Love Our Work: Jeremy Willmott on the Authenticity of Thinkerbell’s Comedic Dan Murphy’s Spot
Comedy in advertising is just as hard to achieve as good mates are to find.
It’s somewhat easy for a stand-up comedian to build an audience of like-minded people who are almost guaranteed to find the show amusing, however, comedy for mass media is an entirely different ball game.
Thinkerbell recently produced a surprisingly simple and clever 30 second spot that sets the punchline up wonderfully.
Paper Moose’s creative director and co-founder of Love Your Work, Jeremy Willmott, understands the plight that is creating commercial comedy, and commends Thinkerbell for a job well done.
Dan Murphy’s - Good Mates - Thinkerbell
An ad for Dan Murphy’s made me chuckle last week. The spot is called ‘Good Mates’ and it features a guy in the wine aisle looking for something for his mate’s dinner party. The Dan’s employee then asks, “are they a $19.99 kind of mate or a $39.99 kind of mate” at which point the shopper has a good think about what kind of a friend he really has. I won’t spoil the punchline, but it’s a cracker.
I love that this ad doesn’t shy away from the negative of having a slightly shit mate, or the brand stocking cheaper wine. It feels authentic, the kind of thing that would genuinely cross your mind when posed with this question. Selling in this kind of work is tough, and clients often run a mile at negative marketing so kudos to the team who sold this one in. What the ad articulates so well is that Dan Murphy's has a wide range of price points in its wine selection, so no matter who you’re buying for there’s always something for you.
Our creative technologist, Justin Clayden, recently did an all-agency talk about stand-up comedy and joke writing. It turns out he moonlights as a stand-up comic and knows a thing or two about landing a joke. His process is to write a joke, test the joke on a small audience and then refine it with rewrites until it gets the best laugh. Sounds familiar right?
An ad like ‘Good Mates’ is essentially a joke told in 30 seconds. A joke with a punchline you weren’t expecting. It’s a funny ad, and there’s a lot to be said for using humour in advertising these days. Now, I’m not advocating pre-testing creative per se but it is a reality that some ads do go in front of focus groups for our more risk averse clients. There’s nothing more sobering than watching people watch an ad, you thought was funny, tank. Whether we test our ads or not, I think we can all agree on one thing: dull ads just don’t cut it.
Great job on this one Thinkerbell. Loving your work.
