Regular readers may have noticed that we’re not a fan of Virgin Media: its rickety old cable network breaks down constantly and its customer service is so bad it’s almost comical. They lie, for example, telling you they’re fixing things when they’re demonstrably not.
Now merged with O2, Virgin is back on the airwaves with an ad (yet another) featuring the travails of a skateboarder, brought back from the brink by Virgin’s faster-then-the-others broadband (when it’s working of course.)
Cleverly timed (if indeed it was so) for the Winter Olympics in Beijing, without the hassle of sponsoring the damn things. By adam&eveDDB.
Virgin Media 02’s Simon Groves says: “Our latest campaign shows just how integral the internet is in inspiring us, connecting us, and helping us achieve our dreams, no matter what our background. It’s a story about exactly why we’re better, connected. And as the UK’s fastest major broadband provider, Virgin Media provides the very best connectivity experience.”
A&E creative director Paul Knott says: “The campaign is an example of how technology can unite people from different backgrounds and communities, enabling them to share in their pursuits, often in unexpected and serendipitous ways.”
OK, it’s a nice enough film (nothing gets out of A&E’s door that isn’t) and young Aamira is quite winning.
But how many ads over the past decade have featured just this: young, would-athlete overcoming all sorts of painful bumps thanks to some largely unrelated brand with aspirations to do good?
Nice execution, lazy thinking.
MAA creative scale: 4.
PS Why are so many ads these days so murky?
