds of people who called me a racist.
I found myself pointing out that I love and adore Mahalia Jackson, Paul Robeson, Bill Cosby, Red Fox, Leontyne Price….The list went on so long that I even started to feel like a racist.
It is possible to dislike Josh’s humor and still not be homophobic. Just as much as you may dislike say Hugh Grant’s acting without being considered heterophobic.
Funny thing….spell check allows homophobic, but challenges heterophobic, interesting.
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I don’t particularly like Thomas but this ad is a lot more interesting to watch than most.
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Was surprised how much I liked this – entertaining and would get me to stop and watch. Like the new Optus visual identity stuff as well.
Am not a homophobe but am quite happy to fess up to being whatever the term is for someone with extreme prejudice against people who have ridiculous made up accents…
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YES what now? What are they trying to promote here? How different can Optus be that they want to show vs Vodafone and Telstra? The only uniqueness in the telco market is having the greatest coverage and I actually dislike Telstra but they are the only ones who can actually say this.
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When did Optus change their slogan to YAAASS!
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@I we can see you’re not a homophobe.. just a grammarphobe
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No, it’s horrid crap. Josh Thomas is nauseating.
Please stop pronouncing yes and yas too.
No worries, I will not be using Optus anyway – especially after this torture.
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Cant stand Josh Thomas’ affected accent. The first time I heard him I googled to see where he was from….turns out he is a Brisbane native. That “YAS” turns me orf.
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One of the most annoying ads I have ever seen in my life. On a par with the dodgie brothers used car ads. Optus Failed this time.
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An excellent ad – and a proper brand ad. You don’t see many of those these days.
It’s entertaining, surprising and super-sized. And after seeing it once on telly last night, it has embedded Optus at the front of my mind. Impactful (still unsure as to whether that’s a real word or not) and memorable.
To those querying what it’s selling: it’s selling a sentiment and an attitude, of course. Like brand ads are meant to. If you want to know about Optus’ coverage and pricing, there’s probably a brochure for that.
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Before the internet, how did miserable, angry people like Larry share their misery and anger with the world? Good on you, Mumbrella, for providing such a valuable service for sad people.
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After the recent issues with their network outages, I think they should be saying No, No we can’t provide a reliable network. No we can’t provide a basic service. Yes just seems like they are over committing themselves. Instead of ‘Yes’, perhaps it should be ‘We’ll Get Around To It’.
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I embrace same sex relationships and am certainly not a homophobe. Good on Josh for securing this gig. I have never laughed at one of his jokes. I have never laughed at a joke by Phil Jupitus either (POME comedian who you might know from QI…?); how do unfunny comedians, like Josh and Phil get careers as ‘comedians’? I don’t understand????
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@Blutac…..// I’m still not sure what the yes thing means//
FYI: way way way back in time – like the 1990s when telco competition was the New Dawn, Optus Big Banged into existence, and its slogan was “yes” ….. because Telstra ALWAYS said ….
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Love the Optus Fanboy comments on here supporting this new campaign. Have to say this TVC is cringeworthy at best. Far too OTT for most people to take seriously. Josh Thomas is not funny and only appeals to a very narrow audience. Massive FAIL for Optus and the creative agency who came up with this nauseating YASS fest !
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Josh isn’t funny, in my opinion. it’s a badly written ad, in my opinion. Slamming someone for having a different opinion to you, weak as Piss, in my opinion..
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Can’t get over this poor excuse for an ad… Hasn’t anyone else seen the British Telco Three ad that also used a hit 80s song, a cute kitty and a little girl?
http://time.com/9097/watch-thi.....this-city/
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This is typical of today, Larry mentions that JT will alienate 95% of australia, and people call him a homophobe, ignoring the fact that it might have to do with the fact that JT is a whiny git who sounds like he’s whining even in such a positive script. He is annoying, his sexuality is, and should be, irrelevant. It is only those hung up on it that bring it up.
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when i saw this on TV it grabbed me. Never loved Josh Thomas generally but really liked this.
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@Perko @ Larry don’t think @Larry’s comments are homophobic but they are not well thought out.
When will advertising and marketing geeks realise that their own personal likes and dislikes are not representative of the population?
@Larry I’d love to see your research that shows that Josh Thomas would alienate 95% of Australia.
Undoubtedly, as is done with most major ad campaigns the selection of Josh would have been done following a number of rounds of focus testing with the target audience. Do you think they would have picked JT if their results showed that he alienated 95% of Australians?
So yes, both of you might dislike JT. It doesn’t make you homophobes, but it also doesn’t make you representative of the Australian population.
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OMG. This ad is so annoying
I just saw it.
This guy is soooo irritating.
YAS. !!!!!!!!!
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What an annoying ad.
Josh Thomas is an obnoxious little jerk. I didn’t even know he was gay until I read these comments. Irrespective of his sexuality, he really gets on my nerves.
I’m with optus, considering changing providers as not to support a company who willingly puts this idiot on my screen.
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The first ad I have seen for ages that I stop and watch every time it comes on. The generation gap
I am 63. Never seen or heard Josh Thomas before. Don’t know anything about him but love the ad
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Great ad. It doesn’t have to say anything. When
Toyota or Coca Cola put their name on an A.F.L fence or oval it doesn’t say anything but it keeps their name and products in view. When Red Bull has their name on a race car it doesn’t say anything but I bet it sells their product. This is a fun add and it keeps them in the public eye. Great ad Optus
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I didn’t notice Josh Thomas…I was too busy saluting my Nordic pop idols ..a-ha!
Definitely worth checking out all their albums…love them.
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So everyone who hates the ad is a homophobe? This ad only appeals to a certain group of people and Optus are really clutching at straws if they are trying this method of attracting users to a crap network.
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The reason behind the animals on Optus ads for so many years was I believe to NOT pinpoint or stereotype their market, for example, they didn’t want to have ads with just young adults, as this may believe the older crowd was not with Optus’ tune. If you ask me, the animals was better, look at the conversations good and bad already about using a particular character. Optus believes they are going forward but they have had nothing but bad press in the past 2-3 years. Friends who work for them also say the people in the business want out too and just waiting for that redundancy.
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A very annoying ad when someone cannot say the word that is the whole point of the ad. Never heard of him before I found this page, but I am happy to say I would never watch him if this is how he normally speaks.
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What a disgraceful waste of money. I don’t care what market research they did, the big knobs at Optus and M&C Saatchi have definitely missed the mark with this one. If I was an Optus shareholder I would be asking only one question – have my shares fallen in value? The answer…….Yes!!!
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What an annoying ad. Optus FAIL. I have no problem with people being gay but for gods sake can you lose that nauseating camp voice.
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I have no problem with people not liking gay people or people’s voices. Even though they can’t help it. Bad grammar and bad spelling you can help.
Every entry above is guilty.
Eg God’s sake. Not gods sake
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really enjoyed watching this TVC. Something has happened at Optus this year – I’ve been a customer for over a decade and all of a sudden now their customer service is amazing and Australian and prompt, now their branding and ads are cool. What’s next I ask?
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Ugh these ads are so irritating, and it’s because of his voice which is mumbled and annoying. I’m gay so don’t assume homophobia… lol his voice is just shut up!!
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I think it’s terrible, especially being from the generation that they’re trying to target.
It’s patronising and treats the consumer like an idiot. They’re spending too much time trying to talk in ‘our language’ – what does it actually stand for? What are they promising? Yes? What does that mean?
Consumers know too much about telcos to believe that they’re going to say ‘yes’. Contracts, fee hikes, hidden charges. A TVC with kittens and a young comedian talking about something completely abstract has absolutely no call to action, or no promise that distinguishes Optus from other brands. Our generation turns off when we know there’s a shallow attempt to relate to us – we can see through it. The consumer needs to be treated as exactly that: they want a product that’s superior or offers better value than the next. This ad promises none of that.
Weak strategy behind this ad. Great way to alienate the consumer.
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it is funny how people on here make uneducated comments, without any research.
Take @Jeff for example. Great sarcastic comment about shareholders and the share price of Optus. However, totally WRONG.
A two-second Google search would show you that Optus shares have been on the rise for the past few months and have kept rising since the start of this campaign. So if I was a shareholder, I would be happy.
A little research goes a long way to not making you look dumb. Yes!
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the very worst ad on australian tv this year by a big margin
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David – Optus does not have shares, its Singtel that does have shares.
The whole share market pretty much has been on a high in the past 12 months. I work for Optus and believe me, the Singtel share price has nothing to do with Optus’ performance. They are constantly here to give a kick up the arse so they can drive more from the already shrinking market share.
(Moderated by Mumbrella for legal reasons.)
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Great Ad. Its punchy, fun, new and unexpected. A welcome change from the mundane corporatism of other telcos.
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Anonymous. Have the integrity to use your name.
Actually the follow up ads do say a lot about costs and services, etc.
Love the ad. Love the discussion. To take the time to comment shows it has caught your attention.
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My wife turns the sound off for ads, but for this one she pulls up the menu so as not to see this knob. How is he funny? What is he origin of his comedy? Why is this ad funny? As in if you were sitting at a bus stop and had to explain it…. Why?
It’s a shame why no longer have the Chaser or some Seth Macfarlane equivalent to rip such pretenders to pieces.
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Do not understand the so called appeal of Josh Thomas? Can’t bear his voice – so irritating. Hey Sugar. Argh!
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No one has commented on the irony of Josh doing an ad for a Singapore Government owned-enterprise …Singapore being a country where folks of our kind are not exactly celebrated…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L....._Singapore
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Honestly how can you call this individual a comedian? Nothing about him is funny and the advertisment is pure unadulterated rubbish.
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I really find these adds annoying,
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Can’t understand one word that Thomas is saying. It s all a mumbling mess.
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The opening line is “this year we are going to show you. ……” and follow up ads are telling us about the new deals. It was just an introduction. The follow up ads are informative.
Of course not everyone is going to like this guy. Some famous people who have done ads are Hazel Hawke, Alan Border, Michael Jackson, etc. Some of them were hated. You will never find someone everyone likes. But he seems to command your attention. Why else would you know what the ads are like. So it works.
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