US Ad of the Day: Paramount+ taps Mr Garvey from Key & Peele

In the ad, Mr Garvey – an intensely stressed-out substitute teacher with a hair-trigger temper played by Keegan-Michael Key – takes roll call for a cast of characters from well-known Paramount+ productions.

As in the original Key & Peele sketch, Mr Garvey just can’t seem to pronounce anyone’s name correctly – for example, he calls out “Do-rah”(emphasis on the “rah”) rather than “Dora,” the title character from Dora the Explorer. When she happily exclaims, “Soy Dora,” Garvey shrieks in frustration and breaks his clipboard over his knee.

In addition to Key and the cast of animated characters – who, as evidenced by the chalkboard behind Key’s character, have assembled to learn ‘mountain survival skills’ – the spot features a brief voice cameo from Sylvester Stalone, star of the new Paramount+ show Tulsa King.

The new one-minute ‘Survival School’ spot is the third iteration of a marketing campaign from Paramount+ called ‘A Mountain of Entertainment,’ the creative of which – as the name of the campaign suggests – focuses on Mount Paramount, the peak that forms the backdrop of Paramount Global’s iconic logo.

Last year, the campaign debuted with a series of ads during Super Bowl LVI – which, like the new spot, depicted recognizable characters from Paramount+ productions as they struggled to ascend the peak. The campaign’s second iteration launched during the American Football Conference (AFC) Championship game earlier this year.

The new ‘Survival School’ spot is the first of a total of three new spots that will be released. It was created in partnership with Droga5, agency partner to Paramount+, and is slated to air on Thanksgiving Day during an NFL game.

For more, sign up for The Drum’s daily US newsletter here.