There I was last night, bored, waiting for 999: On the Front Line to come back on, after the ads, when this little gem popped up, from the British Heart Foundation:
What’s great about it is the set-up for the end, which I just didn’t see coming.
You spend about half the ad thinking; ‘Why is this kid such a little shit?’
Then you wonder; ‘How can he be a little shit when he runs up and gives his grandad such a big hug?’
You move on to (when he flops onto his bed); ‘maybe he’s not such a little shit if he’s so upset by his grandad not recognising him’.
The ‘reveal’, when his dad stubs his toe and the swear jar is shown, is just perfect, and it’s all wrapped up neatly with a call to action at the end, in the kid’s voice; ‘just give £3’.
What I also like about this ad, is you can see the lateral thinking of the creative team behind it.
They must’ve sat for hours trying to come up with different things the kid could do, that were naughty/annoying, to get his family to swear.
I bet there were dozen of other possible scenes that were left on their office walls or on storyboards.
It’s good, old-fashioned creative work with a strong/cute call to action at the end. Well played that creative team, and well played their agency – Mullen Lowe.