In this Charter Communications/Spectrum Cable spot from Brooklyn, NY-based agency Something Different, we’re presented with a slice of life featuring, paradoxically, various demons, monsters and villains (including the black-cloaked merchant of Death) who are fellow train commuters. They seem like regular Joes as they compare notes, discuss mundane aspects of life, and in the process bemoan the nasty practices of their telecommunications providers. In other words, Death is not a good guy–but even he’s shocked and dismayed by the kind of stuff that some satellite and phone companies pull on their customers.
“We all just laughed at the idea of these evil people thinking someone else was horrible” says Something Different chief creative Tommy Henvey, “and it gave us a way to make our point that felt a little more unusual.”
David Shane of O Positive directed “Train” as well as the three other spots in the campaign.
Credits
Client Charter Communications/Spectrum Agency Something Different, Brooklyn, NY Tommy Henvey, chief creative; Patti McConnell, managing partner/executive producer; Richard Ryan, group creative director; Garrett Crabb, sr. producer; Christine Dodd, marketing director; Jamie Eisman, production coordinator. Production O Positive David Shane, director; Ralph Laucella, Marc Grill, exec producers; Ken Licata, producer; Marc Laliberte-Else, DP; Dan Ouellete, production designer. Editorial Crew Cuts Jake Jacobsen, partner/editor; Jake Trill, assistant editor; Sara Arnold, producer; Stephanie Norris, post EFX producer. Music JSM Music Joel Simon, chief creative officer/composer; Seamus Kilmartin, composer; Jeff Fiorello, exec producer.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
