At midnight on Wednesday night, ghd – the haircare company famous for its high quality straighteners – launched a new ad campaign via its Facebook page (which has almost 318,000 fans). The ad, shot by Floria Sigismondi and written by agency RKCR/Y&R, is a whopping 2 minutes 40 seconds long and features a soundtrack provided by the agency’s brand new record label’s first signing…

The story, rather obviously, is a take on Cinderella and this continues the brand’s not-particularly-engaging-thus-far Twisted Fairy Tales campaign. However, rather than being forced to leave the party at midnight, ol’ Cinders happens upon a set of ghd straighteners so, despite losing her fancy outfit, shoes and posh hairdo, manages to whip up a fresh new look before re-appearing at the ball.

On the credits for this video besides Sigismondi (who has shot videos for the likes of David Bowie, Christina Aguilera and the White Stripes) are editor Jarret Fijal (who recently won an MTV award for his work on Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance video), wardrobe stylist Andy Blake (who’s styled the likes of Robbie Williams, Marilyn Manson and Placebo) – and Cinders herself is played by Iva Furhlingova, a successful pop star in her native Czech Republic and France. Yet, I can’t help feeling that the film is lacking the presence of the kind of superstar performance that a lavishly shot music video needs to hold it together and make it stand up to repeat viewings. I also know nothing about straighteners or how to create an “edgy look” so it’s tricky to assess the success of the film as an ad for ghd.

However this film has a dual purpose… As well as an ad for ghd, in its 2 minute 40 edit, the film doubles up as a music video to accompany the release of the track Lucky You by LA-based band Le Rev, who have signed to RKCR/Y&R’s brand new record label, Two Black Cats.

So is this record label startup a flash in the pan for agency RKCR/Y&R? Dan Neale of Two Black Cats says not: “Other agencies and brands have launched a band to optimise promotion around a campaign, but we’re in this for the long haul.”

“One of Two Black Cats’ goals is to get a reputation for being the label who signed and launched the first single / EP for successful acts,” Neale continues. “Whilst we’ll actively be looking for potential soundtracks and/or tie-ins for adverts and brands, this won’t be the only vehicle for our signings. Our scope is much wider than that, and our first priority is to sign acts that we believe we can help to achieve commercial success, with or without an advertising tie-in.”

The label plans to use a team of specialist music PRs, radio pluggers and promoters to help support its signings and develop their profiles. It is commissioning a remix of Lucky You and plans are afoot to release Le Rev’s first EP on the label early next year.

The ad / music video is set to break on TV this Saturday during ITV’s X Factor.

Credits:

Advertising agency: RKCR/Y&R
Creative team: Steve Williams & Adrian Lim
Executive creative director: Damon Collins
Business director: Vicky Jacobs
Account director: Katey-Ellen Price
Planning director: Emily James
TV producer: Claudio Gorini
Clients: Mike Cohen, Gavin Forth, Anna Mewes
Production company: Believe Media
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Costumer designer / Stylist: Andy Blake
Hairstyling: Simon Maynard
Make up artist: Darren Evans
Shoe designer: Jay Maskrey