Ice cream start-up doorsteps Spirit Digital and walks away with ad made in 24 hours
Start-up ice cream brand Oppo paid a surprise visit to digital agency Spirit Digital earlier this month, and walked away with a two and a half minute ad the same day.
The stunt was pulled as Oppo found itself at the bottom of the leaderboard in Sir Richard Branson’s ‘Pitch to Rich’ competition, where people are asked to vote on which business they would like to see receive a £250,000 cash injection.
The brothers behind the brand, Harry and Charlie Thuillier, gatecrashed the offices of Spirit Digital with a bag full of ice cream asking for votes.
Spirit's client list includes the likes of Jamie Oliver's Food Tube, Channel 4, ITV, Sony, and L'Oreal. However, the agency was so taken with Oppo's approach and the story behind the brand the team wrote a script on the spot and the following day the team were shooting it on a roof in Peckham.
“The guys pitched up on our doorstep and I was so inspired by their sheer cheek and determination that I thought, in the words of Richard Branson, 'screw it, let’s do it,' joked Matt Campion, founder and creative director, Spirit.
The ad shows the Oppo founders talking about the competition and before reinacting some of the internet's most memorable viral moments – such as the ‘Charlie bit my finger’ video and the Gangnam Style dance.
“Admittedly it certainly was not a smooth process. Securing a location, extras, props whilst convincing two models to get naked along with a coconut wielding dwarf and a kinky Richard Branson doing gangnam style was a challenge to organise in a day,” said Campion.
Despite the hasty turnaround, the video appears to have worked. Oppo’s spot has not only received over 35,000 views but it has jumped up on the leaderboard from 32nd - last place - to 19th. Votes for the competition close in just over three days.