Vodafone New Zealand encourages cinemagoers to switch off in latest campaign via DDB NZ
There’s nothing worse than your phone going off mid-movie and feeling the glare of an entire theatre on the back of your neck. To encourage moviegoers to switch off their phones before their films, Vodafone NZ, DDB and Goodoil have enlisted the help of the actors on-screen, and created a series of 20-second cinema spots disguised as big blockbuster trailers.
In each spot, directed by Goodoil’s Michelle Savill, the hero of each film is rudely interrupted in the middle of their defining moment by an incoming phone-call.
Mixed in 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound, each call appears to originate from a back corner of the theatre, confusing and frustrating everyone, including the heroes on screen, who promptly admonish the unseen offender.
Says Damon Stapleton, chief creative officer, DDB New Zealand: “Hopefully our not-so-subtle guilt trips will make people think twice. We’ve all been there, and it sucks.”
Says Nileema Allerston, Vodafone: “I think the team have done an incredible job delivering an important message in a super fresh, contextual way. I’m looking forward to phone-free movies.”
The three films, playfully titled; The Bad Plains, Her Highness, and Company B – The Lost Soldiers, will be running in Event Cinemas from now through September.
Creative Agency: DDB New Zealand
Chief Creative Officer: Damon Stapleton
Creative Directors: Freddie Coltart; Matthew Williams
Art Director: Stan Lee
Copy Writer: Aiken Hutcheon
Lead Business Partner: Karla Fisher
Business Partner: Natalie Pierpoint
Senior Business Manager: Helen Darwin
Executive Producer: Judy Thompson
Senior TV Producer: Charlotte Glennon
Production Company: Goodoil
Director: Michelle Savill
Executive Producer: Mark Foster
DOP: Maria Innes Manchego
Offline: Tim Mauger
Grade/Online: Blockhead
Sound Design: Jon Cooper – The Coopers
Client: Vodafone NZ
Masterbrand Manager: Nileema Allerston
Product Owner Loyalty & Engagement: Gabrielle Paul
7 Comments
I can’t be bothered looking because I’m lazy as shit, but I feel this idea has been done infinity times before.
you missed nothing. your feelings are spot on
Doesn’t sound like a ringtone, more like an alarm clock going off. Would have been much more effective if there was an actual phone ringing of someone in the cinema’s audience…now that would have been truly disruptive and memorable to have that interaction between screen and audience. It wouldn’t have been hard to place to do. I remember a CommBank ad that had someone in the audience go up to the screen and do an ATM withdrawal from the screen. It won Gold at Cannes back in 2000.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGZjD9hxPNE
Obvious.
It’s been done.
These are rubbish. 4th wall breaks have been done to death. See Crucnchy nut cornflakes etc etc. This is a missed opportunity to highlight who really gets pissed off by phones in cinemas – other cinema users!! They’re the ones who are removed from these worlds when a phone buzzes or rings…. They could have had some fun with that.