U-Bank launches first two in series of metaphor spots in latest campaign via The Monkeys
April 16 2013, 10:40 am | | 53 Comments
The Monkeys, Sydney has created two spots as part of a new campaign for UBank, that visualises all the money people can save by refinancing their homes.
The TVCs, directed by Steve Ayson of The Sweet Shop, centre around UBank customers, who each have their own humorous metaphor meant to represent the money they’re saving by refinancing.
53 Comments
Saw the volcano spot on tv. Both spots funny. Looks a lot like gold.
Nice! Awesome talent. Seen some funny posters for this campaign too.
Do more research guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIqh8CeQMJo
was medium to well-done but then overcooked it with the burnt hand gag
loved it, till I saw the tango stuff
@Not again
You must have really ruined the Monkeys’ day with that post.
Surely this is amazing – every single thing they do is very very very similar to things already done.
A lot of their work is very very very similar to work done before.
google ‘metaphor advert’ and the tango spot comes up as the third result on page 1: titled ‘Tango Clear Metaphor TV Ad’
it’s really not that hard to find out if your idea has already been done, before you commit to presenting it.
Double scream. Hilarious.
I was going to really like this until I saw the tango ad.
Way too close to be a coincidence. Why am I not surprised that the Monkeys have ripped of yet another ad………..
Yes, do your research.
Not again, clearly they did research, it’s too close word for word not to be.
So given that, not sure why you’d want to PR it. Because you should KNOW someone around here will have seen it too.
Nice idea… pretty funny. The gold looks really great too.
Good one Monkeys!
Even without the damning Tango similarities it’s a stretch. Sorry.
That’s a tough one. The Tango spot certainly didn’t make a big splash – only 4k views in 3 years. These are spots are tighter and funnier.
I had a beer with a copywriter mate the other day, and we were discussing these spots. We both agreed that this UBank work was the freshest stuff we’d seen in a very long time.
Turned out it wasn’t fresh at all. Shame.
These are great. Who’s to know a spot ran with similar set up a few years back. Certainly not the audience and I’m sure not the agency. The tango ad certainly never made a splash – only 4k views in 3 years. These spots are tighter and funnier.
How many times can The Monkeys get away with work that bears a striking resemblance to stuff that has already beeb produced? When are clients going to sit up and take notice?
How many times can The Monkeys get away with producing ads that bear a striking resemblance to work that has already appeared? When are clients going to wake up to it?
Fun stuff. And for a bank no less. How’d they get this across the line?
Proper funny and truly amazing from a bank. Hats off to the client and agency.
How they must have fet after seeing the Tango spot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5reDsSIiAk
We didn’t rip off Tango.
We ripped off a Jim Jenkins Red Wings boots spot from 2003.
@c’mon
There’s every likelihood that it would not have appeared high on googles’ searches until people with far too much time on their hands went searching super hard to find it. The algorithm brings things up the list based upon people making the connections. Seriously, if it was that obvious and easy to find would they really have chosen to do something similar? I’d say not. Nice work.
I never hear people using the term ‘hats off’ outside of the parroted comments on this blog.
Too many times.Just to many times boys.
dunno,
everyone in advertising knew about the BBC ‘Perfect Day’ campaign (won D&AD so it’s hardly obscure), but it didn’t stop them doing pretty much the same idea for the Opera House – Ship Song.
so you tell me again if you think if they clearly knew it was done before, whether they’d go on and do it anyway.
Who gives a toss if it close to some mediocre produced Tango spots! These are GOLD. Anything Steve touches turns to gold – so get over it! All it is is jealousy!
While you’re all squabbling over the issue of plagiarism, there’s a much more serious flaw with this campaign. Can anybody articulate what the actual message of the campaign is? I’ve seen these ads countless times, but I only know from reading the blurb above. A classic case of try-hard pictures totally obscuring the message. And the branding’s hopeless. It could be for anyone in the field.
That famous Red Wings Boot advert.
http://www.tvspots.tv/video/20122/
Funny. Good work monkey dudes.
There’s only one way to end this debate: with a survey.
Let’s do it. I’ll publish the results soon.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T3SDRJD
Oh dear – methinks you are deaf – perhaps turn the volume up a tad higher next time. Plagiarism or no plagiarism – and I definitely side with the latter, these are bloody original executions, and for a bank no less. GoldBar, you’re onto it.
It’s happened to us all. I don’t believe anyone goes out and purposely copies anything. And if you don’t think it’ll ever happen to you, think again.
I liked the ads, but yeah, they’re the same as Tango.
It’s a shame. But hey, instead of putting the boot in, maybe we should be helping each other a bit more.
I dunno. Maybe I’m just feeling all lovey dovey tonight.
a couple of gold bars that are worth $60,000 each, and then you are told you can save up to $1,000 a year. Odd metaphor?
Nice campaign.
Monkeys ape others ads.
Metaphor or no metaphor, pinched or not pinched, they are dreadful. How far can you put your head up your arse? And I’m not sure whether Mr and Mrs Joe Blow would even know what a metaphor is. Complete wank. And while i’m on my high horse how come NRMA wins AWARD when Rhonda, who’s sending AAMI sales threw the roof, gets totalled ignored. Please.
Ad News Agency Of The Year 3 times running? They may not have any dignity but they have a 3 shiny trophies.
But wait nailed it. Rip-off or not, what the fuck do they mean? No take out of the consumer at all other than they’re weird ads. So is it branding only?
@Doh!
How can you agree that these spots have plagiarised another commercial, yet claim that they are bloody original?
You’ve defeated your own argument, so I’ll spell it out for you: you can not be original while copying someone else’s work at the same time.
Knowing people who have and still do work at The Monkeys I can honestly say that no one there would intentionally rip off other people’s work. Any half-decent creative would have too much integrity to do this, and I know these guys definitely have integrity. It’s unfortunate for them that it’s happened again and I agree that given the history, a thorough search would avoid this sort of thing happening again, but to everyone bleating that The Monkeys are out and out shoplifting ideas, is wide of the mark.
There were 17 responses to the survey. Here’s what I learned:
53% have seen something cool on Youtube (that’s not an ad) and made an ad out of it.
12% have seen another ad on Youtube and copied it.
41% have seen another ad on Youtube and copied bits of it.
53% have made an ad with the best of intentions only to discover on the blog that someone in Romania did something similar.
My conclusion: 41 + 12 = 53. Woah…
@Unfair assessment
I agree with your sentiment. But to be fair, a few of the Monkeys have worked in London and would have been there when these Tango ads were around, so they should have known better.
bottom line is the buck stops w the ECD. the same way they take all the praise for others work when it wins, they also need to be accountable when things go wrong. 3rd strike…
There are people who like these ads?
They’re meaningless. They’re dumb. They’re not funny.
If this is what some people really want from a bank, then they must be very different from any people I know.
that survey offers damning evidence that surveys are the way forward, you simply can’t argue with something that equals 53.
Monkeys see …… Monkeys do is a factual assessment from personal past knowledge as a creative supplier. In the past for this same client I was presented with Monkey’s creative for a campaign, and video reference of a campaign where the “NEW” concept was ripped off from. 100% no accident rip off with one of the principle creatives involved. The funniest thing was that later down the road the client of the ripped off ad concept became a Monkey’s client.
tell me something … why on earth would the monkeys actively look to copy something else aware of the fact they would get gunned down … and why would steve ayson want to be knowingly associated with anything that had been done before when he too knows it will be gunned down … with the reputations they all have, i don’t buy for one second they consciously knew about these ads – and judging by the comments here, not many other people did either … tall poppy syndrome.
And anyway, do we see any other industry crying or pointing fingers like little babies when something similar is done in their field? hollywood doesn’t. fashion doesn’t. architects don’t. graphic designers don’t. and they’re all industries that are doing exactly the same as us – selling ideas, that sell products, to make money for clients.
Yeah. Who gives a ratz if they are like tango. At least they are like something because they are meaningless to me.
Tango ads work; these don’t. That’s the key difference.
Tango ads are all about refreshment – the metaphor is direct and understandable, and the silliness is a strength because of that.
These ads are just confusing – the metaphor idea just further confuses an already confusing spot.
Also, while I agree that a vast number of similar ads are accidental and the product of thousands of people in thousands of agencies working on basically the same brief, in this case it would be stretching the coincidence beyond credibility.
Unfortunately this is what happens when creative thinking starts on line and not in your mind
Putting aside the Tango controversy for a moment I just to want to defend the creative idea. They’re very simple, and for the category, in fact compared to most Australian advertising, these spots are genius. The poodle shitting gold bars is hilarious.
I get them. Anyone who doesn’t is a moron. People like you ‘confused’. You’re a moron.
What don’t you get? The guys in the spots are saving money by banking with Ubank.
One is blessed with an abundance of gold in the form of a gold bar shitting dog, the other has a volcano spewing molten gold in his yard. The gold acts as a metaphor for gaining wealth through saving money.
Perhaps you would have preferred some B-list soap actor talking to camera to explain the benefits of banking with Ubank? Or the other staple of finance ads, the friendly call centre staff?
Don’t bring work down just because you’re too stupid too understand it.