The “Old TV” model (broadcast and cable) is imagined as a group of childhood bullies in San Francisco-based agency Camp & King’s debuy campaign for Sling TV, Dish Network’s streaming service, entitled “Take Back TV.”
One 60-second spot (above) opens with voiceover announcing “This is the way TV used to be” as a child bully named Ralph, wearing a shirt with “Old TV” on it, pushing a man into his car window, saying, “Time to sign up Larry.” The voiceover goes on to list all the problems with the old model: long-term contracts, channels you don’t watch, hidden costs, strong-armed tactics and poor customer service. Accompanying each problem is footage of a child representative of the old model bullying an adult, using such tactics as force-feeding grass, the atomic wedgie and the wet willy. “It’s time to say goodbye to the way TV used to be,” the voiceover announces near the conclusion of the spot, offering the streaming service as an alternative. The campaign is clearly aimed at millenials who either are dissatisfied with the cable model or have avoided it altogether.
“What we found, when we interviewed millennials, is that you didn’t need to have that subscription experience to have an opinion about it,” Sling chief marketing officer Glenn Eisen told Re/code. “Strangely enough, even those who have never had the service can recite all of the pain points that we list in the first three spots.”
We don’t have credits for the effort, but it’s likely that creative director Jesse Dillow, who joined the agency in May, leaving his position as associate creative director at Leo Burnett, was involved on the project.
Credits:
Agency: Camp + King
Chief Creative Office/Partner: Roger Camp
Chief Executive Officer/Partner: Jamie King
Creative Director/Art Director: Rikesh Lal
Creative Director/Copywriter: Jesse Dillow
Creative Director/Copywriter: Paul Sincoff
Art Director: Chris Nash
Director of Content Production: David Verhoef
Producer: DP Odishoo
Brand Director: Dana Rabb
Brand Manager: Nicole Nowak
Director of Strategy: Shannon Williams
Brand Strategist: Jose Higuera
Production: PRETTYBIRD
Director: Tim & Eric
Executive Producer: Ali Brown
Post Production/Editorial: No6
Editor: Kyle Brown
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone
Producer: Kendra Desai
Post Production/Finishing: Misfit
Online Artist: Steven McEuen
Executive Producer: Jim Vaughan
Assistant: Stu Barnes
Music/Composer: SOUTH
Mix: One Union Recording
Engineers: Joaby Deal and Andy Greenberg