Hasta La Creative!

CP+B found a clever way to work with Facebook’s autoplay video ads playing on mute, releasing a pair of ads for Hotels.com which make use of the lack of sound.

In one of the ads, the brand’s spokesman Captain Obvious bangs away at a piano. Text relays the message “Ads autoplay silently on Facebook…which is good for you…because I don’t know how to play the piano” before letting users know they can get 10 percent off their first stay when they download the Hotels.com app. Another spot sees Captain Obvious paired with a sign language interpreter, despite the fact that the ad also has subtitles. He admits that the interpreter is technically unnecessary, but vouches for her awesomeness. The approach works a lot better with the first spot, where the silence is not only part of the gag, it actually makes it more watchable (since you don’t have to hear Captain Obvious’s painful attempts at piano music).

In its first work for Hotels.com since adding the business last October, Crispin Porter + Bogusky goes the self-consciously wacky route by introducing Captain Obvious. As his name suggests, the new spokesman says lots of self-evident stuff to make the point that Hotels.com is the obvious choice for booking rooms.

A 60-second spot finds the Captain sauntering through a swanky resort, noting, among other things, that, "'All you can eat' is a hotel policy that allows you to eat all that you can," "the hotel pool is usually filled with water" and "gym is short for gymnasium." Ultimately and inevitably, he notes: "The best dot-com for booking hotels is Hotels.com. It's on the Internet."

Skinny, bearded and clad in silly military/bellhop garb (plus the occasional swimsuit hiked up to his navel), Captain Obvious is played by little-known actor Brandon Moynihan, who gives a solid performance. The spot is well shot and directed by Stacy Wall, who lensed this year's Super Bowl ads featuring Tim Tebow for T-Mobile and Ellen DeGeneres for Beats Music.

The potential problem is that this is not a one-off commercial, but an entire campaign, complete with print, online and radio. The one-joke approach is deftly handled, but I grew fidgety before the spot finished. And I wasn't phoning room service for more.

For me, Captain Obvious is worth a watch once or twice, but—like any ostentatious and irritating hotel guest—risks overstaying his welcome.

Creative Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York

Group Creative Director: Rob Smiley
Art Director: John Clement
Copywriter: Dan Giachetti
Director of Broadcast Production: Ozzie Spenningsby

Production Company: Tool of America
Director: Sam Cadman

Editorial Company: Cosmo Street
Editor: Todd Sherma

Effects: Riot, New York