Tubi is free for everyone, sinners and saints alike, in Mischief’s comic ads

You don’t have to be Mother Theresa to watch Tubi for free. Everyone can enjoy the ad-supported streaming service without paying a dime, whether you’re a pillar of the community or a scamp who’s drawn more to vandalism or even violent crime. That’s the amusing message of Tubi’s new ads from Mischief, directed by MJZ’s Tom Kuntz, aimed at educating viewers who may think Tubi is a paid service. The entertaining spots take a wicked left turn halfway through, quite literally. They begin with glimpses of upstanding folks in society—a parody of feel-good advertising that, let’s face it, usually puts you to sleep—before moving on to less admirable characters who also get Tubi for free, even though they surely don’t deserve it. “Tubi is free for everyone. And we mean everyone,” says the end line. The campaign—which will air in broadcast, with a creator campaign in social—came from research that showed 62% of consumers who were familiar with Tubi still didn’t know the service was free. “Between consumers watching their wallets and the insights we gathered, it felt like the right time to kick off a campaign to remind the world that we don’t cost a thing, in a cheeky way,” said Nicole Parlapiano, Tubi’s chief marketing officer. The little details in the spots add to the comedy. “Burt’s & Bears sounds like a real name of a small business but we invented it,” said Bianca Guimaraes, executive creative director at Mischief. “We wanted to make the store that’s destroyed sell something cute and harmless like bear sculptures so it’s even more ridiculous when those things get smashed.” Also read: Tubi celebrates rapid growth in new ads from Mischief The fire in the other spot was real, not CGI. “We piped in flames via gas pipes around a concrete structure we built on set—in a safe and controlled environment, obvs—to give the illusion of a building engulfed in flames,” Guimaraes said. The mobster neck brace was a last-minute touch from Kuntz. “Tubi approaches everything in a way that separates them from the streaming crowd,” said Greg Hahn, co-founder and chief creative officer at Mischief. “The marketing team has a strong belief that every message is a chance to build the brand. In this case, it means finding an entertaining, unexpected and brutally true way of talking about the fact it is free.” More Creativity coverage from Ad Age: Sign up for our daily Creativity newsletter to see the best stories of the day.

Tubi is free for everyone, sinners and saints alike, in Mischief’s comic ads

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