W+K Portland has been turning to a lot of celebrities for Turbo Tax, following up last year’s spot with James Lipton with a new campaign featuring the likes of DJ Khaled, David Ortiz, and Kathy Bates.
For the Super Bowl, the agency is turning to a different type of celebrity: Mr. Humpty Dumpty of nursery rhyme fame.
The Dumpter appeared in a 45-second spot that made its broadcast debut during last night’s AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. “Humpty Fall” gets to the why between the cracked egg, which unsurprisingly has to do with TurboTax: the egghead was doing his taxes up there on that wall.
Despite the yolk on his face, he doesn’t seem to regret the decision.
This is an interesting new direction, though we may not be the only ones that find the egg vomit a little bit gross in a Beetlejuice-era Tim Burton sort of way. It ends with the lines “TurboTax anytime, TurboTax anywhere,” a pivot from the previous “Relax, there’s TurboTax” tagline.
“Humpty Fall” is the first of three 45-second spots to feature the character (and something of a teaser), including a spot which will run during the Super Bowl, so we’ll have to see where W+K takes it.
“We’re excited to once again be part of some of television’s biggest live events at a time when taxes are top of mind for millions of Americans,” Intuit TurboTax senior vice president, marketing Greg Johnson told Adweek.
We’re left wondering whether eggshells can heal. How does that work?