U.K. hardware store launched Robert Dyas launched a holiday spot (presumably created in-house) that has viewers scratching their heads. But, as Adweek points out
, the unusual approach actually borrows from a Rhett & Link Red House ad from 2009.
Robert Dyas’ spot, which has garnered nearly 500,000 views in the past four days (not bad for a hardware store ad), presents the store as equally appealing to gay, straight and bisexual customers. The bizarre approach has customers saying things like “I’m bisexual and I always find something I love at Robert Dyas” while employees chime in that “This drill would work a treat in a straight person’s home…or a gay person’s.”
The effort calls to mind a 2009 ad by comic duo Rhett & Link, whose “Black and White People Furniture” Red House Furniture spot took the same basic approach, only with race instead of sexuality. Adweek went as far as to call it a “fairly blatant knockoff” of the popular Red House spot, which has over 5.5 million vies on YouTube. What do you think?