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

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.

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

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