New Extra Gum ad celebrates the joy of life post-lockdown

Set to a rousing Celine Dion soundtrack, the film takes a lighthearted look at what life could be like when the UK returns to some semblance of normality

Finding things to poke fun at in the middle of a pandemic is no small task, but in the last 12 months we’ve seen brands and ad agencies rise to the challenge admirably. The latest is Extra Gum, which has released a TV campaign, created by Chicago agency Energy BBDO, that riffs on all the things that have made lockdown so unbearable.

The film is set in a world not too unlike our own, where lockdown has finally come to an end and hordes of people are streaming out into the streets to run, frolic and snog one another with wild abandon.

The ad makes light of many of the pet hates of the past year, including unending video calls, the lack of personal grooming, and the general drudgery of being stuck in our homes day after day. The image of a particularly unkempt man, clutching his packet of toilet paper and gazing bleary eyed from his front door, feels like an apt visual metaphor.

As Josh Gross and Pedro Pérez, co-chief creative officers at Energy BBDO, point out, “when the time comes, we won’t just exit our homes quietly, pick up the newspaper and whistle our way back to the office. No, we’re going to return with force and help the world get its ding back.”

Credits:
Agency: Energy BBDO
Co-CCOs: Josh Gross, Pedro Perez
SVP, ECD: Kenny Blumenschein
Creative Directors: Lucas Owens, Monique Kaplan, Colin O’Toole, Hansel Quintela
Director: Nick Ball