Olympian Ian Thorpe Is Now a Pool Cleaner in Campaign for Optus
Editor's Pick
In this gently funny film by Australian telecom firm Optus, former Olympic swim champion Ian "Thorpedo" Thorpe has reinvented himself by starting a pool cleaning company.
The mockumentary-style ad, which is aimed at small businesses, promoting a competition where they can win tickets to the Rio Olympics this summer, sees Thorpe driving around in a "Thorpedo Pool Cleaning" van, showing off his encyclopaedic knowledge of pool shapes and offering to clean customers' pools in "world record time." It's all so he can score tickets to the Games.
Thorpe -- who managed to fool some fans that he had really started the business by tweeting a teaser -- is totally convincing, even when explaining how he still keeps samples of the special pool water from where he won his first world record, or asking a flirtatious housewife: "Do you even have a pool?" He also manages to deliver lines like: "I think we forget how the majority of our bodies being made up of water, being able to clean pools for people now, it's like I'm cleansing their soul," with a completely straight face.
The ad was directed by Finch's Alex Roberts, for agency With Collective.
Credits
- Date
- May 20, 2016
- Brand :
- Optus
- Client :
- Optus
- Agency :
- With Collective
- Production Company :
- Finch
- Director :
- Alex Roberts
- Executive Producer :
- Corey Esse
- Producer :
- Amy Dymond
- Director, Photography :
- Tim Tregoning
- Editor :
- Joe Morris
- Post Production :
- White Chocolate
- Chief Executive Officer :
- Justin Hind
- Chief Operating Officer :
- Dominique Hind
- Chief Creative Officer :
- Steve Coll
- Associate Creative Director :
- Simon Fowler
- Creative Team :
- Mia Fukuyama
- Creative Team :
- Phillip Robbie
- Agency Producer :
- Claire Seffrin
- Agency Producer :
- Sarah Cloutier
- Digital Producer :
- Pedro Santos
Need a credit fix? Contact the Creativity Editors