Last year, Pereira & O’Dell New York launched a campaign for Realtor.com starring Elizabeth Banks entitled “Real Estate in Real Time.” Now Banks is back for a new campaign in which things get a lot more surreal.
Basically, Banks crashes prospective home buyers’ dreams, letting them know that the dream features they desire are in houses on the market at Realtor.com. Because these are dreams, though, the tone is bizarre.
In “Dream Deck,” for example, a man relaxes in a hot tub on his titular deck as a cloud rains ribs, corn on the cob and beer. Banks lets the man know that the deck is available in a home at Realtor.com and he thanks her with a cloud puppy.
A second spot, “Dream Bathroom” takes a similar approach, with a man who finds other things to do while razors shave his face for him. Each spot ends with the tagline “DreamHome, FindHome, OwnHome.”
The ads are a significant departure from the more down-to-earth, slightly awkward humor of “Real Estate in Real Time,” which were far more dialogue-heavy. Banks’ role as such is a little less demanding, with much more of the humor coming courtesy of visual gags helmed by Dummy director Harold Einstein.
“We wanted to have smart but memorable humor that stood out in a category doing the same saccharine kind of messaging,” Pereira & O’Dell executive creative director Dave Arnold told AdAge. “A lot of times you think you need X amount of product shots, but then someone like Harold comes along with a really strong point of view and winds up simplifying things in a way that with the right casting, timing, visuals and taste, the product is now even more memorable and has a bigger role in the creative.”
“Last year was dialogue-heavy, and this year the script got smarter and a lot more visual,” he added.
In addition to the broadcast spots, running in 30 and 15-second versions, the campaign will roll out social and branded content videos over the next several weeks. These will include branded spots with Bank interviewing different subjects, including her childhood dog, which AdAge claims are “even more out-there than the TV ads.”
Credits:
Agency: Pereira & O’Dell/NY
ECD: Dave Arnold
Creative Directors: Jake Dubs, Sara Worthington
Copywriter: Michelle Lamont
Art Director: Alex Parodi
Head of Content Production: Tennille Teague
Producer: Gabriela Tamariz
Production Company: Dummy
Director: Harold Einstein
EP: Eric Liney
Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editor: Jeff Ferruzzo
Editor: Dave Anderson
Editor: Ali Mao
Assistant Editor: Laurel Smoliar
Managing Partner/EP: Sila Soyer
Senior Producer: Gavin Carroll
Postproduction Company: The Mill
Colorist: Gregory Reese
Audio Postproduction Company: Heard City
Mixers: Philip Loeb, Evan Mangiamele