An unhelpful pirate promotes Pirate Ship's cheap shipping rates in first brand campaign

The first ever brand campaign from delivery firm Pirate Ship highlights its cheap rate shipping with the character of a pirate captain who turns up to "save" people -- but on their shipping, rather than an unfortunate demise.

The U.S. campaign created via Mother London includes three films in which the pirate apparently comes to the rescue of people in dire need of salvation (drowning in quicksand, locked in a car trunk or being abducted by aliens). But, alas, he reveals that he can only save them up to 89% on their shipping.

The spots, which are simple and to the point, were directed by comedy veteran Harold Einstein of Dummy Films. The campaign will initially launch via social media and online advertising, with broadcast media following early in the New Year. Media planning and buying is through Media by Mother. The push comes as Pirate Ship, which launched in 2014, is also introducing a new look brand, designed by Oktopods.

“Pirate Ship is a company that really values having fun, and they challenged us to go to controversial places in search of it," said Richard Tahmasebi, creative director at Mother London, in a statement. "All we really wanted to do was make some commercials that’ll make you laugh, while underlining how much you can save on your shipping.”

"We can unfortunately not help people much apart from saving money on their shipping costs, but we do that with full heart and full service in a max way,” added Niklas Frings-Rupp, creative director at Pirate Ship.