Jeff Bridges Sings to a Sleeping Tom Brady in This Comically Slothful Ugg Campaign

Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady anchor a series of ads set in a posh Los Angeles living room, relaxing in their wool-lined slippers, and looking great while they're at it.

In one spot, "Song," Bridges strums a country lullaby on a sunburst Gibson acoustic (a nod to 2009's Crazy Heart, for which he earned the Best Actor Oscar). Brady dozes next to him on a fine leather couch—until Bridges, unable to resist, hilariously switches to a more upbeat rendition.

In a second spot, "Drones," Bridges flies solo, channeling a higher-tech, healthier and much more well-appointed version of the Dude from the 1998 classic The Big Lebowski. Here, he lounges and reads the news while a staff of airborne robots serve him green juice (instead of white Russians), turn the page on his paper and comb his hair.

In a third, "Jeff Time," Bridges is again alone, and loving it, dancing a shuffle like he hasn't a care in the world. To be fair, with digs like that, and Ugg lambs massaging his feet at every step, why should he? Though it does look like he could go barefoot on that carpet for similar effect.

The fourth ad, "Pressure," features Brady lost in a tablet, as Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, who is less devoted to the art of laziness, launches a misery blitz against his teammate. He yowls while riding a bicycle around the room, ringing its bell. He crunches open-mouthed on potato chips. He mashes buttons on a sports video game with the airhorn effect turned up, and jumps up and down on bubble wrap. He also blends a smoothie, and golfs indoors, and bashes on drums. It's not until he's passed out on the floor, spent by his efforts, that he's able to faze the QB—with his snoring.

Overall, Bridges and Brady's commitment to the cause is admirable. Each commercial is also bookended by framed portraits of the guys that suddenly become animated (and might, for some viewers, evoke Harry Potter). Bridge's devilish smirk, and eyebrow raise, in the moving picture at the end of the "Drones" spot, in particular, says it all.

San Francisco agency Camp + King created the campaign, inspired by a Facebook post last fall from Brady, already a longtime Ugg endorser, of the NFL player's own feet in repose—i.e., kicked up on an ottoman, in the brand's slippers, while he caught a rare moment of rest and the broadcast of a Sunday game.

Of course, what the ads don't say is that the true key to leisure is having enough money to buy the fixtures that make your home look like a high-end Hollywood set, and never have to leave it. Even at $110 for a pair of moccasins, the brand could be excluding a large portion of potential middle-class buyers from its message. Or maybe the point is a little different—that wearing the slippers will make you feel rich, even while you're reclining in your shoebox studio apartment or dilapidated Venice bungalow.

CREDITS

Client: Ugg

Agency: Camp + King

Creative Director/CW – Jesse Dillow

Creative Director/AD – Rikesh Lal

Director of Content Production – Stacy McClain

Brand Director – Emily Dillow

Brand Manager – Kelsey Towbis

Roger Camp – Chief Creative Officer

Jamie King – Chief Executive Officer

Production: Biscuit Filmworks

Director: Jeff Low

Managing Director: Shawn Lacy

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