Roku vents about TV watching problems in hilarious shouty ads

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.” More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Roku vents about TV watching problems in hilarious shouty ads

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