Voice commands and hand gestures don't just allow you to control the viewing experience on Samsung's latest Smart TV. They help you tame marauding hordes of wildebeests, aliens, Roman centurions, Maori warriors, American footballers … and the wildest of the wild: cheerleaders.
It appears Samsung has not engineered a cool advance in TV technology here so much as a complete revolution in warfare.
The Smart TV is intended to give viewers a cinematic experience. So, of course, these two 90-second spots are themselves cinematic. Directed (separately) by Adam Berg and Romain Gavras—two guys who know their way around a grand production or two—the "King of TV City" and "Charge" spots from CHI & Partners in London couldn't be more blockbuster-y. They both feature groups of attackers ripped from every action movie in history, each charging headlong at a single Samsung-buying dude, who seems vulnerable but in fact couldn't be more superhuman himself.
In a way, the bigness of the spots is a disconnect from the features that are actually being advertised, which are relatively subtle—hand swipes and audio cues, which take the place of a remote control. When these features are demonstrated in the context of each ad—both guys simply swipe away danger—it comes off as … well, kind of silly.
This is why, of the two spots, Gavras's "Charge" actually works a little better—because it's more fun-loving and goofier, from the bouncier soundtrack to the often-comical jockeying for position among the legions bearing down on our hero, plopping lazily in an armchair on the beach. (Outside of video games, that's certainly not a fighting posture.) Berg's spot, meanwhile, remains more serious throughout, perhaps to its detriment. (The teddy bear is cute, but he's ditched pretty quickly when the extraterrestrials arrive.)
Both spots are expertly produced. They are very much mini movies, visually grand with jaw-dropping flourishes (the T. Rex in "King of TV City," the car flipping over in "Charge"). And by all accounts, the Smart TV technology is indeed impressive, so it's not like this is the world's most elaborate dog, pony and dinosaur show. For a global campaign, it's probably just the right size.
If you are set upon by hundreds of millions of years of antagonists, though, do not try this at home. Bring a sword or something.
CREDITS
Client: Samsung
Agency: CHI & Partners, London
Spot: "King of TV City"
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Burley
Art Director: Alexei Berwitz
Copywriter: Rob Webster
Planners: Anthony Cox, Oli Egan
Agency Producer: Alex Nicholson
Account Handlers: Christian Hinchcliffe, Ana Saffer
Media Agency: Starcom
Media Planner: Erica Chen
Director: Adam Berg
Production Company: Stink
Production Company Executive Producer: Blake Powell
Production Company Producer: Ben Croker
Production Company Manager: Christabelle Stone
Director of Photography: Mattias Montero
Visual Effects: MPC
Visual Effects Producer: Chris Allen
Visual Effects Supervisor: Franck Lambertz
Grade: Mark Gethin
Audio Postproduction: Jungle Studios
Editor: Paul Hardcastle (Trim)
Spot: "Charge"
Creative Directors: Jonathan Burley, Rick Brim
Art Director: Jay Phillips
Copywriter: Neil Clarke
Planners: Anthony Cox, Oli Egan
Agency Producer: Caroline Angell
Account Handlers: Christian Hinchcliffe, Ryan Colet
Media Agency: Starcom
Media Planner: Erica Chen
Director: Romain Gavras
Production Company: Somesuch&co
Production Company Executive Producer: Tim Nash
Director of Photography: Benoit Debie
Visual Effects: MPC
Visual Effects Producer: Ian Luxford
Visual Effects Supervisor: Rob Walker
Grade: Aline Sinquin
Audio Postproduction: Sam Ashwell @ 750mph
Editor: Jono Griffith @ Hagon