The online ad, Memorable Guest, for Unilever’s Maille mustard appears to be an ordinary, if upmarket, dinner party scene. Ho hum. We get that Maille is a classy mustard. This is going to be a bore – one woman talking about her holiday to the man beside her… But wait. Did she just say, “…The sun has a dramatic effect on Gerard’s bindo, you see…”

This ad is 100% Adam & Eve, the agency that gave the world, “Sorry I Spent it on Myself,” last Christmas. You could not possibly have expected dreary, could you?

Social comedy that sells stuff is the agency’s area of expertise it would seem. So is copywriting. This ad’s copywriter has perfect pitch. The dinner guest doesn’t flood her story with oversharing. The creatives, Alex Lucas and Jon Farley, know how to build. Kudos too, to director, James Rouse. He also directed Sorry.

Maille Mustard Memorable guest 2014 from Factory Studios on Vimeo.

Maille appointed Adam & Eve/DDB to lead its global advertising in the first week of November, retaining DDB Paris in France. The agency move coincided with Unilever’s amped up ambitions for the brand, which include a chain of Maille boutiques (and e-boutiques) that will sell 40 classic and trendy (truffle, wine-infused) versions of the mustard in stoneware jars. Maille boutiques have opened in London, Paris and Dijon. New York’s opens next.