US Ad of the Day: Brian Cox embodies the ‘overly direct spokesperson’ role for DirecTV
In a new campaign, the Emmy and Golden Globe winner helps consumers face realities about their subpar television viewing experiences.
Brian Cox, known for starring in the hit HBO drama series Succession, has settled into his latest role as ‘overly direct spokesperson’ in DirecTV’s latest campaign.
The new ad campaign, which includes a handful of spots, sees Cox interject in various moments where consumers compromise on their TV experience, to deliver some “direct” tough love and suggest a switch to DirecTV as the solution.
In the anthem spot, a couple – who don’t have DirecTV – sit down to stream a show that won’t stop buffering. Popping up behind them, Cox puts it bluntly: “You thought that another provider was good enough. Now what – you’ll talk?”
Creative agency TBWA\Chiat\Day led the creative effort. The agency knew that Cox would be the right choice for the initiative. “Other than being an incredibly seasoned and accomplished actor, we knew Brian could really pay off a ‘direct’ character and deliver on the type of tone we wanted our direct spokesperson to communicate – stern but still accessible and relatable,” said TBWA/Chiat/Day’s executive creative director Jason Karley in a statement shared with The Drum.
Cleverly timed to baseball season, each of the new spots references the sport in some way. Take ‘Neighbor,’ for example, which follows the plight of a man named Jeff. Jeff must watch the baseball game at his “weird neighbor’s house,” surrounded by an austere landscape of cat figurines, due to his lack of access to DirecTV. DirecTV claims to have access to the most local MLB games of any TV provider.
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The work is intended to usher in DirecTV‘s new brand messaging platform, ‘Entertainment without compromise,’ which aims to showcase how consumers paying for television services other than DirecTV have to compromise the quality of their viewing experience in some way.
With this campaign and platform, DirecTV aims to demonstrate its “variety of channels, sports content and best-in-class tech features, so their customers don’t have to compromise on their TV experience,“ the brand said in a statement.
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The campaign includes one long-form film, one 30-second spot and eight 15-second spots for TV, online video, social and digital channels. It also includes four radio ads. The initiative will run for nine months.
Credits
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day
Production company: Caviar
Editorial: Arcade
VFX: Parliament
Color: Royal Muster
Music, sound design: String & Tins
Mix: Lime
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