These new ads go for chuckles amid COVID-19

Because Australia has done an outstanding job containing the virus thus far, marketers there have more leeway than their counterparts in other markets to use a touch of humour to connect with consumers.

Here's two new examples of brands doing so successfully. 

Above we have a 'Precedented prices', a TVC for supermarket chain Aldi, which is no stranger to using humour or to being featured by Ad Nut. It's a fun spot, completely in line with the brand's long-standing devotion to highlighting its low prices in funny ways, along with its agency BMF. The brand has not had to alter its tone or its messaging at all, and it's earned the right to argue that's it's been on the consumer's side all along. Ad Nut also likes that the ad pokes fun at the absolutely unprecedented overuse of the word "unprecedented" these days. 

Below, we find Suzuki, along with Deloitte Digital, attempting to reposition its cars as easy home additions for people who would like to have another room to use during isolation conditions. The spots highlight the advanced features of these "rooms", such as self-cleaning windows and climate-control systems. Obviously, it's all tongue-in-cheek. The brand knows it's using a corny joke to make you think about its vehicles, and it wants you to know that it knows. Does that make it OK? It leaves Ad Nut feeling a bit empty, but Ad Nut supposes most people won't mind—it's better than another 'We're all in this together' montage, anyway. It helps that the brand has been using 'For fun's sake' as its tagline and making light-hearted ads for some time.

CREDITS (Aldi)

Creative Agency: BMF
Executive Creative Director: Alex Derwin
Creative Directors: David Fraser and Dantie van der Merwe
Creative: Michael Dawson
Executive Planning Director: Christina Aventi
Group Planning Director: Kinga Papp
Senior Strategic Planner: Kellie Box
Managing Director: Stephen McArdle
General Manager: Paul Coles
Deputy Head of Account Management: Aisling Colley
Account Director: Bryan Bryant-Steeds
Account Executive: Flora Fraser
Head of TV: Jenny Lee-Archer
Agency Producer: Jess Vella
Director: Dave Wood
Production Company: Good Oil Films
Executive Producer: Juliet Bishop and Sam Long
Producer: Andrew ‘Macca’ McLean
Post Production: Alt.vfx
Editor: Simon Price @ARC
DoP: Germaine McMicking Studios

CREDITS (Suzuki)

Client: Suzuki Australia
Michael Pachota: General Manager, Automotive
Daniel Mercuri: National Marketing Manager - Automotive
Handsome Robert Rosengarten: Assistant Marketing Manager - Automotive
Daniel Sammut: Digital Marketing Coordinator - Automotive
Creative Consultancy: Deloitte Digital Creative Brand & Advertising
Partner: Adrian Mills
Chief Creative Officer & Partner: Matt Lawson
Executive Creative Director: Charles Baylis
Copywriter: Britton Upchurch
Motion Graphics: Jake Doherty
Designer: Kyle Lotherington
TV Producer: Marlese Sloan
Group Account Director: Daniel Loukidis
Account Manager: Natalie Ng
Sound Studio: Risk Sound Sound
Design: Dee Gjedsted
Producers: Brodie Mattner & Kate Gibson

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.