Ad of the Day: The Guardian Wants to Own the Weekend | Adweek
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Ad of the Day: The Guardian

The British newspaper wants to own the weekend. No, really, own it

The Guardian wants Britain to know it's taking over the weekend.

No, literally taking it over, to the point where Brits will soon be forced to refer to their days off as The Guardian and Observer Weekend.™

In this wonderfully over-the-top new clip below for its weekend publications, The Guardian envisions a world in which it "owns" all weekend activities and conversations. "Never before has a company owned a day, let alone two days together at the end of the week," intones the faux trailer's Hollywood-esque narrator. "How do you 'own a weekend'? You don't. We do."

While BBH doesn't deliver the kind of gravitas here that earned The Guardian top ad honors last year—Adweek chose "Three Little Pigs" as the best commercial of 2012—this spot is still a great example of how its approach to marketing is keeping the newspaper front and center in the cultural conversation.

I'm not sure an introduction from an aging Hugh Grant really helps them in that, but hey, at least he worked for free.



CREDITS
Client: Guardian

Campaign: "Own the Weekend"
Agency: BBH, London


Client Credits
Chief Commercial Officer: David Pemsel

Director of Brand and Engagement: Richard Furness

Product Marketing Manager: Charlotte Emmerson



BBH Creative Team: Wesley Hawes, Gary McCreadie

BBH Creative Director: David Kolbusz

BBH Head of Film: Davud Karbassioun

BBH Producer: Chris Watling

BBH Assistant Producer: Pia Ebrill

BBH Head of Strategy: Jason Gonsalves

BBH Strategic Business Lead: Ngaio Pardon

BBH Strategy Director: Agathe Guerrier

BBH Strategist: Lynsey Atkin

BBH Team Manager: Jonny Price

BBH Team Assistant: Rishi Patel



Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks

Director: Tim Godsall

Executive Producer: Orlando Woods

Producer: Kwok Yau

Director of Photography: Daniel Bronks
Editor: Bill Smedley
Edit House: Work

Postproduction: The Mill

Sound Design: Sam Brock, Factory

Sound Mixing, Arrangement: Sam Brock, Sam Robson

Music: Library TBC 



Media Agency: PHD

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