Beware of getting distracted, warns this darkly comedic campaign for tech brand Setapp

A new campaign for Setapp, an app subscription service designed to help users complete tasks, puts a  darkly comedic spin on the perils of not finishing what you started.  

The three-year-old tech company's biggest campaign so far consists of several spots created by Droga5 London and shot by veteran comedy director Jeff Low via Biscuit Filmworks. All are infused with black comedy; in the hero film, "Snake," a man undergoes hypnosis for his snake phobia, but ends up having living out the rest of his life thinking he's a serpent because his hypnotherapist gets distracted by a phone call.

Two other films take the idea to even darker places. In one, a kid playing hide and seek with his father is left hiding behind a curtain—and we see him aging into an old man after his dad gets called away and forgets about the game. In another ad, a magician makes a woman's husband disappear and she spends the rest of her life trying to find him; on her deathbed, she might have to accept that it really was magic and not abduction. 

Each film ends with a pitchman explaining the importance of not getting sidetracked and introducing us to Setapp, which provides access to over 190 creative, productivity and maintenance apps for Macs, iPhones and iPads. According to Oleksandr Kosovan, Setapp CEO and founder, the campaign plays on "how productivity tools provide focus.” 

The campaign is running globally online and on social channels. Droga5 also developed a new brand design for Setapp, which draws upon the visual language of the internet using imagery such as loading bars and pop ups.