Let’s agree on one quick thing: the phrase “Netflix and chill” needs to be killed deader than Drake GIFs and emoji keyboards. Please alert your clients ASAP.
Now that we’ve established that undeniable fact, here’s the first ad in a new campaign for ESPN by the New York offices of 72andSunny.
The debut spot “Queue” serves to establish a basic fact: unlike whatever streaming service/DVR thing you’re into at the moment, sports are broadcast live as they are happening. They can’t really be paused … and in fact, they are one of the very few remaining reasons why anyone should subscribe to cable aside from 24/7 “news” channels like CNN, hahaha.*
That was a pretty good spin, no? The real-life cutaway and the Steve Kerr throw were a nice touches.
The release promises more spots and creative elements in this vein “pointing out that other fan behaviors such as responding to daily birthday reminders or frequent sharing of food photos via social media can happen anytime” and that real-time sports is a totally different thing.
Let’s address the underlying problem here: Netflix’s much-vaunted algorithm isn’t really very helpful at all. In the case of this blogger, at least, it is far more often a source of frustration than a way to uncover “aha! I really need to watch this right now!” moments.
Note to Netflix: STOP telling us to that we will enjoy Archer and Family Guy, goddammit! Does your algorithm not sense how much we hate the world’s number one shameless hack Seth MacFarlane??
*Also, the ads. Everyone loves to watch ads that they can’t skip. It’s, like, the basis of an entire industry’s business model.