Founded in 2004 by a group of filmmakers, over the last 15 years Vimeo has set itself apart from other, ad-heavy platforms like YouTube by treating the creatives who use its site to share their work as its core audience.

Fittingly, the brand has chosen to focus on these content creators – all 80 million of them – who have used the platform to date for its first major ad campaign.

Developed in collaboration with creative agency Fig, the campaign centres around the simple idea that ‘Vimeo can help’. The brand also enlisted the help of photographer and filmmaker Alex Prager, who directed a series of 14 short films which place an assortment of characters in increasingly bizarre conundrums.

The films make use of Prager’s signature slick style, tempered with her particular brand of black humour. One starts out in a seemingly normal work presentation, but goes awry when the presenter’s laser pointer decides to turn destructive, while another depicts a particularly frustrating café scene where an unfortunate customer is being force fed boiling hot tea by an over-zealous waiter.

Speaking about the project on Vimeo’s blog, Prager says: “What drew me to this project was the opportunity to tell stories of unique individuals that make up a world in rich detail. Vimeo was open to the characters being strange and having weird little moments in their lives that make them more endearing. I was able to create these tiny stories that highlight the awkward moments in life we can all relate to.”

The films also hark back to some of Fig Chief Creative Officer Scott Vitrone’s earlier work, when he created a number of similarly weird yet wonderful ads for Skittles.

Watch the rest of the films from the campaign here; read CR’s interview with Alex Prager here