Pat Cummins + Julian Dennison star in Gillette’s new campaign ‘The Facetime Call’ via Havas S&E

How exactly does a world-famous cricketing hero and a Hollywood movie star wind up appearing in the same shaving commercial? It’s a fair question. The story behind the new Gillette spot can be traced back to April 2021, when the brand reached out to Havas Sports & Entertainment (HSE) to craft a TVC for their two new razors.

The Gillette ProGlide razor offers the user an even closer shave due to its unique flex-ball technology which follows the contours of the face, while the Gillette SkinGuard razor has been uniquely designed to reduce skin irritation and flare-ups, a common issue for many men post-shave.

Says Mat Robinson, brand director, Gillette ANZ: “The rationale was that with two different razors, we needed two equally different stars. It was, in many ways, a tough brief for HSE. We had a cricketer and a comedian, each representing two different Gillette products, and we needed it to work across a 30-second and two 15-second spots. Pat was to be the face of the Gillette ProGlide razor, while Julian was to represent Gillette SkinGuard. Importantly, we had to dial up each razor’s differing product benefits while still utilising humour and connecting to the brand’s target audience.”

Shot across different countries at different times, the new Gillette spots imagine Dennison as Gillette’s self-proclaimed ‘new supermodel’ who is incessantly bugging Cummins via a comedically ill-timed Facetime call.

Over the course of the three different spots, Dennison first calls up Cummins to demand tips from him on shaving properly (the 30-second), then again to brag about his newfound shaving prowess (the first 15-second) and then, lastly, as a self-appointed shaving expert, to direct Cummins in a new Gillette TVC (the second 15-second), each time to hilarious effect.

Says Francis Coady, chief marketing officer and executive producer at Havas Media/HSE: “Our ECD & team decided to riff on a common comedic trope. Namely, the over-eager student versus the reluctant mentor; and while it’s all very ‘meta’, all three TVCs came out very funny in the end.”

Adds Robinson: “We’re confident Gillette consumers are going to love the chemistry that was captured between Pat and Julian.”

The new Gillette spots will feature across the commercial television networks and online throughout Australia and New Zealand from March 2022.

Client: Gillette
Gillette APAC & Category Head: Karthik Srivatsan
Gillette Brand Director: Mathew Robinson
Gillette & Venus Senior Brand Manager: Rachel Morota Chu
Gillette Production Director: Syamin Arif

Creative Agency: Havas Sports & Entertainment (a division of Havas Media Group)
Chief Marketing Officer/Executive Producer: Francis Coady
Executive Creative Director/Scriptwriter: Nick Snelling
Head of Content: Belinda Miller
Senior Account Director/Producer: Patrick Millington Buck

Production Company (Australia): Chisel
Director: Zak Kaczmarek
Line Production (New Zealand): Reel Factory