Ready or Not...

by Garrick Jones

We all hate to use public toilets and most of us would do anything to avoid it. This ad plays on the humour of the reality one faces when taking this plunge, and then goes a little bit further.

So you've exhausted all options and decided that there is no choice but to venture into the public restroom. Sitting there, you see a phone number on the wall – don't try and tell me you've never seen this because there is always a number on the wall!

Haven't you ever been tempted to call one of these numbers? Just to see what's on the other side? I would expect that it would probably be some unsuspecting individual who's had their number left there by someone with a grudge, but that's just me.

This ad takes the step I think most of us have thought about and makes the call. The result? I think someone may have gotten a little more than they bargained for, but I'll let you take a look for yourself and see the outcome.



I enjoy the little smirk our star has on his face as he starts to dial the number on his phone, and I enjoy it even more when it gets wiped off.

I do have to say that it is quite a funny, quirky ad, but I don't see it exploding virally and finding its way into millions of inboxes. I do however see it being enjoyed by all who watch it. The fact that it plays on a potentially real situation (at least to start with) and throws in a bit of light humour gives it appeal.

It is relevant to the idea the brand is trying to get across (cheap calls), which is great, but I get the feeling that people will remember this as an ad for a telecomm rather than ad for Tele2 – the branding isn't strong enough for me.

I think this is something that is often forgotten. Creating a great viral isn't always good enough – you don't want or need people to remember the ad, you want and need them to remember the brand. 

Catchy tune...:-)

2008/05/03 | permalink | comments (0) | trackbacks (0)

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