Gareth’s back! 5 ads resurrect infamous undead characters during The Walking Dead finale

To commemorate the momentous occasion, Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort, AMC Network’s Content Room and Kimmelot’s Dan Sanborn devised a five-spot campaign that aired during the finale. The series of spots for Autodesk, Deloitte, DoorDash, MNTN and Ring bring back four characters who died throughout the series’ 12-year run.

“Tapping into cultural moments like this AMC campaign allows us to show up in unexpected ways and bring some fun to our brand,” Ring’s head of marketing Lindsey Scheftic said in a statement. “This collaboration is another way for us to delight customers and reach new audiences in helping make neighborhoods (and zombies) safer.”

The ads, lighthearted and gruesome at the same time (like the show, of course), are sure to hold nostalgic significance for millions of viewers. “Everyone thinks walkers are scary. You know what’s scarier? Humans,“ Gareth, played by Andrew West, says in the ad for Ring.

“Ads should be fun,” Reynolds said in a statement. “The Walking Dead has generated more cultural conversation over the last decade than any other property and we wanted to honor that by bringing a few characters back from the dead in some fun contextual ads. We were blown away by the total support of AMC Networks’ Content Room and the willingness to be untraditional shown by Deloitte, DoorDash, Autodesk and Amazon Ring. I would also say MNTN but that one was easier since I control that budget. Ads can be a part of the cultural conversation as they once so frequently were. They just need a little more love, attention and mischief.”

Credits

Ideation and Creative Concepts by Maximum Effort

Produced by Really Original

Directed by Maximum Effort’s Bryan Rowland

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