Simba retells the Cuban Missile Crisis to illustrate benefits of sleep on decision-making
The mattress in a box brand, Simba, is retelling the Cuban Missile Crisis as a way to illustrate the benefits of good sleep on decision-making and emotional reactions.
Simba
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, initiated by the discovery of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba. The two countries then pointed missiles at each other for 13 days, until Russia was made to withdraw its bombs.
Referencing the famous altercation, Simba's 'Made for Peace' film opens on the deck of an aircraft carrier, as the Russia Soviet army touches down to confront the US.
Onboard the aircraft carrier, an American general and Russian general march up to each other, staring intensely. The voiceover goes "In 1962, the US and Soviety Union brought us to the brink of nuclear annihilation. Maybe things would have been settled more peacefully if everyone had slept better?"
Instead of erupting into conflict, the two countries instead let their hair down and with a real sense of camaraderie, begin to play a friendly and fun game of tennis.
The voiceover continues: "Sadly none of this happened, because the Simba hybrid mattress with five layers of comfort and patented micro-spring technlogy dind't exist...until today."
The advertising campaign will be shown on Channel 4, ITV and Sky, together with paid spend on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Discussing the campaign, Steve Reid, co-founder and chief exec of Simba said: “Our Made for Peace campaign has been carefully curated to make a serious point about how lack of sleep radically affects decision making.
“Whilst the campaign is designed to be light in tone, it is also intended to highlight a serious and growing issue we face as a nation. Just one night of bad sleep can make the part of your brain that processes threats react more aggressively.
Adding to this, Ian Heartfield, chief creative officer of BBH London said: "We can all be a bit irrational and emotional when we haven't had a good night's sleep. Therefore it figures that if we all slept on a state of the art mattress, and got a better night's sleep, the world would be a better place."
