Tony Hale is a cubicle creeper, nagging white-collar workers to actually take their lunch breaks, in a new campaign for sandwich chain Subway.
The Veep and Arrested Development actor lurks over—and sometimes under—the desks of office drones, doing his best impressions of their hungry subconscious. He'll even accompany you to the nearest location ... so he can ruin your meal, too.
Hale—who serves as the goofy personal aide Gary to Julia Louis-Dreyfus's Selina Meyers on HBO's hit political comedy Veep—exhibits a rare gift for being obnoxious. Try not to laugh when he starts spraying one unlucky camper with a water bottle.
Hale concepted, wrote and starred in the digital shorts with Subway's oversight, though the brand said he will not appear in future commercials and is not officially a brand spokesperson. Catalyst and 360i collaborated on the campaign as well.
One spot has launched—see that one below. Two more are coming Wednesday and Thursday. In the second spot, he talks directly to the camera about the decline of the lunch break, and then bellows at office workers, all but forcing them out of the office.
Charles Hood, whose credits include writing and directing indie flick Freezer Burn, helmed the camera.
Subway is working to distance itself from longtime spokesman Jared Fogle, who is serving 15 years after pleading guilty to charges related to child pornography and soliciting sex with minors. In the wake of the scandal, Subway hired new marketing brass and shifted lead creative duties to BBDO, which launched its first work last fall.
The new campaign's bid to save lunch breaks is part of a broader social media campaign from the chain. That's a noble pursuit in and of itself. The only problem is, it's not clear why anyone, given a chance to break away from their workspace, wouldn't go get a real sandwich instead.
CREDITS
Client: Subway
Title: "#savelunchbreak"
Director: Charles Hood
Producer: Kevin Mann
Producer: Rachel Miller
Producer: Chris Boyd
Director of Photography: Adrian Correia
B-Cam Operator: Herbert Wei
First AC: Nathan Kelley
First AC: Carlos Medina
Gaffer: Sean Tanner
Best Boy: Gabriel Lewis
DIT: Patrick Burke
Sound Mixer: Kevin Rosen-Quan
Production Designer: Ayse Arf
Script Supervisor: Tracey Merkle
Key Hair/Make-up Artist: Kristin Turner
Key Costume/Wardrobe: Megan Lian
Editor: Grant Surmi
Music: Kevin Blumenfeld
Producer's Assistant: Ace Hasan
Production Assistant: Adam Federman
Production Assistant: Jennifer Maizlish
Production Assistant: Derek Klezmer
Production Assistant: Blair Scott