Celebs Unpack Streaming Fatigue Issues in Therapy for Tubi’s ‘Not on Netflix’ Campaign

After encouraging people to cheat on Netflix in August, Tubi is once again positioning itself as a free alternative to pricey SVOD services, enlisting six celebs to discuss their streaming fatigue issues as part of its new “Not on Netflix” campaign. In the spots, which roll out today, Chris Noth, Carmen Electra, Terrence Howard, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke and Colton Underwood head to therapy and open up about the new streaming service in their life: the free, ad-supported Tubi. The six-week campaign—which includes digital, social and out-of-home—also touts the fact that Tubi’s content can’t be viewed on Netflix, pointing consumers to notonnetflix.com. [kickout id="1"] Billboards in JFK and LAX airports, as well as New York and L.A. tourist locations including Times Square feature the slogan, “All’s fair in love & streaming.” The celeb spots will air as ads on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well as Roku and Amazon’s connected TV offerings. Tubi and the celebs will also feature the ads on their respective social platforms. With the streaming wars in full swing as both Apple TV+ and Disney+ rolled out this month, “It’s the perfect time to be talking about free AVOD,” said Tubi marketing chief Emily Jordan, pointing to research that average TV viewers will subscribe to between two and four streaming services a month. “We wanted to position Tubi as the prescription for subscription fatigue.” Adweek discussed the rise of AVOD (ad-supported video on demand) services and their importance in the coming streaming showdown in an April cover story. In Noth’s spot, the former Sex and the City actor references his time on the HBO series: “HBO was my first love. ... I just want to make a change.” [kickout id="2" label="Noth"] Electra, who is divorced from Dennis Rodman and Dave Navarro, discusses her commitment issues, saying, “I just jump in without thinking, and I always pay for it. The price is high, you know?” [kickout id="3" label="Electra"] Empire star Howard talks about how his past work is sometimes “hard to shake,” adding, “Recently, I discovered something that’s different. … It feels free.” [kickout id="4" label="Howard"] Singer/actress Scherzinger—whose Pussycat Dolls song “Don’t Cha” serves as the campaign’s theme—laments that, “Lately, people have been telling me I can’t get what I want without compromising.” [kickout id="5" label="Scherzinger"] Meanwhile, singer Thicke, now a judge on The Masked Singer, doesn't want to take that next step. “Everybody wants a piece of me," he says. "They all want me to commit.” [kickout id="6" label="Thicke"] And former Bachelor Underwood, along with girlfriend Cassie Randolph, whom he met on the show, admits, “I've been exploring something on the side. ... Chilling without Netflix at first felt so strange.” [kickout id="7" label="Underwood"] The six celebs in the Tubi spots are “as diverse as our audience and the variety of content that we have,” said Jordan. Tubi’s “Not on Netflix” marketing comes on the heels of its last campaign, which ran in August and September on billboards with provocative messages like, “Dear Netflix, I didn’t think you’d find out. I streamed Tubi last night.” “We always planned this year to go big with the brand,” said Jordan, adding that even more is on the way in 2020. Tubi did the last campaign in-house, but partnered with creative agency InSync Plus this time around. While Tubi is taking on Netflix in both campaigns, the brand is positioning itself as a complement to the streaming rival, not a replacement, Jordan said. “Our content strategy has always been about, 'Let Netflix and Hulu and HBO focus on originals and the top 1% of content, and we’ll take the other 99%.'”