Lumbergh Returns in Brass Ideas HipChat Campaign

By Patrick Coffee 

As mentioned in Monday’s Odds and Ends, planning director Andrew Clarke — veteran of TBWA, ZenithOptimedia and others — just launched a new agency called Brass Ideas in which “more senior people tailored to the specific needs of each client produce better and faster results.” Clients include Microsoft and Twitter, for which the shop is currently working on a top-secret assignment.

Brass Ideas also apparently pitched one of its first campaigns to AdAge. To help launch software maker Atlassian’s new “HipChat” service, the agency convinced actor Gary Cole to reprise the role of Bill Lumbergh, the famously clueless boss from Office Space.

Here’s the :90 titled “Team Meeting,” which promotes the new internal communications service by reminding everyone that email is even more quintessentially “90’s” than Office Space:

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On its own site, the agency explains a bit more about the campaign, even scoring some commentary from Cole himself:

“Technology develops so quickly, I liked the idea of Lumbergh colliding with new ideas and being completely baffled. Plus, I had a random urge to wear suspenders and drink coffee from a labeled mug.”

The campaign page linked above features more (unembeddable) work in which Lumbergh revisits some of his better-known catchphrases; that material includes OOH and even — yes — banner ads:

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There will be TPS reports.

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