Monsters and Villains Are Shocked by How Evil Satellite TV Companies Are in Fun Ad for Cable

Sure, demons, monsters and villains aren't exactly the most upstanding citizens. But even they blanch at the evilness of some satellite and phone companies in this amusing new campaign by creative agency Something Different for Charter Communications' Spectrum cable brand. David Shane of O Positive directed four spots that are rolling out over the next month, beginning with "Train," in which an evil professor, a mummy, a werewolf and the Grim Reaper himself are chatting on a commuter train about their humdrum lives—when the banter is derailed by a problem that Death is having on the home front. Check out the "Train" spot here: [kickout id="1"] The commercial rises above its somewhat low-hanging premise through its sharp writing, fun makeup and amusing acting. The concept should make for a decent little series of ads. "We all just laughed at the idea of these evil people thinking someone else was horrible," says Tommy Henvey, chief creative at Something Different, which was founded last year by Ogilvy & Mather veterans Henvey and executive producer Patti McConnell. "It gave us a way to make our point that felt a little more unusual." "Train" focuses on service disruptions. Future ads will explore other customer gripes, like deceptive pricing and the lack of channels and features. "It was fun to take tropey clichés of '30s and '40s movie monsters and dimensionalize them for the modern world," says Shane, whose comic credits include HBO's "Awkward Family Viewing" ads. "We gave them everyday problems and below-the-surface emotions to create a sense of long-standing relationships between old friends, co-workers, wives and husbands." Something Different boasts an unusual model for a creative agency, assembling creative, production and media planning teams on a project basis depending on the task at hand. "We felt that there was a better, simpler way to make stuff, and this campaign showed us that we weren't actually out of our minds," McConnell says. "We can bring in the most talented people, do big campaigns with great directors, and deliver great results. And, have a good time doing it! That's all we ever wanted." CREDITS Client: Charter Communications Brand: Spectrum Senior Vice President, Marketing and Creative Strategy: Joe Leonard Vice President, Marketing and Creative Strategy: Jim Obermeyer Senior Director, Marketing and Creative Strategy: Amy Kantrowitz Senior Manager, Marketing and Creative Strategy: Lindsay Hittner Agency: Something Different Chief Creative: Tommy Henvey Managing Partner, Executive Producer: Patti McConnell Group Creative Director: Richard Ryan Senior Producer: Garrett Crabb Marketing Director: Christine Dodd Production Coordinator: Jamie Eisman Production: O Positive Director: David Shane Executive Producers: Ralph Laucella and Marc Grill Producer: Ken Licata Director of Photography: Marc Laliberte-Else Production Designer: Dan Ouellete Editing: Crew Cuts Partner, Editor: Jake Jacobsen Assistant Editor: Jake Trill Producer: Sara Arnold Post Effects Producer: Stephanie Norris Music: JSM Music Chief Creative Officer: Joel Simon Executive Producer: Jeff Fiorello Composers: Joel Simon and Seamus Kilmartin

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Monsters and Villains Are Shocked by How Evil Satellite TV Companies Are in Fun Ad for Cable

David Shane scares up the laughs for Spectrum

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