Drama and reality stars fight to the death in campaign for ITV

Oscar winner Tom Hooper directs spot with the message that the broadcaster spans both genres

Published On
May 12, 2021

Editor's Pick

Drama shows and reality TV are constantly fighting for viewers' attention these days. That battle comes to life in a hilarious short film from the U.K.'s ITV.

Agency Uncommon conceived the ad, which depicts celebrities from both genres literally fighting to the death. It stars Jason Watkins (star of ITV's "McDonald and Dodds" and Harold Wilson in "The Crown"), who's rehearsing in his trailer when Kem Cetinay, a former contestant on ITV's reality hit "Love Island," comes over for a drink. Watkins pours Cetinay a glass of wine laced with poison while distracting him with a speech on the importance of drama. However, his rival also has murderous intentions.

Ultimately, the point is to show that there's no need for fighting, since ITV offers the best of both worlds. Smuggler's Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech" and "Les Miserables") helmed the spot, which aired last night following the BRIT music awards on ITV. It marks the start of a new campaign centered on "drama vs reality." 

"ITV are unique: they are the only place to bring together epic British drama and ferocious reality in one place on the ITV Hub," said Nils Leonard, co-founder at Uncommon, in a statement. "We celebrate this collision with a series of gloves-off films that blur the lines between advertising and entertainment, all showing the lengths that ITV stars will go to fight for your attention."

The campaign will include multiple media channels including outdoor, Snapchat and TikTok (where you can watch the clip of Watkins dancing in his trailer), with further films to follow over the next few weeks. 

Credits

Date
May 12, 2021
Client :
ITV
Agency :
Uncommon Creative Studio
Marketing Director :
Paul Ridsdale
Head of Brand Marketing :
Brendan Dinen
Brand Marketing Manager :
Rebecca Throp
Brand Marketing Exec :
Harriet Lowe
Creative Studio :
Uncommon Creative Studio
Director :
Tom Hooper
Production Company :
SMUGGLER
Prod Co Producer :
Nick Sutherland Dodd
Executive Producer :
Sara Wallace
Managing Director :
Fergus Brown
DOP :
Barry Ackroyd
Production Designer :
Eve Stewart
1st AD :
Terry Needham
Editor :
Russell Icke
Senior Assistant :
Steven Waltham
Offline Executive Produce :
Annabel Bennett
Post Production :
Electric Theatre Collective
Shoot Supervisor :
Giles Cheetham
Post Production Producer :
Magda Krimitsou
Post Production Coordinator :
Larisa Covaciu
VFX Supervisor :
Taran Spear
Digital Intermediate Provided by :
Goldcrest Post Production
Digital Colorist :
Adam Glasman
Online Editor :
Daniel Tomlinson
DI Producer :
Jonathan Collard
Director of Post Production :
Rob Farris
2D Team :
Matt Jackson
2D Team :
Alberto Pizzochero
2D Team :
Kia Coates
2D Team :
Rafa Vormittag
2D Team :
Rich Roberts
Executive Creative Director Audio :
Anthony Moore
Sound Design and Mix :
James Utting
Assistant Sound Engineer :
Frankie Beirne
Audio Producer :
Deborah Whitfield

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