AMV BBDO Tackles Sports, Relationships for Currys & PC World

AMV BBDO’s new campaign for Currys & PC World, entitled “Football? What Football?”  — their first work for the brand — manages to be World Cup-themed without ever mentioning the words “World Cup” (although at one point they come pretty close). The new broadcast spots for the UK’s largest specialist electrical retailing and services company each feature a hopelessly transparent man attempting to (not so) slyly suggest to his significant other that they should buy a new television, positing the purchase as selfless, and certainly having nothing to do with the impending 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The approach is clever, examining the types of subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations partners in relationships make surrounding expensive purchases. In my favorite of the spots, “Pride and Sensibility,” a man tells his wife, over dinner, that him and his friends watched that “Pride and Sensibility” program and it really looked great on his buddy’s widescreen TV. He’s not nearly so slick as he thinks he is, and his significant other’s incredulous facial expressions really bring the spot together as he almost mentions the World Cup and claims the new TV is for “that castle program” she likes so much.

The other spots follow a similar formula, finding humor in a man suggesting to his wife that her gardening programs would look great on a new television, and a father attempting to justify the purchase as a way to better enjoy upcoming penguin documentaries to his daughter while a disbelieving mother looks on. It’s the kind of approach that works because of its relatability, with humor that is at once universal and distinctly British coming from true to life scenarios. The broadcast campaign launched on the first, along with accompanying 30 second ads appearing on sports radio. Stick around for credits and the other two spots after the jump. continued…

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NZ Telecom, Saatchi & Saatchi Make Us Wait in ‘Waiting is Over’

How do you make an ad about waiting? The worst approach might be to show paused scenes while the dulcet notes of a piano play in the background. Sure, the hi-res shots of robots falling, halted car chases in progress, and rock concerts are good-looking, but if I saw this ad a second or a third time on TV, I would hit mute and go get some ice cream.

The new spot for New Zealand Telecom via Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and GoodOil director Michael Spiccia ends with a close-up on a car chase hero. He blinks, and the tagline appears: “Waiting is over.” Instead of this indulgent imagery, I’d much rather see a humorous piece on how impatient we’ve become in the Internet Age, or a puppet-filled drama in a doctor’s office. “Waiting is Over” looks like something that would play (and could work) on the New Zealand equivalent of Best Buy’s panoramic screens, but watching it online or on TV, I just feel twitchy. The waiting better be over.

Additional TV, radio, digital and outdoor executions will be rolling out over the coming weeks. Check out the credits after the jump

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