Hapless Paparazzo is New ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ Star

Specsavers has introduced a short-sighted paparazzi with its first character-led ‘Should’ve...’ campaign. 

 

Unveiling this Sunday (January 28th 2018) on YouTube and outdoor media, followed by a big reveal on TV on Sunday February 4th, the on-going campaign will celebrate the calamitous career of photographer Jason Shutter. 

Directed and produced by the in-house creative team at Specsavers, the campaign takes a multi-channel approach leading with outdoor, press and social media teasers before launching on TV and digital media. With media planning and activation handled by Manning Gottlieb OMD, it’s the first Should’ve campaign to be integrated across all media in this way. 

 

Throughout a series of ads, viewers will follow Jason as he goes to great lengths to photograph supposed celebrities, but with the hilarious consequences of him just pestering unsuspecting members of the public. In one situation, he mistakes a group of friends outside a pub for his favourite boy band while elsewhere in a park he chases a startled jogger, convinced he is an A-list star. 

Featuring actor Oliver Britten as Jason, the story is built around the character's enthusiastic take on the defamed career of celebrity photography. Filmed around the East End of London, the initial instalment of Jason’s life features a TV ad and six ‘made for digital’ short films, as well as some of his reflections on the challenges of shooting the stars. More of Jason’s escapades can be expected in the future.

It marks a shift from Specsavers’ traditional scenario-based Should’ves. Creative director Graham Daldry said: "Moving the focus to an engaging character like Jason Shutter gives us an exciting and highly entertaining way of extending Should’ve more effectively across channels while maximising our reach and engagement. All the comedy is carried by Jason, making it much more flexible and adaptable, and much better suited to a multi-channel approach.’"

Supported by multiplatform digital activations, the 40, 30, 20 and six-second edits will be shown across national TV and across Specsavers’ social channels including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.