Look out below! Pigeons are dropping brand propositions from the sky.

A few weeks back, animated versions of such birds talked up insurance for Progressive. Now, TBWAChiatDay L.A. casts Steve Buscemi and Henry Winkler as New Yakky CGI spokes-squabs for DirecTV.

They’re miffed because rooftop satellite-dishes have begun to vanish as consumers opt for DTV’s internet-based option.

The approach stems from research that shows 75 percent of people think they need a dish to watch DTV.

As for the casting picks, “Steve and Henry are icons who have earned their place in entertainment culture over many decades. Their distinct voices have burrowed deep into the American psyche—and we expect plenty of viewers to lean in and think, ‘Hey, I know those guys!'” TBWACD creative director Ryan Buckley tells Muse.

“That said, we casted first and foremost on the merits,” he adds. “Steve and Henry, both native New Yorkers, perfectly captured the ‘charming curmudgeon’ vibe we were after.”

Hey, youse boids! Keep away from my car!

Director Jeff Low’s penchant for delivering strong sales messages through quirky comedy comes to the fore.

“We wanted to contrast the absurdity of two talking pigeons with a serious, sober, gritty cinematic gravitas—Mean Streets with birds. Jeff and his cinematographer captured the realistic, specific vibe we were after,” Buckley says.

He also credits the VFX team at Untold Studios for “creating pigeon characters that feel at once expressive but completely believable. They studied bird anatomy and movement down to the tiniest detail and filtered that behavior through these scenarios.”

“The closer you look, the more you notice how rich and nuanced these birds’ performances are,” Buckley says. “They’re informed by actual recordings of Steve and Henry delivering their lines in the sound booth.”

The work breaks across TV and digital platforms beginning today. Some of the media buys and creative content emphasize baseball, as DTV carries most MLB games.

“What do you call a guy in face paint who can’t get the game? A clown.”

Travis Kelce gets delightfully disdainful in funny work breaking today from DirecTV.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end takes over for thespian Brian Cox, who appeared as the brand’s “Overly Direct Spokesperson” a few months ago. Now, Travis plays an “Overly Direct Sportsperson.” His teammate, defensive tackle Chris Jones, crashes the party—and we do mean CRASHES!—in the :55 below.

Cox seemed grouchy and aggressive. Kelce, ever dismissive of those who don’t watch NFL games his way (on DirectTV), engages in some wanton destruction. Both performances address media fragmentation, portraying the satellite and streaming service as the ultimate stress-free aggregator of premium content.

Jake Syzmanski (Jury Duty) directed the spots in brisk, sitcom style, and TikTok creator Reece Feldman (aka @GuywithaMovieCamera) will contribute to the initiative.

“Our previous campaign featuring Brian Cox was all about showing people how they’re compromising on their TV,” Mark Winters, creative director at TBWAChiatDay, which developed the initiative, tells Muse. “The challenge was, how do we adapt the work into a campaign that does the same thing—but for all the ways people compromise on football? We decided we would take our ‘Overly Direct Spokesperson’ and turn him into an ‘Overly Direct Sportsperson.’ Now we just had to figure out who that should be.”

Casting Kelce made sense “because he knows a thing or two about sports leadership,” Winters says. “But secondly, he allowed us to take the ‘directness’ that Brian had, which was a little more acerbic and withering, and re-examine it through a whole new sporty personality.”

Initially, however, the team worried a bit about the two-time Super Bowl champ taking over the lead after Cox’s memorable turn.

“Travis is a good 8 inches taller than Brian Cox. Nevertheless, those are big shoes to fill for someone who isn’t a professional actor,” says agency creative director Ryan Buckley. “We were actually blown away by Travis’ charisma on camera. We got a sense of it after seeing his SNL performance—but you never know. Everybody was laughing on set after the second shot of the day. That’s when we knew we had a fun campaign on our hands.” (Now, maybe Taylor Swift will be the guy’s friend.)

As for the future of the “Overly Direct” concept, “We’re playing it close to the chest for now,” says Winters. “We’re very happy with this construct. ‘Directness’ is such an interesting-yet-simple approach that uniquely belongs to DirecTV. And the ability to bring more and more people into the ‘Overly Direct’ role makes it endlessly flexible.”

CREDITS

CLIENT 
Vince Torres: Chief Marketing Officer
Kelly Jo Sands: SVP, Digital & Marketing
Kendall Thaker: VP, Brand & Creative
Sheri Holmes: AVP, Advertising & Creative Services  
Jenn Wang: Director, Advertising 
Ty Tanioka: Senior Manager, Advertising

TBWACHIATDAY LA
Creative 
Renato Fernandez: Chief Creative Officer
Jason Karley: Executive Creative Director
Mark Winters: Creative Director
Ryan Buckley: Creative Director
Dylan Cimo: Senior Copywriter  
Jono Moore: Senior Art Director
Lex Singer: Senior Copywriter
Laura Dickie: Senior Art Director
Rachel Findlay: Art Director
Jessica Nugent: Copywriter 
Gregory Ballif : Copywriter
Sumner Mahaffey: Art Director
Bruno Regalo: Chief Design Officer 

Production 
Anh-Thu Le: Executive Director of Production
Alicia Portner: Senior Producer
Dena Moore: Executive Art Producer
Ted Copeland: Art Producer
Dessiah Davis: Director of Traffic Operations
Marian Cabasso: Traffic Operations Manager
Robin Rossi: Director of Business Affairs
Emily Machtinger: Senior Business Affairs Manager 
Eliane Rodriguez: Talent Payment Manager
Nick Huynh: Finance Budget Manager

Account
Erin Riley: CEO
Matt Theisen: Group Brand Lead
Emily Gill: Brand Director
Carlos Quintanilla: Management Supervisor
Dalton Butler: Brand Executive
Justin Rocha: Brand Executive
Lawrence Gonzales: Project Manager

Strategy 
Jen Costello: Chief Strategy Officer
Katie Acosta: Group Strategy Director
Sheida Karami: Associate Strategy Director
Hannah Schweitzer: Senior Strategist
Kevin Anthony Bautista: Associate Director of Connections
Laura Mayer: Senior Director of Data
Josh Brinkmann: Senior Data Strategist

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Gifted Youth 
Jake Szymanski: Director
Josh Morse: Executive Producer
Cat Craven-Griffiths: Head of Production
Bernard Rahill: Producer
Director of Photography: Jo Willems 
EDITORIAL: Arcade 
Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Assistant Editor: Mitch Mitchell
EP: Crissy DeSimone
HOP: Megan Dahlman
Senior Producer: Alexa Berman

VFX: Parliament VFX
John McIntosh: Creative Leads
Nathan Kane: Creative Leads
Philip Ineno: VFX Supervisor
 
Creative Team: 
Adam Deutsch
Andy Mower
Dan Adams
Damien Cho
Daniel Miller
James Cudahy
Jay Lee
Kathleen Kirkman
Taner Besen

Production Team: 
Anna Kravtsov
Kate Matos
Lexi Stearn
Mike Cimino
Sebastien Le Coz
 
COLOR: The Mill London 
Philip Hambi: Colorist
Dan Hill: Producer 

MUSIC: WALKER
Music Company: Walker Music
Managing Director: Sara Matarazzo
Senior Executive Producer: Stephanie Pigott
Senior Producer: Danielle Soury

SOUND DESIGN: STRING & TINS 
Gez Lloyd: Sound Design
Nigel Mannington: Sound Design
Culum Simpson: Sound Design
Kaspar Broyd: Sound Design 
Eimear Ní Ghuaire: Audio Post Production

MIX: LIME STUDIOS 
Susie Boyajan: Executive Producer
Cassie Underwood: Associate Producer 
Matt Miller: Sound Mixer
Ian Connie: Assistant Mixer 

PHOTOGRAPHY RETOUCHING: DIEGO SPERONI
Diego Speroni: Digital Artist
Francisco Speroni: Digital Assistant
Freddy Fabris: Digital Producer

PHOTOGRAPHY: TOMMY GARCIA 
Tommy Garcia: Photographer

PARTNER CREDITS
David Azulay, EVP, Omnicom Lead – DirecTV

“Let me be direct. YOU’RE DOING TV WRONG!”

Emmy and Golden Globe winner Brian Cox gets shouty in his debut as DirecTV’s “Overly Direct Spokesperson” from TBWAChiatDay L.A. and director Jody Hill.

At one point, Cox—fresh off his Super Bowl ad for Michelob Ultra—hurls a book in disgust. Mostly, he acts all smug (yet strangely likable) in an amusing series of spots that portray DirecTV as superior to rival services.

Fussy-dude spokescharacters are all the rage this week, apparently. Brian should drop by KFC and berate angry Colonel Sanders.

“I thoroughly enjoy being the Overly Direct Spokesperson,” Cox says in campaign materials. “The main broadcast spot is truly an ode to all that DirecTV is doing to simplify their TV watching experience.”

The work intros a new over-arching theme, “Entertainment Without Compromise.” The client says that positioning marks a natural evolution of past work, which memorably bragged about providing “the best of live and on-demand” (with sports stars like Serena Williams sending up popular films).

“It was time to move away from the beloved mash-up,” TBWACD executive creative director Jason Karley tells Muse. As the team brainstormed, “‘Overly Direct Spokeperson’ quickly rose to the top as the most ownable, memorable and funny option. And directness, aside from the obvious literal link to DirecTV, allows us to say a lot of salient product stuff, but also insert that bit of edge and humor when Brian crosses into the too-direct realm.”

The agency had Brian in mind from the start. “We had backups of course,” Karley says. “But he was the prototype and the dream. He has the unique ability to sound both sincere and caring, yet critical and unfiltered in the same sentence.”

Tough love’s great, but isn’t there some risk in going with a surly character?

“The trap many brands fall into is holding up a mirror to the target or casting based on social following alone,” says Karley. “The goal here was to get the person who people would love watching being overly direct. Having some age and wisdom gives him authority, but it’s his overall persona that makes it great.”

He’s like the World’s Most Interesting Man‘s brash brother. (Given DirecTV’s subscriber struggles since it acquisition by AT&T, you can’t blame Brian for feeling a tad cross.)

“We were also lucky enough to work with director Jody Hill, who we’ve admired for quite some time just as fans,” says agency associate creative director Mark Winters. Hill’s helmed Hollywood features and TV shows. Here, he provides punchy pacing and an understated atmosphere that help the central performance shine.

“His ability to orchestrate an entire scene to play off Brian’s energy elevated a campaign that could have felt just one-note-grumpy in less steady hands,” Winters says.

Along with the films, look for outreach across digital, social and radio through year’s end.

CREDITS

CLIENT 
Vince Torres: Chief Marketing Officer
Kendall Thaker: VP, Brand & Creative
Sheri Holmes: AVP, Advertising & Creative Services  
Jenn Wang: Director, Advertising 
Ty Tanioka: Senior Manager, Advertising

TBWACHIATDAY L.A.

Creative 
Renato Fernandez: Chief Creative Officer
Jason Karley: Group Creative Director
Mark Winters: Creative Director
Ryan Buckley: Creative Director
Josh DiMarcantonio: Creative Director
Jessica Nugent: Copywriter
Rachel Findlay: Art Director
Bruno Regalo: Chief Design Officer
Ekaterina Cervantes: Designer
Qi Tan: Designer

Production 
Anh-Thu Le: Executive Director of Production
Alicia Portner: Senior Producer
Tyler Hock: Associate Producer
Dena Moore: Executive Art Producer
Aliza Grover: Art Producer
Ted Copeland: Art Producer
Dessiah Davis: Director of Traffic Operations
Marian Cabasso: Traffic Manager
Robin Rossi: Director of Business Affairs
Emily Machtinger: Senior Business Affairs Manager 

Account
Erin Riley: CEO
Matt Theisen: Group Brand Lead
Emily Gill: Brand Director
Carlos Quintanilla: Management Supervisor
Dalton Butler: Brand Executive
Justin Rocha: Brand Executive
Lawrence Gonzales: Project Manager

Strategy 
Jen Costello: Chief Strategy Officer
Jesse Unger: Group Strategy Director
Sheida Karami: Associate Strategy Director
Hannah Schweitzer: Strategist
Kevin Bautista: Associate Director of Connections
Laura Mayer: Senior Director of Data
Josh Brinkmann: Data Strategist

PRODUCTION COMPANY: CAVIAR
Director: Jody Hill
DP: Peter Donahue
Executive Producer: Michael Ssgal
Executive Producer: Kim Dellara 
Head Of Production: Cat Craven-Griffiths 
Producer: Bernard Rahill 
EDITORIAL: ARCADE
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Assistant Editor: Fernando Raigoza
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone
Head of Production: Megan Dahlman
Senior Producer: Alexa Atkin Berman

VFX: PARLIAMENT 
VFX Supervisor: Nathan Kane
Creative Leads: Taner Besen
Creative Leads: John McIntosh
Creative Team: Dan Adams
Creative Team: Damien Cho
Creative Team: James Cudahy
Creative Team: Adam Deutsch
Creative Team: Kathleen Kirkman
Creative Team: Jay Lee
Production Team: Anna Kravtsov
Production Team: Kate Matos
Production Team: Lexi Stearn
 
COLOR ROYAL MUSTER 
Colorist: Gregory Reese 
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson

MUSIC: STRING & TINS 

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: STRING & TINS
Audio Post Production: String and Tins
Sound Design: Jim Stewart & Culum Simpson
Audio Producer: Laura-Leigh Smith
Music Supervision: Mike Bamford and Olivia Endersby

MIX: LIME
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Associate Producer: Cassie Underwood
Sound Mixer: Matt Miller
Assistant Mixer: Ian Connie

PARTNER CREDITS
David Azulay, EVP, Om

Before imploding spectacularly, the year started off so well for cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which enticed Larry David to star in his very first TV ad—on the Super Bowl no less. The spot, from DentsuMB, was well received during the game, though ironically, Larry’s reluctance in the ad to embrace FTX actually proved to be prescient.

Read more here.

9️⃣

Adidas Tweets Bare Breasts To Promote Its Inclusive Line of Sports Bras

In one of the year’s most provocative campaigns, Adidas hoped to normalize bare breasts of all shapes and sizes with #SupportIsEverything, a campaign that began with a tweet showing dozens of naked breasts to promote an upcoming line of sports bras that includes 43 styles and 72 sizes. In May, the U.K. Advertising Standards Agency decided the campaign—created by TBWANeboko—would “likely cause widespread offense” and it was banned.

Read more here.

8️⃣

Louis Vuitton’s Messi/Ronaldo Ad Is Even More Brilliant Than It Looks

The Qatar World Cup gave us plenty of great—and not-so-great—marketing moments, but none were as instantly iconic as Louis Vuitton’s print ad featuring Lionel Messi of Argentina, the eventual champion, playing Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo at chess. The positioning of the pieces—replicating a board from a 2017 match between grandmasters Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura—was an all-time great easter egg as well.

Read more here.

7️⃣

Pringles Will Pay You $25,000 to Work as an NPC in a Video Game

We saw a bunch of engaging gaming campaigns this year, but this effort from Pringles U.K. and Grey London stood out by offering player a chance to work in a video game as an NPC (non-player character), refilling Pringles vending machines in Train Sim World. The idea emerged from the overarching campaign theme, “Stay in the game,” due to Pringles being less messy than other snacks and easier to eat while gaming.

Read more here.

6️⃣

British Airways’ New Ads Will Make You Love Copywriting Again

Uncommon in London created one of our favorite print/OOH campaigns of 2022, crafting an impressive 500 unique executions—with no visuals whatsoever, just simple and evocative copy lines. The ads were modeled after the forms you fill out upon arrival in a new destination—though in addition to “business” or “leisure,” each execution added a third option, exploring the variety of reasons so many of us travel.

Read more here.

5️⃣

The Story Behind Nike’s Amazing 3-D Air Max Billboard in Japan

For the 35th anniversary of Nike Air Max Day, Nike Japan pulled out all the stops, working with creative collective CEKAI to make a eye-catching 3-D billboard outside Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. We saw a number of 3-D billboards like this in 2022, but this was one of the best.

Read more here.

4️⃣

DirecTV Lampoons Ghostbusters With Help From 4 Baseball Greats

DirecTV and TBWAChiatDay L.A. stuffed this spot full of retired baseball greats—Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson—who teamed up as the “GOATbusters” (Ghostbusters: Afterlife had just arrived on DirecTV) to battle a giant version of Cincinnati Reds mascot Mr. Redlegs. 

Read more here.

3️⃣

Coinbase and Its QR Code Win the Super Clio as Super Bowl’s Best Ad

The Super Bowl is always full of spectacle: celebs, special effects, Puppy Monkey Babies. But this year, the Super Clio—bestowed by a jury of top industry creatives—was awarded to the most captivatingly lo-fi spot of the game. Accenture Interactive’s ad for crypto brand Coinbase featured 60 seconds of a QR code bouncing around a screen, one of the most audacious direct-marketing ploys in history.

Read more here.

2️⃣

What’s Up With Prime Video’s Freakishly Elongated Football?

Prime Video took over coverage of Thursday Night Football this fall, and its marketing for the broadcasts included this completely bogus story about an elongated football that quarterbacks could throw further—more than the length of a football field, supposedly. Wilson created 33 of the balls for real, and even though everyone knew it was a prank, the campaign, from agency Atlantic New York, was all over mainstream media.

Read more here.

1️⃣

Bud Light’s ‘Real Men of Genius.’ The Making of a Radio Classic

Season 2 of our Tagline podcast rolled out back in the spring, and it was the fourth episode, about the making of Bud Light’s “Real Men of Genius” campaign, that got the most listens. We revisited the campaign’s greatest hits with folks on the agency, client and production sides—to see how a the idea blossomed into a decade-long entertainment franchise that spawned 200 radio spots, as well as TV ads, compilation CDs and even live events.

Read more here.

At DirecTV, the hits just keep coming! To wit: Real Housewives icon Teresa Giudice viscously sacks Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the opening frames of the broadcaster’s latest spot from TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles and directors Jake Szymanksi and Payman Benz.

Like earlier entries in the rollicking “Get Your TV Together” campaign, the :85 touts DirecTV’s mix of live fare (sports, special events) and on-demand faves (movies, popular shows). Housewives vets Giudice, Kyle Richards and Kenya Moore suit up in slinky, shiny (probably not NFL regulation) gear for a gridiron showdown against Prescott and his real-life teammate, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.

Slapstick silliness ensues, with actor Bob Stephenson (Top Gun: Maverick) almost stealing the show as the Wives’ superbly spangled coach calling in a spa order, rather than plays, from the sidelines.

Fans will smile at the many Easter eggs, notably that callback to Teresa’s fierce table flip from The Real Housewives of New Jersey in 2009. “TV Together” is all about fandom, offering giddy cultural mashups for our splintered media age. Past iterations fusing Serena Williams with the Wonder Woman and Matrix franchises likewise scored, as did this Ghostbusters romp featuring four Major League Baseball greats.

It’s a smart strategy, especially well realized, celebrating the stuff we love to watch and pointing to a place—DirecTV—that offers a wealth of choices in an accessible format. That said, if the pay-TV category continues to sag, at some point the brand may need to tweak its game plan.

The “Housewives” blitz features edits from the full-length spot running across various channels, plus digital outreach from Critical Mass including Snap filters, Reddit integration and a Meta AR experience.

Below, TBWACD creative directors Ryan Buckley and Mark Winters bring the work into focus:

Muse: Why mix Real Housewives and the NFL?

Ryan Buckley: At first glance, you may think football and reality TV have no business being in the same room together. But I think we proved that Dak fans and Teresa fans have more in common than they think—and whatever you love, DirecTV is where you can find it. We knew highlighting football was a priority for this campaign, and who better to give some seasoned pros a run for their money than some equally hardened Real Housewives? It’s such a disparate combination, that somehow fits together perfectly.

Describe what went down at the shoot.

Mark Winters: Dak and CeeDee were playing football with the crew, the Housewives were taking selfies with everyone. It was an electric atmosphere that felt more like a celebration than a high-stakes commercial shoot.

Why these three Housewives specifically?

Mark Winters: Each represents a different Housewives franchise, so every reality fan can have a little skin in the game.

Ryan Buckley: We dug into our Housewives’ personalities and backstories to load their performances with real fan-service moments. Obviously, Teresa’s table flip is one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Housewives history, so we had to bring it back. But this time, Dak’s the one losing his cool. We gave Kenya Moore’s iconic twirl a cameo. Even the Housewives’ jersey numbers tie into their backstory. [Moore, for example, wears No. 93, referencing the year of her Miss USA selection.] It was all about mining the fandoms of both Housewives and football for references that let folks know DirecTV “gets it” when it comes to their TV obsessions.

Can you expand on that idea, talk about the campaign’s cultural resonance?

Ryan Buckley: The goal is to get people wondering, “What will they bring together next?” We even see comments online where people are pitching their own mashups, fan art and other little bits of love that let us know we’re resonating. For us, creatively, DirecTV bringing all the TV you love together, in one place, is a good kind of excess—one that lets us go to a maximalist, madcap place where there are more opportunities for fun than there are rules. We’ve always filtered what we do through the maxim, “Make the ads as entertaining as the content DirecTV provides,” which lets us go beyond just representing content and start actually participating in the cultural conversation that’s happening around entertainment at large.

CREDITS

CLIENT CREDITS
Vince Torres: Chief Marketing Officer
Kendall Thaker: VP, Brand, Creative & Integrated Planning
Sheri Holmes: Senior Director, Product Marketing Management
Jenn Wang: Director, Product Marketing Management
Ty Tanioka: Senior Product Marketing Manager
Taski Arenas: Senior Lead Creative Direction

TBWACHIATDAY LA
Creative Credits
Renato Fernandez: Chief Creative Officer
Jason Karley: Group Creative Director
Mark Winters: Creative Director
Ryan Buckley: Creative Director
Josh Hill: Senior Copywriter
Cheston Kwan: Senior Art Director
Jessica Nugent: Copywriter
Rachel Findlay: Art Director
Andrew Bae: Jr. Art Director
Bruno Regalo: Chief Design Officer
Sydney Tomer: Designer
Ekaterina Cervantes: Designer

Production Credits
Guia Iacomin: Director of Content Production
Alicia Portner: Senior Producer
Dena Moore: Executive Art Producer
Dessiah Davis: Director of Traffic Operations
Marian Cabasso: Traffic Manager
Robin Rossi: Director of Business Affairs

Account Credits
Erin Riley: CEO
Matt Theisen: Group Brand Lead
Emily Gill: Brand Director
Carlos Quintanilla: Brand  Supervisor
Bridget Derraugh: Brand  Executive
Lawrence Gonzales: Project Manager

Strategy Credits
Jen Costello: Chief Strategy Officer
Jesse Unger: Group Strategy Director
Laura Gorder: Associate Strategy Director
Hannah Schweitzer: Strategist
Albert Kim, Group Connections Director
Kevin Bautista: Associate Director of Connections
Laura Mayer: Senior Director of Data
Josh Brinkmann: Data Strategist

PRODUCTION: GIFTED YOUTH
Director: Jake Szymanksi & Payman Benz
Exec Producer: Josh Morse
Line Producer: Bernard Rahill
Director of Photography: Carl Herse
Production Designer: Kim Rees

EDITORIAL: THE DEN
Editor: Katie Cali
Assistant: James Bird
EP: Jennifer Mersis
MD: Vic Palumbo
Producer: Carolina Padilla

:15s and CM Social :10s
Editor: Nic Watkins

VFX: JAMM
VFX Supervisor / Lead Flame: Jake Montgomery
Flame Artist: Ryland Bowen
Flame Artist: Patrick Munoz
Flame Artist: Graziella Gandolfi
Flame Artist: Marcus Woods
Flame Artist: Paul Downes
CG Supervisor: Zachary Dimaria
CG Artist: Steven Nelson
CG Artist: Sebastian Mayer
Production Coordinator: Jon Lazar
Senior Producer: Ashley Greyson
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

COLOR: JAMM
Colorist: Adam Scott
Color Assist: Carver Moore
Color Producer: Jon Lazar

AUDIO POST/SFX: STRING & TINS
Sound Designers: Culum Simpson and Jim Stewart
Foley: Foley Walkers
Audio Producers: Laura-Leigh Smith and Alina Miroshnichenko

MUSIC: WALKER
Music: Walker Music
Managing Director: Sara Matarazzo
Senior EP: Stephanie Pigott
Senior Producer: Danielle Soury

MIX: LIME
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Sound Mixer: Matt Miller
Mix Assistant: Ian Connie

CRITICAL MASS
Val Carlson: Chief Creative Officer
Andrew Lavery: Executive Creative Director
Andrew Dolby : Creative Director
Javier Olivares: Assoc. Creative Director
Meghan O’Neill: Assoc. Creative Director
Carla Smith: Assoc. Creative Director
Arion Lapuz: Sr. Art Desinger
Bailey Upper: Designer
Peter Lagosky: Senior Copywriter
Rosie Hutchison: Senior Copywriter
Thomas Turner: Production Design Lead
Adam Dunlop: Assoc. Design Supervisor
Yuri An: Sr. Production Designer
Daisy Swain: Copywriter

Shawn Thompson: VP, Strategy Director
Morgan Yaholnitsky – Strategy Director
Faith Tyrell: Sr. Strategist

Stacia Parseghian: EVP Client Partner
Benedicte Dechaud: VP Client partner
Andrew Burke: Sr. Account Director
Anica Vranjesevic, Sr Account Manager
Carly Barnhart: Account Manager

Sydney Woodman: VP Group Executive Producer
Hannah Thompson: Executive Producer
Lexi Scott: Sr. Project Manager
Vince Varga: Sr. Producer
Ian Wells: Sr. Project Manager
Alyssa Rodrigues : Project manager
Luc Wilson: Assoc Producer
Logan Knight: Project Manager

PARTNER CREDITS
David Azulay, EVP, Omnicom Lead – DIRECTV
Hearts & Science
KERN
Fluent 360

If there’s something weird. And it don’t look good. Who you gonna call? GOATbusters, that’s who!

The latest installment of DirecTV’s “Get Your TV Together” ad series features supernatural shenanigans with four all-time MLB greats spoofing the Ghostbusters franchise. Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson wield proton bats to battle a ginormous goofball baddie in this :30 from TBWAChiatDay L.A. and O Positive director Jim Jenkins:

Fans might recognize their foe as a murderous, 100-foot-tall version of the Cincinnati Reds mascot, Mr. Redlegs. (The team started the season 3-13. No wonder dude’s bent on destruction.)

For this entry in a campaign touting the convergence of live TV (sports, special events) and on demand (movies, mostly), “we needed a property as iconic as the game of baseball itself,” TBWACD creative directors Mark Winters and Ryan Buckley tell Muse. “With Ghostbusters: Afterlife freshly available on the platform, we found a story world that speaks to classic cinema fans as well as new ones.”

They add: “The leap from Ghostbusters to GOATbusters was surprisingly intuitive. We always push for a layer of fresh thinking that makes our mashups more than the sum of their parts, and the GOAT—Greatest of All Time—angle gave us license to feature some of the biggest icons in MLB history.”

A-Rod, Griffey, Ortiz and Johnson also suit up for this informercial spoof:

Teams should use that Ecto-1 to bring in relief pitchers from the bullpen. In case the starter suffers a … dead arm.

“We knew fans would get a ton of joy watching their heroes come out of retirement, if only for a moment,” say Winters and Buckley. “The GOATs also speak to a time in MLB history—and perhaps our youth!—when players felt larger than life. That kind of summer afternoon game/summer evening blockbuster energy is a feeling of nostalgia we wanted to capture and share.”

TBWACD shot the spot over four nights at the Oakland Coliseum. “The best part about the shoot was seeing our GOATs come together like old friends after who knows how long,” the creatives recall. “It was a blast watching them catch up, crack jokes, swap stories and rib each other between takes.”

The real Mr. Redlegs was on hand, too, filmed against a green screen and menacingly pumped up in post.

Previous outings in the campaign starred tennis GOAT Serena Williams with wild takes on Wonder Woman ’84 and The Matrix.

“We’re excited by what the future holds,” the CDs say. “The longer this construct stays in market, the more culture-making and self-referential we can make it. ‘Get Your TV Together’ is an invitation for TV lovers to get their shit together in an entertainment ecosystem that has gotten overly complicated and forgotten what it does best—entertain. There’s a simple principle that underlines our approach to everything on this brand—make the advertising as entertaining as the product. It hasn’t steered us wrong yet.”

CREDITS

DIRECTV Marketing
Vince Torres: Chief Marketing Officer
Kendall Thaker: VP, Advertising and Go-To-Market
Sheri Holmes: Senior Director, Product Marketing Management
Jenn Wang: Lead Product Marketing Manager
Ty Tanioka: Product Marketing Manager

TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles
Erin Riley: CEO
Renato Fernandez: Chief Creative Officer
Jason Karley: Group Creative Director
Mark Winters: Creative Director
Ryan Buckley: Creative Director
Tyler Archibald: Senior Copywriter
Will Holmes: Senior Art Director
Andrew Bae: Jr. Art Director
Bruno Regalo: Head of Art & Design
Jake Skirving: Senior Designer
Andrea Nazario: Jr. Designer

Guia Iacomin: Director of Content Production
Alicia Portner: Senior Producer
Dena Moore: Executive Art Producer
Elisabeth Fried: Senior Art Producer
Ryan McDonald: Art Producer
Dessiah Davis: Director of Traffic Operations
Marian Cabasso: Traffic Manager
Robin Rossi: Director of Business Affairs

Jen Costello: Chief Strategy Officer
Jesse Unger: Group Strategy Director
Laura Gorder: Senior Strategist
Hannah Schweitzer: Jr. Strategist
Albert Kim: Head of Connections Planning
Kevin Bautista: Associate Director of Connections
Laura Mayer: Data Director
Zahara Chaudhry: Senior Data Strategist

Matt Theisen: Brand Lead
Carlos Quintanilla: Account Supervisor
Bridget Derraugh: Account Executive
Lawrence Gonzales: Project Manager

PRODUCTION: O POSITIVE
Director: Jim Jenkins
EP: Ralph Laucella
Producer: Marc Grill
Head of Production : Devon Clark
DP: Gyula Pados
PD: Jason Edmonds
AD: Greg McCollum
Costume Designer: Michelle Martini

EDITORIAL: ARCADE
Editor: Geoff Hounsell
Assistant: Paulo Miramontes
Producers: Alexa Atkin & Tom Barnett
EP: Crissy DeSimone

VFX: THE MILL
TBWA & CRITICAL MASS
Executive Creative Director: Nathan Kane
Shoot Supervisor: James Mulholland
Shoot Supervisor: Nathan Kane
Executive Producer: Clairellen Wallin
Sr Producer:Jack Williams
Producer: Chanelle Larios
Production Coordinator: Kyla Graham
Production Support: Siggy Chojnacki
3D Lead Artist: Justin Kurtz & Yong Chan Kim
2D Lead Artist: Andre Vidal & Krissy Nordella
2D Artist: Jay Lee, Jeeeun Lee, Yoon-sun Bae, Hailey Akashian, Felipe Passarani, Rajesh Kaushik, Noah Catan & Jiin You
Animation Lead: John Wilson
Animation: Jessica Castillo
Finish Artist: Matt McDonald & Anton Anderson
Graphic Animation Art Director: James van den Elshout
Designer: Chris Szeto
Concept Design: Maxim Kozhevnikov

AUDIO POST/SFX:  STRING & TINS
Sound Designer: Culum Simpson
Additional Sound Design: Joe Wilkinson
Foley: Cobblestone Foley
Audio Producer: Laura-Leigh Smith

MUSIC: WALKER
Music: Walker Music
Executive Producer: Sara Matarazzo, Stephanie Pigott
Senior Producer: Danielle Soury

MIX: LIME
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan
Sound Mixer: Matt Miller
Mix Assistant: Ian Connie

BASEBALL FOOTAGE: STALKR
RETOUCHING: DIEGO SPERONI
Diego Speroni: Digital Artist
Francisco Speroni: Digital Assistant
Freddy Fabris: Digital Producer

SONY PICTURES & GHOST CORPS

Critical Mass

Val Carlson: Chief Creative Officer
Andrew Lavery: Executive Creative Director
James Maclean: Creative Director
Javier Olivares: Assoc. Creative Director
Megahn O’Neill: Assoc. Creative Director
Ryan Mesnchuk: Senior Art Director
Taylor Lumley: Art Director
Ana Benitez Duarte: Designer
Peter Lagosky: Senior Copywriter
Thomas Turner: Production Design Lead
Daisy Swain: Copywriter

Kyle Bottoms: Strategy Director
Faith Tyrell: Sr. Strategist

Stacia Parseghian: EVP Client Partner
Maria Hodgeson: SVP Client Partner
Lauren Rappaport: VP Client partner
Andrew Burke: Sr. Account Director
Carly Barnhart: Account Manager

Sydney Woodman: Executive Producer
Ashleigh Fehmie: Assoc. Program Director
Lexi Scott: Sr. Producer
Vince Varga: Sr. Producer
Ian Wells: Sr. Producer
Logan Knight: Assoc. Producer
Luc Wilson: Assoc. Producer

PRODUCTION: O POSITIVE
Director: Brian Billow
EP: Ralph Laucella
EP: Marc Grill
Head of Production : Devon Clark
Producer: Grayson Bithell
DP: Don Davis
Prod Designer: Jason Edmonds
Costume Designer : Michelle Martini
AD: Paul Norman

EDITORIAL: ARCADE
Editor: Fernando Raigoza
Assistant: Joelle Graham
EP: Crissy DeSimone
Producers: Alexa Atkin & Tom Barnett

MIX: LIME

“Piracy is on the rise in Brazil, so we wanted to demonstrate how there are viable ways to access great quality content without any suspicious links or risks to data security, and most importantly, without infringing on third-party rights,” says DirecTV Go digital growth director Alexander Rocco.

Mirum filmed “The Pirate Match” at an amateur club facility three days before Manchester United and Atlético squared off. Lookalikes starred as Ronaldo and company. Plays and commentary were largely scripted, with viewers directed to the real match on DirecTV Go at regular intervals, where they could claim a free seven-day trial.

Below, the campaign creators open their playbook:

Muse: What was the specific brief? Why tackle piracy at all—and how did that lead to a fake soccer match?

Filipe Matazi, creative director, Mirum: Piracy is a global problem, but on IPTV (digital broadcasts) it’s spreading on a large scale. DirecTV Go is the first 100 percent legal IPTV in Brazil. In addition, live sport is the content that is searched for and consumed the most on the platform. So, it was clear from the first stages of research that the piracy theme should be explored.

This was an awfully complex undertaking. Why not just make some half-minute ads?

Filipe Matazi: The subject couldn’t be explored with classic messaging that warned people against piracy. Following conversations with fans, it was clear they demand well-segmented and clever ideas when it comes to advertising. So, we looked to create content that was more entertaining.

The idea for a “Pirate Match’ actually came up in July 2020 for a football-focused brief, when DirecTV Go had a partnership with a big Brazilian club. The proposal was to create a 100 percent fake game, with everything from players to broadcast commentary—a great Brazilian classic. That partnership ended last year, so we redirected the idea.

You filmed a complete match from start to finish?

Victor Keiti, associate creative director, Mirum: That’s right. We filmed an entire 90-minute game. We hired a specialty football broadcasting team with more than 50 professionals. The teams were cast from [a pool of] over 200 players. Among them were comedians and actors who would be used in key moments of the match.

How’d you find the superstar lookalikes?

Victor Keiti: We matched general physical characteristics—hair, height, skin color, beard, etc.— to four players to create “Rolando,” “Pogobol,” “Suado” and “Tristex,” who were meant to be Ronaldo, Suarez, Pogba and João Félix. We analyzed the players’ body movements and celebrations to make their doubles look more authentic, as well as having the same haircuts and uniform accessories.

Was the whole thing tightly scripted?

Amanda Oliveira, operations coordinator, Mirum: We had a basic script, but only the scene director had a copy of it. We wanted to make sure the match flowed as naturally as possible, so it didn’t look like a comedy skit. The scene director had an aid on the field—the referee—who he spoke to directly via an earpiece [to guide the action].

At times, it does play like sketch comedy. There’s wacky stuff going on.

Amanda Oliveira: We included an unusual event on or off the field every five minutes. They were small details, really—but all together, they created quite an unusual match. For example, at halftime, a player promised to score a bicycle goal. In the 87th minute, he invaded the field using a bicycle, and was sent off by the referee. In the 67th minute, a semi-naked fan invaded the pitch with a sign reading, “No more hunting for pirate links.” During the break, the announcer was caught off guard while having a snack and had to continue presenting with his mouth full.

Daniel Mota, art director, Mirum: These Easter eggs made the match more fun, and meant the viewers were consuming the content for a lot longer. Every five minutes, a pop-up appeared with messages such as, “The game you want to watch is on DirecTV Go” or “Watch the real match for free now.”

Any big challenges for the crew?

Rafael Rudnicki, art director, Mirum: The execution was totally different to what we’re used to. Going into it, we had no idea how the shoot would go. We only realized the scale of the project when we saw both teams taking the field. The most surprising thing was that everything happened naturally. We only stopped the game twice to re-shoot, something that’s almost unimaginable on a project of this scale.

We did have several unforeseen events. The uniforms had to be modified at the last minute, and a key player—who was an actor—suffered an injury, so had to be replaced. The weather was different from the forecast, so we were filming in the freezing cold and pouring rain. So the conditions weren’t perfect. But that’s football!

In June 2020, at the height of Covid-19, with live sports sidelined worldwide, Corona beer presented a different type of phony soccer match. The brand pitted Águilas del América against Chivas Guadalajara via 90 minutes of very real footage from the teams’ battles spanning seven decades. This “Match of Ages” scored a gold, four silvers and one bronze at last year’s Clio Sports Awards.

CREDITS

Client: DirecTV Go
Campaign Title: Pirate Match
Executive Creative Director of Marketing & Acquisitions: Alexander Rocco
Digital Marketing Manager: Alexander Greif
Marketing & Branding Specialist: Fernanda Bonfanti
Corporate Communications Manager: Cassia Monteiro Da Silva Raymundo
Corporate Communications Specialist: Thais Morandini Canova Morrone

Agency: Mirum Agency Brasil
Chief Executive Officer: Robson Ortiz
Global Chief Creative Officer(s): Bas Korsten, Daniel Bonner
LATAM Chief Creative Officer(s): Daniel Minaker, Sebastián Tarazaga
Creative Director: Filipe Matiazi
Associate Creative Director: Victor Keiti
Operations Co-Ordinator: Amanda de Oliveira
Production Lead: Paulo Setti
Art Director(s): Rafael Rudnicki, Daniel Mota
Copywriter(s): Thiago Gabardo, Patricia Machado, Allison Noronha
Motion Graphics Supervisor: Bruno Reynaldo
Motion Designer: Igor Feitoza
Social Team: Vanessa Vieira, Gustavo Candido, Fernando Nunes, Fabiola Cebrian, Juan Silva, Emanuelle Sandri
Media Team: Camila Vaz, Chrystina Mundt, Mariana Erêda, Mellina Azevedo, Larissa Gonçalves
Tech Team: Felipe Gomide, Lizandra Silva, Leandro Mohr, Melchiades Medeiros, Fabio Assunção
Data & Analytics Team: Tiago Moreira, Franchesco Calzolaio, Oscar Neto, Leonardo Cabreira, Guilherme Ferreira, Flávia Clapis, Ector Luiz, Luiz Yamada, Jhonathan Wolff
PR Team: Daniela Andres e Marilia Carzino
Design Team: Nathalia Pereira, Aline Santos, Rafael Rudnicki
Photographer: Vinicius Barreto, João Heim
Account Executive(s): Patricia Rogoski, Alessandra Fraresso, Andressa Sucodolski, Julia Rugno

Production Company: BUZZ CCS – Curitiba
Director: Duda Justus and Lincoln Barela
Executive Producer: Jean Paul
Line Producer: Guilherme Barchik
Director of Photography: Lincoln Barela

Post Production Company: BUZZ CCS – Curitiba
Editor: Guilherme Bucco
Make-Up: Letícia Cardoso
Assistant Producer: Hebert Bueno
Casting: Rafael Moura anda Agy Campos
Art Direction: JP Foltran
Art Assistant: Angelo Foltran
Second Art Assistant: Gabriel Loureiro Lima
TV Director: Ricardo Peters
Camera 1: Eduardo Bitencourt
Camera 2: Ezequiel (Duto)
Camera 3: Felipe Conceição
Camera 4: Sérgio Luiz de Melo
Camera 5: Toni Serpa
Audio Operator: Marcos Moura Fiel
Making of Camera: Átila Pereira
Making of Camera 2: Jhon Victor
VT Operator: Tiago Bertolini
Assistant: Luis Ricardo

Music Company: Toro Audio – Curitiba
Executive Music Producer & Creative Director: Daniela Zandonai and Kelson Diego
Account Manager & Production Co-Ordinator: Mariana Kauchakje
Music Producer: Tiago Mendes
Composer: Tiago Mendes
Arrangement: Tiago Mendes
Mixing & Mastering: Toro Áudio
Sound Design: Toro Audio – Curitiba
Sound Designer: Tiago Mendes

“Whoa!” to those who oppose Serena Williams in “The One,” DirectTV’s new spot that spoofs tropes from the Matrix franchise.

Red and blue tennis balls, Neo-shades, chill hand gestures and other references to the reality-bending sci-fi films abound as Serena aces out a replicating rival.

It’s fab-tastical fare from TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles and Stink directing collective Traktor, following the team’s earlier efforts with La Williams based on Wonder Woman ’84 and scary movies.

Tagged “Get Your TV Together,” the campaign memorably touts DirecTV’s mix of sports and entertainment. “The One” breaks ahead of The Matrix Resurrections, which hits theaters and HBO Max on Dec. 22.

“The Matrix is truly an iconic franchise, and so many moments from the films have become part of our lexicon,” agency associate creative director Mark Winters tells Muse. “It’s also a story about digital worlds colliding and merging—which is a great backdrop to show how DirecTV Stream is bringing together live TV and On Demand content.”

“The new release is a great cultural signal boost—but really, once we imagined Serena diving towards a bullet-time tennis ball, we knew we had to see it,” Winters says. “We borrowed specific effects from The Matrix to get the right look. Digging back into that aesthetic was a blast, from the bits of code raining down to the way we achieved the lighting in post for our dystopian tennis court.”

Fun factoid: “Keanu Reeves was going to join us for a cameo, but his John Wick 4 schedule made lockdown travel impossible. So, we got a squirrel instead,” reveals Ryan Buckley, also an agency ACD. (The rodent makes a suitably “glitchy” appearance at the ad’s conclusion, in classic Matrix style.)

CREDITS

DIRECTV Marketing

Vince Torres – Chief Marketing Officer
Kendall Thaker – VP, Advertising and Go-To-Market
Mandy Martin – AVP, Marketing Management
Sheri Holmes – Director, Product Marketing Management
Nick Bianchi – Director, Social Media
Jenn Wang – Lead Product Marketing Manager
Jessica Elizardo – Lead Product Marketing Manager
Tracy Threlkeld – Lead Product Marketing Manager

TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles

Erin Riley – President

Renato Fernandez – Chief Creative Officer
Ariel Abramovici – Creative Director
Bruno Acanfora – Creative Director
Mark Winters – Associate Creative Director
Ryan Buckley – Associate Creative Director
Will Holmes – Art Director
Tyler Archibald – Copywriter
Andrew Bae – Jr. Art Director
Yashashree Samant – Jr. Copywriter
Bruno Regalo – Head of Design
Jake Skirving – Senior Designer
Andrea Nazarino – Jr. Designer

Guia Iacomin – Director of Content Production
Jack Cutler – Senior Producer
Brandon Loftin – Associate Producer
Hashi Clark – Executive Art Producer
Dessiah Davis – Director of Traffic Operations
Robin Rossi – Director of Business Affairs

Jen Costello – Chief Strategy Officer
Jesse Unger – Group Strategy Director
Jonathan Handy – Associate Strategy Director
Krystal Hawkins – Sr. Strategist
Hannah Schweitzer – Jr. Strategist
Albert Kim – Head of Connections Planning
Kevin Bautista – Associate Director of Connections
Laura Mayer – Data Director

Matt Theisen – Brand Lead
Lani Reichenbach – Brand Lead
Caitlin Miller – Account Director
Oyinda Elias – Management Supervisor
Carlos Quintanilla – Account Supervisor
Sarah Newton – Account Supervisor
Bridget Derraugh – Account Executive
Lawrence Gonzales – Project Manager

Critical Mass

Val Carlson – Chief Creative Officer
Andrew Lavery – Group Creative Director
James Maclean – Creative Director
Javier Olivares – Assoc. Creative Director
Megahn O’Neil – Assoc. Creative Director
Ryan Mesnchuk – Senior Art Director
Megan King – Senior Art Director
Taylor Lumley – Art Director
Ana Benitez Duarte – Designer
Peter Lagosky – Senior Copywriter
Melissa De Sa – Senior Copywriter
Daisy Swain – Copywriter

Jen Goldberg – Group Strategy Director
Kyle Bottoms – Strategy Director

Maria Hodgeson – SVP Client Partner
Lauren Rappaport – VP Client partner
Andrew Burke – Account Director
Haley Dodd – Sr. Account Manager
Olivia Knight – Account Manager

Sydney Woodman – Executive Producer
Audrie Sham – Sr. Producer
Ashleigh Fehmie – Sr. producer
Christine Spitler – Producer
Vicky Patel – Sr. Producer
Lexi Scott – Producer
Sylvia Brach – Producer
Ethan Cole – Producer

Production Partners

Stink – Production House
Daniel Bergmann – President
Mungo Maclagan – Executive Producer
Traktor – Director
Pär M. Ekberg – DOP
Leah Allina – Line Producer

Arcade – Editorial
Alexa Atkin – Executive Producer
Jeff Feruzzo – Lead Editor
Brad Wasekwich – Lead Editor
Ryan Andrus – Assistant Editor

JAMM – VFX
Asher Edwards – Executive Producer
Ashley Greyson – Senior Producer
Alexandra Rickards – Production Coordinator
Anna Dood – Color Producer
Adam Scott – Colorist
Andy Boyd – VFX Supervisor
Jake Montgomery – VFX Artist

Lime – Mix
Susie Boyajan – Executive Producer
Matt Miller – Head Mixer
Ian Connie – Assistant Mixer

String & Tins – Sound Design
Laura-Leigh – Producer
Culum Simpson – Sound Designer

Search Party – Music
Meghan Currier – Music Producer
Chris James – Composer
Dylan Nowik – Composer

South – Music
Ann Haugen – Head of Production
Ignacio Das – Producer
Vladimir Berkhemer – Writer
Britt Darling – Writer
Dan Pritking – Writer
Jon Darling – Writer

Diego Speroni – Retouching
Diego Speroni – Digital Artist
Francisco Speroni – Digital Assistant
Freddy Fabris – Digital Producer