Roku vents about TV watching problems in hilarious shouty ads

Creative agency Fellow Kids and director Dave Laden capture chaotic family moments ahead of holiday buying season

Published On
Oct 02, 2024

Editor's Pick

People shouting in ads can be off-putting, but done right it’s comedy gold. We saw this with Erich & Kallman’s spots for Reese’s and Auto Glass Now. And here’s another good example: Roku’s wonderfully shouty new campaign about the common frustrations of watching TV at home.

Three spots feature families dealing with familiar TV issues—shopping for a smart TV; figuring out how to find content to stream; searching for a lost remote. In each ad, the experience is so exasperating that the anger has boiled over, and everyone’s just yelling at everyone else.

In a good way.

 

The amusing spots highlight the simplicity of Roku products and how its streaming devices cut through the annoyances and reduce friction in the TV viewing experience. 

The tagline is, “Less screaming. More streaming.”

The ads were created by new Los Angeles creative agency Fellow Kids and directed by Dave Laden of Hungry Man. (Fellow Kids was founded by veterans of the agency Big Family Table, which did the “Hulu Has Live Sports” campaign a few years back; Roku’s global creative chief, Damon Van Deusen, worked with them when he was at Hulu.) They will run across The Roku Channel, Roku’s social channels and in retail media such as Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Amazon.

Colleen McGee, director of marketing for devices at Roku, told Ad Age that the goal was to zero in on relatable consumer truths and then calibrate the humor so it was actually funny and not annoying. 

“Anytime an agency presents to you spot after spot after spot with screaming, it can get a little overwhelming,” she said with a laugh. “You can take the hyperbole to an extreme that ends up not being funny. We worked with the agency and particularly the director to find that sweet spot, so the screaming is highly exaggerated but also highly relatable.”

 

The spots promote Roku’s main devices—its player and its TV. “The TV shopping spot in particular was a reflection of a lot of work we did last year to understand and empathize with the path to purchase for a TV,” said McGee. “People are overwhelmed by all the options and want a clear and simple choice.” 

With online sales expected to hit a record $241 billion this holiday, Roku is looking to start conversations around its offerings. Retail media reaches people at the point of sale, while advertising on Roku’s own channels spurs word of mouth and gifting opportunities, McGee said.

“We rely on word of mouth quite a bit,” she said. “Going into Q4, there’s never a better time for word of mouth and recommendations because it’s a gifting opportunity. It’s a sharing opportunity. So yes, we’re reaching our existing Roku user [on the Roku media channels], but we believe that they then help activate.”

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Credits

Date
Oct 02, 2024
Client :
Roku
Agency :
Fellow Kids
VP Retail Strategy :
Chris Larson
VP Global Brand & Creative :
Damon Van Deusen
Director Growth Marketing :
Chris Bull
Director Marketing Devices :
Colleen McGee
Producer :
Jingo Olaes
CEO/CCO :
Guto Araki
ECD :
Eric Christy Manchester
ECD :
Neal Desai
CD :
Marcin Markiewicz
Head of Brand :
Lacy Morrow
Executive Producer :
Judd Stricker
Business Affairs Manager :
Cindy Lewellen
Production :
Hungry Man
Director :
Dave Laden
DP :
Doug Chamberlain
Managing Partner / Executive Producer :
Caleb Dewart
Partner/Executive Producer :
Kim Dellara
Partner/Executive Producer :
Matt Lefebvre
Executive Producer :
Franchesca McDowell
Head of Production :
Marian Harkness
Producer :
Josh Goldstein
Production Supervisor :
Ben Oswald
Editorial :
Whitehouse Post
Editor :
Brian Gannon
Assistant Editor :
Alexa Vallejo
Senior EP :
Joanna Manning
Senior Producer :
Katrina Kuss
VFX/Finishing :
Tribbo Post
VFX Supervisor :
Rodrigo Pina
Producer :
Rafael Flamínio
Account Manager :
Carol Barros
Color :
Trafik
Managing Partner :
Robert Owens
Colorist :
Ricky Gausis
Colorist :
Nate Seymore
Color Assist :
Phillip Dystant
Color Assist :
Yujin Yohe
Head of Production :
Greer Bratschie
Producer :
Ben Trumm
Mix :
Matt Miller
Music :
Caya
Partner/Composer :
Ben Einzinger
Partner/EP :
Kiki Einzinger

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Project Type