Zulily Keeps Viewers Off Balance With Zany Surprises in Its Wacky New Ads

“The whole world will be licking my legacy from their sticky fingers.” “Why don’t you try growing more feet for all those shoes?” “This got so dark. Quick, cut to a dog.”

Such lines punctuate Office of Baby’s first campaign for e-commerce platform Zulily, which presents silly situations and crackpot comedy in an effort to show the delight that shoppers experience when discovering deals on the site.

“The same way Zulily surprises their audience with unexpected sales and unique products every day, we wanted to surprise the viewers of these ads by not necessarily adhering to a uniform setup and punch line,” says agency creative chief Paul Caiozzo. “Sometimes the ads are self-referential, sometimes surreal visual jokes, other times goofy physical gags. You’re never quite sure what’s coming next.”

First up, a young mom finds the perfect toy oven for her tot, and the “Fudgy Carol” is born:

Cute baby. Bet she doesn’t have her own office, though.

Next, a shopper frets that her eyes might “literally explode out of her face” when she discovers a cute dog tent:

Hmm, those peepers stayed in her head. Pity.

Elsewhere, we learn that when it comes to cute shoes, four feet are better than two:

“Our core customer is an opportunistic shopper who looks forward to the daily hunt, loves to feel smart about her purchases, and is inspired by new, unique items that reflect her lifestyle,” says Zulily vp of brand video marketing Naama Bloom. “The creative brings out the fun in finding truly unique products and captures our mission of delivering ‘something special every day.'”

In the campaign’s additional spots below, “something special” includes a tunic that inspires an impromptu striptease, and an outdoor dining set that quells a woman’s fear of patio wolves:

Some might find the ads too self-consciously wacky, but Caviar Content director Zach Math maintains an appealingly crisp pace, staying on-brand despite the strange goings-on.

The creative team says they had lots of fun on set—and the baby turned out to be a real pro.

“She took direction, adjusted performance and improvised freely,” Caiozzo says. “We wound up using one of her unscripted additions [waving a strand of pasta back and forth]. It was better than anything we wrote!”

CREDITS
Client: Zulily

Agency: Office of Baby
Paul Caiozzo – Chief Creative Officer
Nathan Frank – Executive Creative Director
Megan Sheehan – Creative Director
Kelsey Shang – Art Director
Mai Huynh – Executive Producer

Production: Caviar Content
Director – Zach Math
Executive Producer Managing Partner – Jasper Thomlinson / Michael Sagol
Head Of Production – Casey wooden
Producer – Brian Etting

Postproduction: Mack Cut
Editor: Erik Laroi
Assistant Editor: Danielle Minch
Mixer/Sound Designer: Sam Shaffer
Flame Artist: Jimmy Hayhow
Assistant Flame Artist: Kaitlyn Jackson
Executive Producer: Gina Pagano
Producer: Margarita Mutuc
Connor Hall – Project Manager

Music: Asche & Spencer