When William Shatner released his first album, The Transformed Man, in 1968, he practically invented the genre of overly dramatic lyrical recitations to music. Of course, it wasn't well received, and he was ceaselessly mocked. But his unique style would become popular again decades later, as the Internet found those old recordings and did what the Internet does best: elevate the absurd to the sublime.
Then Ben Folds, a longtime secret fan of The Transformed Man, created an album with Shatner called Has Been in 2004, and suddenly, that special Shat style wasn't just hilarious and inexplicable, it was downright in demand.
So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Thomson Holidays bases its latest commercial around Shatner's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" off his 2011 album Seeking Major Tom.
Thomson wants you to take a vacation that washes away the slings and arrows of your everyday life in the waters of the Caribbean. And in this spot, by London agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, it woos you with a version of The Velveteen Rabbit—as a neglected, one-eyed teddy bear learns to smile again by vacationing in Jamaica and falls in love with an off-label My Little Pony.
The brand's previous ad, the award-winning "Simon the Ogre," won hearts and minds with similar fairy-tale storytelling. But of course, it wasn't cut to a track by William Shatner.
Frankly, the cute bear story would have been pretty darn good without the Shatman. It's beautifully and carefully considered and shot—not surprisingly, given that director Tom Tagholm's credits include the incredible "Meet the Superhumans" spot for the 2012 Paralympic Games.
But somehow, Shatner's reading elevates the work from a potentially slapstick exploration of the damage popsicles can do to plush into a surprisingly emotional journey that will have you feeling for the trials and tribulations of an inanimate animal.
Which means it could also give Thomson the fairy-tale sales it's dreaming of.
CREDITS
Client: Thomson Holidays
Spot: "A Film About a Smile"
Agency: Beattie McGuinness Bungay, London
Executive Creative Director: Trevor Beattie
Creative Director: Pat Burns
Creative: Rachel Miles, Michael Tsim
Producer: Gill Loftus
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Tom Tagholm
Executive Producer: Stephen Brierley
Producer: Fran Thompson
Production Manager: Ananda Coulier
Director of Photography: Martin Ruhe
Model Maker: Anarchy
Soft Technician, Teddy Bear Wrangler: Danielle Boyne
Postproduction: Realise Studio
Voiceover: William Shatner
