UK Mobile operator, EE, is parent to UK mobile operator, Orange. The brands have been bunged together formally and the first commercial by Saatchi & Saatchi is an intriguing fusion of both campaigns.
EE launched its 4G network with a manic monologue by Kevin Bacon (the six degrees of separation bloke) about everything being linked , and then a spot called Film Club, in which five Kevin Bacons from five different movie roles argue about which movie to download – EE being “the network for your digital life.”
Meanwhile Orange has been making Gold Spot ads for-e-ever. These all run before movies in the UK, all end with the line, “Don’t let a mobile phone ruin your movie. Please switch it off,” and all feature celebrities. From 2006-2010 the ads were scenes about celebrities discussing movie pitches into which fake Orange execs tried to inject incongruous product placement. From 2010, the ads were parodies of movie shoots, and the Orange products were placed into the scenes in hilarious ways.
Now Saatchi & Saatchi London has created the first EE branded Gold Spot ad campaign featuring cinematic remakes of popular viral videos.
The campaign of five ads so far features the strapline, “The internet made more epic by 4GEE” and launched on March 1
The first ad, Numa, is based on the video called Numa Numa of a chubby bloke, Gary Brolsma, dancing all by himself to Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone.
Brolsma launched it on the Newgrounds site on December 12, 2004. On March 1, it had had 53,004,768 views since its YouTube release in August 2006.
That tally will probably increase rapidly again now.
In the EE version a prisoner in a South American prison called Carl surprises a federal agent when he starts performing Brolsma’s dance.
The other viral videos that will get the EE treatment include ‘Goats yelling like humans’, ‘Miss Teen USA’, ‘Charlie bit my finger’ and ‘Charlie Schmidt’s keyboard cat’.
The Saatchi & Saatchi copywriters were Paul Silburn and Rob Potts.
The art director was Andy Jex.
Jeff Labbe directed and the production company was Sonny.
The ads were filmed in Chile earlier this month.
Spencer McHugh, the director of brand at EE, commented,
“Each of the original clips captivated a global audience and our aim is to entertain cinema-goers by rekindling their love of these internet hits whilst reminding them that content is better viewed on the go over our superfast network.”
