Ad of the Day: Sonos Skewers Sound-System Indignities in These Clever Mini Ads

The wireless speaker brand is out with a new ad campaign from 72andSunny built around the myriad pitfalls of listening to tunes in the digital age, when songs may be plentiful but, the brand says, headache-free sound systems are not.

Fifteen-second spots showcase common frustrations like trying to play a banger—say, Skepta's "Shutdown"—on your laptop, but not being to squeeze out enough volume. Or maybe you're trying to put a date in the mood with some romantic music streamed from your phone to a Bluetooth speaker, and getting interrupted by a call from your mom. (Though in that case, your mom might actually be saving you, and your partner, and Sonos, from the incredibly explicit next line of Spank's "Lay You Down.")

Ten such commercials run the gamut from impossible assembly of a complex home stereo to poor compression on your home entertainment system—meaning when you turn up the volume to hear the dialogue on the movie you're watching, the surprise explosion in the next scene is guaranteed to wake your infant and ruin the tiny little island of relaxation you thought you'd carved out in your evening.

See the spots here: 

"You're better than this," Sonos promises in the wake of each disaster, a phrase that's the campaign's title and not an altogether unconvincing proposition. A 60-second compilation of the shorter clips—including one starring Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones, borrowed from the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man—makes the same general point.

A longer, duller video reveals more of the thinking behind the strategy (while also showcasing the brand's voice control option), though further explanation isn't really necessary. Any music fan has experienced a version of at least one of the problems Sonos is targeting. Whether it can really solve them doesn't matter—that it says it can is enough to pique interest.

On some level, that says more about how spoiled the current audience is than anything else. Effortless, instantaneous, unhindered satisfaction isn't just what consumers expect these days, says Sonos—it's what's they deserve. Imagine the horrors of having to pull a 78 out of its sleeve and align the stylus—or, gasp, go see musicians play live—to hear a song. But that's besides the point. Reality being what it is, why not pursue the easiest effective technical solution?

Still, it'd be nice if Sonos would come in and design your entire house, too.

CREDITS

Client: Sonos

Chief Marketing Officer: Joy Howard

VP Global Brand, Creative Director: Dmitri Siegel

Director, Global Brand Design: Andrew Clark

Director, Global Campaign & Marketing: Lorrin Pascoe

Specialist, Campaign Marketing: Christen Fallon

Agency: 72andSunny

Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole

Group Creative Director: John Boiler

Group Creative Director: Gui Borchert

Creative Director: Jeremy Wirth

Creative Director: Paul Sincoff

Lead Designer: Sean Matthews

Lead Writer: Lauren Ferreira

Designer: Jonay Urbina

Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap

Senior Film Producer: Nick Gaul

Group Strategy Director: John Graham

Senior Strategist: Anneliese Rapp

Group Brand Director: Yen Lovgren-Ho

Brand Director: Ryan Griffin

Sr. Brand Manager: Jessica Brewer

Brand Coordinator: Molly Mohr

Art Producer: Melissa Harris

Business Affairs Director: Jana Nauman

Production: HECHO EN 72

Sr. Producer: Jonny Edwards

Line Producer: Brian Armstrong

Director: Gui

Borchert

Director of Photography: Max Gutierrez

Print Credits:

Vendor: HECHO EN 72

Studio Designer: Frank Lucero

Retoucher: Franz Steiner

Producer: Jacqueline Kynoch

Executive Producer: Cindy Bohm

Post Production: HECHO EN 72

Editor: Thomas MacVicar

Assistant Editor: Ted Stanley

Post Producers:  Becca

Purice & Ryan Curtis

Colorist: Michael Gossen

Motion Graphics Producer: Caroline Anguiano

Lead Animator/Designer: Jae Yoo

Animator: Joseph Moon

Audio Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Mixer: Brian Naas