Ads We Like: French bank trails gripping drama ‘The Man Who Clicked on a Banner Ad’
French bank Boursorama has bravely faced up to the questionable efficacy of banner ads by turning a man who dares to click on an online unit into a Hollywood hero.
Boursorama Banque
The trailer for ‘The Man Who Clicked on a Banner Ad’ – a film we can safely assume will not be made in its entirety – pays homage to ads for thrillers such as Gone Girl and Vanilla Sky. But against the haunting piano riff and quick shots fading to black, our “ordinary man” is revealed as someone who just wanted to click on a banner ad.
The Hollywood voiceover declares he is “a man who saw what no-one else wanted to see, a man who dared to do what no-one else wanted to do and who dared to confront what the whole world was running from”.
As a click of a mouse is played out in dramatic slow-motion, the voice says: “Discover the story of a man who wanted to click on a banner ad.” The film was directed by Xavier Gens.
The bank noted that the use of ad blockers has rocketed and in 2018, the average display advertising clickthrough rate stands at a mere 0.14%. However, the parody has been designed to promote Boursorama Banque’s latest offer: new customers who click on its ‘Pink Weekend’ banner ad until 11 September will be gifted with a €130 welcome bonus.
The campaign follows two similar initiatives, also created by creative agency Buzzman. Boursorama printed an online banner ad into physical magazines and newspapers in January and painted another onto the side of a lorry in April.
