SeatGeek’s comic ads reveal the shocking truth—that the ticketing app just works as it should

Anyone who’s spent more than five minutes in the ticketing world knows how broken it is, and it’s getting worse. SeatGeek acknowledges this in a new campaign from Slap Global that humorously positions the lack of problems with its own app—which simply works as it’s supposed to—as a news story worth investigating. The creative centers on a smarmy journalistic interviewer, played by improv comedian Matt Cook, who grills SeatGeek execs about the app’s features. Cook hams it up throughout, even though he finds little scandal—or rather, that the scandal is a ticketing app that won’t give you endless headaches. The spots were directed by Matt Aselton at Arts & Sciences and edited by Geoff Hounsell at Arcade. Slap Global’s creatives told Ad Age in an email that they started with the truth that the bar for customer experience is incredibly low in the ticketing industry. The line “Expect the Expected” came first, and everything else flowed from there. “We were in the area of treating a non-fantastic thing as big news,” they said. “That led us to some of segments of ‘The Daily Show’ where they investigate news stories with a tongue-in-cheek manner. And that got us to our journalist/interviewer character. The campaign idea also let us talk about all the other innovations the SeatGeek developers have to make buying concert and sports tickets a no-brainer.” SeatGeek, a three-time Fast Company “Most Innovative Companies” honoree, has made common-sense innovations such as guaranteeing your ticket actually gets you into the event, allowing returns if you can’t make it, and offering a preview of your seat view before purchase. “Pretty basic, right?” said the Slap team. “Yet these represent true hardcore innovations in the ticketing industry. It struck us as absurd that these essentials were missing. So, we embarked on an absurd investigation about it.” The launch film will broke Dec. 1 during the Pac 12 Championship Game on ABC. The campaign also includes digital, social, and outdoor elements. “We can’t fix the trust problems in the ticketing industry, but we can help fans trust their ticketing experience with SeatGeek,” said Melissa Postier, marketing director at SeatGeek. “This campaign highlights all the reasons fans can feel confident choosing SeatGeek for their live event tickets.”

SeatGeek’s comic ads reveal the shocking truth—that the ticketing app just works as it should

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