How Amazon Saves You From the 'Showhole' When You Don't Know What to Binge Next

It's one of the unhappy side effects of binge-watching—that deep emptiness you feel inside after burning through your favorite on-demand series. Amazon calls the common condition a "Showhole," and two new 30-second ads promote its Fire TV line of internet-streaming hardware products as the solution. The first spot stars a couple who are struggling to find their next source of entertainment. The fruitless search has strained the relationship to the point where its very future hangs in the balance. (The guy worries this could be cause enough for his partner to flee back to her ex—not a good sign.) Cue the Fire TV, with analytics that make it easy to dive right into a new show that appeals to both your tastes and your significant other's, ensuring love lives to fight another day. In the second ad, a man panics over the impending end of his beloved series. When Fire TV comes to the rescue, his next dose of tranquilizer is queued up and ready to go. Agency Wongdoody created the ads, which join a previous spot from November: It's a solid insight, based on a funny (if slightly shameful) truth about current TV consumption habits. In December, Netflix launched a campaign based on a similar premise. (In that 90-second ad, a series-bereft young woman's best friend tries consoling her by rattling off the titles they could watch next, over tortuous hours actually spent doing things away from the screen—though his deep knowledge of the catalog suggests he might, in fact, be a recommendation algorithm The Amazon ads, for their part, are amusing, with nice little touches of the ridiculous. The boyfriend—who looks like an everyman Zach Galifianakis, with a dose of Nick Offerman mixed in—lip-syncs the voiceover while summoning his remote as if by telekinesis. In the other spot, the young bachelor is literally swallowed up by his couch, a great visual manifestation of a feeling everyone has probably had. Naturally, the campaign doesn't point out that the showhole is really just a return to the emotional void that made you want to binge-watch in the first place. But it's probably safer to keep downing an endless stream of charming pixels than reflect on that too much. CREDITS: Amazon Fire TV #Showhole Agency: WongDoody Chairman, Executive Creative Director: Tracy Wong Creative Director: Adam Nowak Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Mishy Cass Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Matt McCain Senior Producer: Nikki Castillo Group Account Director: Megan Meagher Account Director: Erin Billmaier Client: Amazon Executive Creative Director: Michael Boychuk Senior Marketing Manager: Augie Gramaglia Production Company: Dummy Director: Michael Illick Director of Photography: James Whitaker Executive Producer: Eric Liney Producer: Paul Manix Postproduction: Whitehouse Post Editor of "Showhole Couple": Corky DeVault Editor of "Showhole Stuck": Brian Gannon Producer: Jennifer Mersis Head of Production: Joanna Manning Executive Producer: Joni Williamson Visual Effects: Carbon VFX Executive Producer: Matt McManus Audio: Clatter & Din Engineer: Sam Gray Color: Company 3 Senior Colorist: Sean Coleman Talent: Voiceover: Malcolm McDowell "Couple" Husband: Steve Berg Wife: Sylvia Panacione Hot Guy: Kirby Heyborne "Stuck" Stuck Man: Kwame Boateng

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How Amazon Saves You From the 'Showhole' When You Don't Know What to Binge Next

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Gabriel Beltrone