A man with all the wrong answers is a brand's worst nightmare in Yext's first ad campaign

Thanks to the magic of the internet, the combined knowledge of the human race is available with a simple Google search. Of course, so is all the misinformation that bad actors and idiots alike can muster, dumped wholesale onto unregulated forums or spat directly out of a search engine without verification. The first ad campaign for brand management company Yext pokes fun at the kind of internet geniuses who spread distorted or half-remembered info faster than companies can correct them. In a series of spots from TBWA\Chiat\Day NY and directed by Kenny Herzog via O-Positive, Todd Munion is “The Man Without the Answers,” an affable but incompetent err-do-well whose constant attempts to provide answers, both online and in-person, inevitably lead people astray. The character is positioned as a danger to brands who want customers to have accurate information, and Yext is the solution, providing answers verified by the brand directly to consumers who might be led astray by the Munions of the world. Sure, thinking pizza was invented in Secaucus, New Jersey, or that Black Friday sometimes falls on a Tuesday probably won’t get anybody hurt. But even well-intentioned misinformation about food ingredients could have dire consequences for consumers with allergies, for example. A 90-second hero (top) and 30-second, industry specific spots are running online, with spend geared toward online video, LinkedIn and connected TV. The campaign also includes targeted out-of-home placements.

A man with all the wrong answers is a brand's worst nightmare in Yext's first ad campaign

Featured Stories