Intuit QuickBooks: The Easier Way to a Happier Business by TBWA Chiat Day

Janine Melnitz was a particularly grumpy character in Ghostbusters. The office manager for the Ghostbusters, played expertly by Annie Potts, she was known for her abrupt demeanor and her signature phone greeting, “Ghostbusters, whaddya want?”

That character is returning after a long absence in a campaign for QuickBooks, and her usual surliness is replaced by a sunny disposition, thanks to the organization QuickBooks has brought the business.

Intuit QuickBooks’ national ad campaign, ‘QuickBooks: The Easy Way to a Happier Business’, stars iconic and notoriously grumpy movie characters from the past, like Melnitz, who reveal it was the stress of running their small businesses that made them cantankerous. Since they’ve switched to QuickBooks, their lives have been made easier, giving them a whole new attitude.

The first ad features Potts reviving her role as Melnitz in an exact recreation of the Ghostbusters office, with cameos by other beloved characters.

Potts is seen answering the phone in character but in a weirdly cheery mood. She turns to the camera and says she used to be cranky because dealing with Ghostbuster finances “really haunted me.” She lauds QuickBooks and the company’s ability to customize for the business. A dry cleaning delivery comes in and Melnitz commends the company for getting “the burnt marshmallow stains out. Suddenly, the Slimer ghost from the original comes out and ‘slimes’ the delivery guy.

Intuit worked with TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles and comedy director Harold Einstein on the spots, and Tait said that “incredible attention to detail” was given to recreating the set, and that included using the original Slimer puppet and puppeteer from the original.