Steve Buscemi & Henry Winkler return – as pigeons – in a new series of For the Birds commercials by TBWA\Chiat\Day LA for DirecTV. Buscemi plays Bobby – outspoken and sarcastic and Winkler plays Frank, even-tempered and optimistic.

This time there’s a new pigeon in the mix. Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders is Coach Pigeon Prime (in time for football season). Frank is a bit starstruck and more than ready to do anything their new ‘coach’ asks of them. Bobby, unsurprisingly, is less impressed — and maybe even a little threatened. Adding a third to any established relationship is always tricky territory.

In the first instalment of the campaign, Frank and Bobby were hatched to tell the world that you can finally get DIRECTV without a satellite dish (much to the chagrin of birds everywhere). The addition of Coach Prime Pigeon continues that work while also promoting DirecTV’s gameday bona-fides for pro and college football. So, the brand drafted a new teammate. Excitement around football is at an all-time high since the ‘90s with the NFL ‘23 regular season viewership rising to 17.9m. Watching football via streaming continues to skyrocket with streaming subscription services as the #1 way people watched football during the 2023 season. So, the new iteration of the campaign reinforces the brand’s leadership in both pro & college football with the pigeons observing DIRECTV users streaming their games without a satellite dish.

The full campaign covers 30- and 15-second spots with additional cutdowns across TV/OTT, digital video, social, display, out of home, and audio; extending beyond to paid, owned, and earned channels. 

In parallel with the start of football season, DIRECTV is partnering with DraftKings to offer fans a shot at real cash prizes as they cheer for their drafted rosters in a custom free-to-play Daily Fantasy Contest series. Frank & Bobby will be hosting five custom games throughout the season.

“We’re thrilled to bring back DIRECTV’s favourite spokesbirds, Frank & Bobby, for another campaign. It was very exciting to see audiences embrace and enjoy the duo after their first campaign took flight. This time, we’re even more excited to introduce a new member to the flock, voiced by the legendary Deion Sanders, just in time for football season. Deion was a joy to work with — and surprising to no one, he effortlessly stepped into the role of ‘coach’ for our two birds. Deion had no problem whatsoever bringing a believable performance when tasked with whipping our two complaining pigeons into shape,” stated Mark Winters, creative director, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA. 

Where the campaign began:

Credits:
Client:  DIRECTV
Chief Marketing Officer: Vince Torres
SVP, Digital & Marketing: Kelly Jo Sands
AVP, Advertising & Creative Services: Sheri Holmes  
Senior Director, Advertising & Creative Services: Sheida Karami  
Lead Marketing Manager, Advertising: Ty Tanioka

Creative Agency: TBWA\CHIAT\DAY LA
Executive Creative Director: Jason Karley 
Group Creative Directors: Mark Winters & Ryan Buckley
Creatives: Dylan Cimo, Jono Moore, Jon Ollom, Bern Dalla
Executive Directors of Production: Anh-Thu Le & Robert Punchard
Senior Producer: Alicia Portner
Associate Producer: Tyler Hock
Head of Content Delivery: Dessiah Davis 
Senior Content Delivery Manager: Anna Brito
Content Delivery Coordinator: Natty Hernandez
Executive Producer, Integrated Production: Nyaze Vincent
Senior Producer, Digital Innovation & Integrated Production: Van Corsa 
Business Affairs: Robin Rossi, Emily Machtinger
Account Management: Matt Theisen, Emily Gill, Carlos Quintanilla, Dalton Butler, Justin Rocha, Sami Rohde
Project Manager: Lawrence Gonzales
Strategy: Katie Acosta, Hannah Schweitzer, Laura Mayer, Josh Brinkmann, Kevin Anthony Bautista

Production Company: SMUGGLER 
Director: Randy Krallman
Executive Producers: Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody & Allison Kunzman
Managing Director: Sue Yeon Ahn
Head of Production: Alex Hughes 
Producer: Ian Blain
Production Supervisor: Chris Lane
Commercial Coordinator: Kat Tingum
1st AD: Peter Morello
Director of Photography: Jeff Kim

Editing: ARCADE
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Assistant: Fernando Raigoza
Senior Producer: Alexa Berman
Producer: Wendy Umanzor   

VFX & Colour: UNTOLD
Creative Director: Ben Cronin
VFX Supervisor: Sam Driscoll
2D Supervisor: Alex Kulikov
Executive Producer: Nathan Hoad
Producer: Ashlyn Hardie
Production Coordinator: Jim Brown
Head of Animation: Tim Van Hussen
Asset Supervisor: Ash Tilley
Online Supervisor: Richard Harris
Colourist: Julien Alary 
Colour Producer: Eli Sandal 

Mix: LIME STUDIOS
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Associate Producer: Cassie Underwood
Sound Mixer: Matt Miller
Assistant Mixer: Ian Connie

Audio Post-Production: STRING & TINS  
Sound Designer: Culum Simpson
Foley: Cobblestone 
Foley Audio Producer: Laura-Leigh Smith  

Key Visual Photography Retouching: Diego Speroni
Digital Producer: Freddy Fabris
Digital OOH: OMNICOM STUDIOS
Executive Producer: Noel Espiritu
Studio Designer: Coral Gutiérrez