Barclays smashes YouTube’s ‘Skip ad’ button with intricate self-skipping machine
Barclays’ latest work has subverted ad skipping on YouTube by compelling viewers to continue watching a physical contraption that paradoxically skips the ad.
Barclays smashes YouTube’s ‘Skip ad’ button with intricate self-skipping ad
On the right-hand side of the pre-roll video is the ‘Skip Ad’ tab that users may immediately thrust towards, they may realise quite quickly that the sign is part of a complicated, Wallace and Gromit-like, Rube Goldberg contraption that ultimately smashes the sign up the video’s conclusion.
The 21 second spot from the Martin Agency and producers 1stAvenueMachine hits home the mantra that ‘Barclays Corporate Relationship Directors understand your needs, so this ad will skip itself’.
The components of the machine subtly allude to all the industry’s Barclays has a hand in.
The ad is somewhat reminiscent of Martin Agency’s Geico ‘Unskippable’ ads that also played about with the video advertising format.