The 30 best ads of Campaign Brief’s 30 years. 2009: HBF ‘Working less’ television
Campaign Brief WA turns 30 this month, so over the thirty days of June we’re looking back and choosing the best ad done in each of our 30 years.
CB happened to be watching telly on the Sunday night when this ad first went to air. The moody opening shots immediately grabbed our attention, and we stayed glued to it for the next 60 seconds. We were mightily impressed at the emotion and sensitivity conveyed, and wondering which of the big agencies in Sydney had done it. Imagine our surprise then when the HBF logo popped up at the end.
Wow! This was a world-class bit of TV from a Perth agency.
Written by Meerkats’ Kurt Beaudoin with art direction by Jon Jungwirth and Rodrigo Cassini, it owed much of its quality to the superb production by Flying Fish Director Niki Caro and Academy Award-winning DOP Russell Boyd.
Two other ads in the campaign were also very good but maybe because this was the first one we saw, ‘Working Less’ is our favourite.
The campaign actually polarised the community, with many people not liking its ‘downbeat’ tone of the campaign. But that’s what made it stand out from all the happy, smiling run-of-the-mill health insurance ads around.
It won a ton of awards, including a Silver Lion at Cannes, as did the companion radio campaign.
Alas, Meerkats weren’t able to progress the strategy. A change of marketing manager saw a change of agency and a new direction for the brand, which to be fair is pretty good.
But this was clearly the best work of 2009, and some of the best ever from a Perth agency.