A campaign of irresistibly absurd stories, what a wonderful departure from the usual holiday ads. The inventive idea comes from Uncommon Creative Studio. The brave client is holiday package retailer, On The Beach.

It’s Uncommon’s first work since winning the business. The agency’s allocated job was to grow the brand’s reach, drive fame and recognition both offline and online, while capturing a unique voice. The campaign should achieve that, don’t you think?

The idea of the worst possible day stories is, of course, to juxtapose the glorious calm of a holiday with the stresses of life.

The narration by Iggy Pop over a background of gentle beach sounds enhances the storytelling. (Who knew Iggy Pop could do a voiceover so well?)

Sally’s story is accompanied by a spoof website thesuburbancowboys.com, which underlines her story with some really wild images of her parents and bestie. The campaign is running across TV, cinema, radio, video-on-demand and out-of-home.

Nils Leonard, co-founder, Uncommon Creative Studio, commented, “The excellent team at On the Beach shared our ambition to really mess with a predictable category. One killer shot, with Iggy’s beautiful gravel over the top will stand out a mile in the clutter of Christmas. This campaign is all about creating the space to tell some properly naughty stories. Sometimes, words just win. You can do in a spoken story what you could never do in a picture. It’s no secret that Uncommon has a love for Iggy, working with him to craft these beautifully rank stories for the excellent crew at on the beach was a joy.”

Alan Harding, marketing director, On the Beach, added “We believe that literally Everything’s Better On the Beach.  This campaign focuses on the healing and restorative power that the beach holds, along with its ability to alleviate the host of daily frustrations and scenarios that modern life can throw at us.  The series of adverts captures the sense of calm and stillness that can only really be achieved on a beach holiday.”

Credits:

Creative Agency: Uncommon Creative Studio

Client: On The Beach

Production company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Jeff Low

Producer: Kwok Yau
DOP: Dan Holland
Editor: Saam Hodivala @ Work Editorial

Post-production: The Mill
Colourist: Seamus O’Kane
VFX: David Wishart @ The Mill

Audio Post-production: Jon Clarke & Mark Hills @ Factory

Media Agency: The7stars

Stills photographer: Zeinab Batchelor