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.
Credits:
Project: Football? What Football?
Client Name & Job Title: Andrea Silver, Marketing Director
Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
Executive Creative Directors: Alex Grieve and Adrian Rossi
Copywriter: Zac Ellis
Art Director: Rich Littler
Agency Planner: David Edwards
Agency Account Man: Chris Taggart/Kate Taylor/David Marshall
Head of Brand & Visual Comms: Benj Kaye
Senior Advertising Manager: James Cheetham
TV Producer: Trish Russell
TV PA: Zoe Cunningham
Media Agency: Walker Media
Media Planner: Walker Media
Production Company: Outsider
Director: James Rouse
Production Co. Producer: Benji Howell
Post-production Company: Finish
Audio Post-production: Factory
Exposure (TV, Youtube etc): TV, VOD, YouTube, Radio, CPCW Website