Inside the Strangest Ad for Earphones You'll Ever See

Normal channels '60s sci-fi

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IDEA: "There is something always a bit funny about the past's version of the future," said Anthony Sperduti, executive creative director at Partners & Spade.

For Sperduti, going back to the earnest, wide-eyed wonder of '60s sci-fi was the perfect way to introduce a truly ultra-modern product like Normal's 3-D printed earphones, which are custom made to fit each user's ears (the right earbud will even differ slightly from the left).

Normal, whose founder Nikki Kaufman had liked Spade's work for Warby Parker, gave the agency a simple brief: Position the earphones as completely unique.

And so, the two-minute launch spot is unique as well, featuring a pitchman who explains the product while walking backward from an underground bunker to a secret lab, where a frizzy-haired "ear tailor" designs the earphones while duct-taped to a wall.

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