Union, Mount Pleasant Group Imagine ‘QUITBIT’

Toronto agency Union imagines a morbid wearable device which measures the amount of time left before death in its new campaign for Mount Pleasant Group Cemeteries and Funeral Centres.

That device, QUITBIT, is pitched by a Mount Pleasant Group representative as a wearable device which “uses a sophisticated algorithm to measure when your body is literally ready to quit.” When “your time is almost up,” the device notifies you of your impending death, allowing you to plan your final farewell. Near the end of the spot, the representative gets to the point of the ad, emphasizing that while QUITBIT is in beta-testing and not yet available (while a small message admits that it will never be available) “planning your funeral with Mount Pleasant Group is still the simplest way to plan your final goodbye.”

It’s an unsettling, slightly creepy approach, somewhat reminiscent of the dark sci-fi of Black Mirror, but it is certainly attention grabbing. The approach also serves as something of a wake up call, illustrating that, while it may not be a pleasant task, it makes sense to talk to loved ones about funeral plans, since without a QUITBIT you never know when the moment will come. Print, rich media, digital banners and pre-roll videos support the effort.

“We wanted to start the conversation about planning in a new way,” explained Union partner and executive creative director Lance Martin. “We live in a technology-hungry world so we decided to take one of the oldest services and give it a digital facelift to appeal to every age group.”

“Pre-planning is a conversation that families should be having but many don’t because they park it in the ‘someday’ category,” added Mount Pleasant Group assistant vice president of marketing Rick Cowan. “The QUITBIT parody provides a clever way to place the subject of pre-planning in a current and topical arena to help the conversation along.”

Credits:

Project: QUITBIT
URL: http://quitbit.ca
Client: Mount Pleasant Group
Assistant Vice-President Marketing: Rick Cowan
Manager, Advertising and Analytics: Winnie Chareunsouk

Advertising Agency: UNION Advertising Canada LP
Executive Creative Director: Lance Martin
Associate Creative Directors: Glen D’Souza, Mike Takasaki
Art Director: Glen D’Souza
Copywriter: Sean Butler
Designers: Emmanuel Obayemi, Matt Stubbings, Adrian Stiegler
Agency Producers: Grace Lee, Julie Riley, Gregg Vertes
Group Account Director: Vikki Thorpe
Account Supervisor: Andre Riolo
Planners: Melissa Boyd, Michelle Campbell
Director of User Experience: Eric Sorensen
Front-End Developer: Brock Beldham
Back-End Developer: Keshav Vohra
Quality Assurance Technologist: Jeffrey de Asis

Production Company: Steam Films
Director: Matt Atkinson
Director of Photography: Brendan Steacy
Line Producer: Christopher Sherk
Editor: Aaron Dark, School Editing
Post Production: Naveen Srivastava, The Vanity
Colourist: Andrew Exworth, The Vanity
Sound Design/Music: Thomas Neuspiel, Keen Music