Welcome to the sunny alternate universe of The Sun.
In this new ad from Grey London, the News International tabloid puts on a happy-go-lucky face amid the ongoing arrests of its journalists for alleged bribery and the slow implosion of Rupert Murdoch's U.K. empire. Ignoring the gloom entirely, the spot focuses, in nursery-rhyme fashion, on the wide range of topics the paper covers. By wide range, we mean kitchen sink, from substantive issues like taxes and troops to even more substantive issues like bingo and half-naked women. (Head over to the publication's website for a glimpse of which it covers more, or just assume it's half-naked women.)
The spot's everyman spokesman and its appeal to viewers to "Get involved" reflect the paper's populist ethos. Compare it to Britain's other big newspaper commercial this year—The Guardian's award-winning "Three Little Pigs" ad from BBH. That spot was slicker in every way—everything from the conceit to the execution. And while The Guardian likewise encouraged viewers to get involved in the journalistic process, the spot left little doubt about who's really in charge of offering "The whole picture." Here, The Sun's readers, less high minded, get to celebrate themselves, and have a little more fun.
The spot is nicely written, well-delivered, and all around fun to watch, despite borrowing, like so many other spots have, from the rapid-fire-fantasy, single-shot style of Old Spice. The only real problem: It's way up in the clouds.
Check out the spot below, along with a second execution focused on England's new football season.
CREDITS
Client: The Sun
Agency: Grey, London
Executive Creative Director: Nils Leonard
Creative Director: Dave Monk
Producer: Jacqueline Dobrin
Production Assistant: Joe Arojojoye
Communications Director: Jason Coward
Director of Marketing Communications: Nick Stringer
Marketing Director: Rob Painter
Director: Keith Schofield
Production Company: Caviar Films
Production Company Producer: Caroline Hicks
Editing House: Marshall Street
Editors: Tim Thornton Allen, Patrick Ryan
Postproduction: The Mill
Postproduction Producer: Tom Johnson
Colorist: Aubrey Woodiwiss
Sound House: Grand Central
Sound House Engineer: Munzie Thind
 |  |