The ad, created by Red Brick Road, features an alien army approaching Earth. Different people watching telly around the country are terrified – or excited – as the alien ruler interferes with TV broadcasts to say: "Oola Oola Zod."
The authorities – and alien enthusiasts – are mobilised by the power of TV and gather for the spaceship’s landing but when the alien arrives things do not go to plan.
At Red Brick Road the executive creative directors were Matt Davis and Richard Megson and the senior creative was Dean Webb. The Bobbsey Twins from Homicide directed the spot through Blink.
Andrew MacGillivray, marketing director at Thinkbox, said: "Following the retirement of the star of Thinkbox’s previous TV ads – Harvey the dog is currently writing a memoir – we wanted to do something completely different in style and tone: something that entertains viewers, stands out in the ad break, and clearly shows the power of TV advertising."
MediaCom clients Lucozade, DFS and Mars-owned petfood Sheba have created a version of their recent TV ads by Grey London, Krow Communications and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO respectively for a special ad break to kick off the campaign.
Steven Hind, head of marketing at Lucozade Sport, said: "Letting another advertiser interrupt one of your ads sounds bonkers, but I think the whole break should be fun for the viewers, and will create extra cut-through for Lucozade Sport."
The special launch ad break will air at 9pm across ITV, Channel 4, ITV2, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living and Sky One on Boxing Day and feature ads from the brands being interrupted by the alien from the Thinkbox ad.
Nick Ashworth, head of marketing communications at DFS, which was involved in ITV’s knitted ad break last year, said: "The idea of advertisers working together on TV ad breaks to create innovation, intrigue and engagement really appeals to the team at DFS.
"We saw a great response from consumers in terms of engagement and memorability to our creative in ITV’s Text Santa ‘knitted’ ad break last year. This is a fantastic opportunity to deliver something extra for everyone watching at this vital time of year for our business – and this definitely does!"
Following the launch ad break the spot will run on TV until the end of January and will be followed by further bursts later in the year. Media planning was by MediaCom.
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