MullenLowe U.S. and U.S. Cellular built a super long fireplace mantel decorated festively and dripping with stockings stuffed with Smartphones. The brand plays the long game to communicate a new promotion: Switch to U.S. Cellular and get half off any Smartphone this holiday. Every. Single. Smartphone.
The creatives tell DIVERGE more details on where the idea came from.
Who was the team behind this ad?
Ray Lam, Associate Creative Director and Josh Reese, Senior Art Director
Where did the idea come from?
Spitballing with Creative Director team, Rob Kottkamp and John Kearse, about how many stockings it would take to fit all the phones U.S. Cellular offers. We ended up counting all the options in the U.S. Cellular catalog (colors, sizes, etc.) and found… there were more than we could count. You can see how one thing led to another.
Does the fireplace ever end?
Eventually, all good things must come to an end, but not this fireplace mantel!
What feedback have you received from the ad?
Any time we rethink the possibilities of what an ad could be, whether it’s pre-roll, a banner, or a billboard, our client team, our CCO, and even our clients, get excited. This is exactly what happened here. Our day-to-day client saw the possibilities from the initial pitch and helped guide it to where it needed to go, and also gave us the best compliments throughout. That’s the best feedback. Kudos to him.
Additional thoughts?
The director brought a lot of ideas to the spot that really helped embellish the joke, making it more than just the classic never-ending mantle gag.
