Ogilvy Bangkok on Tickling the Thai Funny Bone
These days, Thai’s advertising scene might be bursting with innovation and socially-savvy creative, but the country has traditionally been regarded as the king of comedy. And, weirdly, when its TV and film advertising isn’t making viewers laugh, it’s turning them into wet and blubbery messes. At either end of the spectrum, Thai advertising is at its best when it takes the audience to emotional extremes. Just check out the Thai work that performed at this year’s Cannes Lions. JWT Bangkok’s ‘The Hair Talk’ for Sunsilk, ‘Tiny Doll’ for Kleenex and ‘Home is not a Boxing Ring’ took home a clutch of Golds, Silvers and Bronzes and lay very much on the weepy side of things. Way over in humour corner, GreyNJ United’s rabbit hole of social awkwardness ‘Friendshit’ and Ogilvy Bangkok’s darkly surreal take on relationship politics ‘The Secret’ for Nissin both took home Gold Lions – and took viewers on trippy, disturbing journeys to the outer limits of weird.
That out-there silliness is always a hit with audiences and judges – Thailand’s a country that has always performed strongly on the ad award circuit – but those extremes also require buy-in from brave clients too. LBB’s Laura Swinton caught up with the team at Ogilvy Bangkok to find out how they got Nissin’s ‘The Secret’ made, and what the rest of the world can learn from the very intense, very silly world of Thai comedy commercials.
LBB> What was the starting point for the Nissin ad, ‘The Secret’? What was the brief from the client?
Ogilvy Bangkok> The first brief from client was that they wanted to further an existing story with a key message of ‘Voiz, too delicious to share’. It was a third story following The Laser and The Ghost. The client wanted a breakthrough film that came with a twisted plot and an ending that was difficult to guess. They said to us that we should come back to them to pitch a twisted idea where they would not be able guess what happened next! It was a really difficult challenge.
LBB> The humour has a really surreal and disconcerting edge to it – has that always been part of the Nissin brand in Thailand or is it a new approach?
Ogilvy Bangkok> Yes. Like we said, this was not the first film we made for them. It’s the third but every film has been made with same criteria. It has to be unexpected and break through.
Our budget was limited but the result we had was beyond what we expected. Consumer engagement was huge, both in terms of viewing and sharing - and the sales of the product were great too. Young generations clearly need something new and something they can enjoy. What was clear in every Voiz film was how we tried to expose the product as much as we could. In The Secret, we saw the product in the beginning, in the middle of the story and at the end. The product was woven and blended into the story seamlessly and that’s why client loved it from the moment we presented them with the storyboard. And when they saw the actual film from beginning to the end, they didn’t want anything to change.
LBB> Why does this form of humour resonate so much with the audience?
Ogilvy Bangkok> The main target was young generation; they would want to see something new and fun and unexpected with a twist at the end. So, we tried to tell a love story between people who could be a little selfish. It is something we believe they hadn’t seen before.
LBB> Despite being undeniably creepy and surreal, the ad is rooted in human truth. Couples lying to each other and playing games to get their way! How did you find that ‘truth’, and is it always important to?
Ogilvy Bangkok> I love watching movies and reading books. The latest film from a Japanese director that I like, Hirokazu Koreeda, has just won the Palme D’Or at Cannes – it’s called Shoplifters. Each one of his films discusses humanity at its core. If you want to understand humans, you need to see his films. What he did inspired me to come up with an idea for my work.
At the beginning of plotting the story for The Secret, I actually thought of doing a love story with a female character who has three eyes. That’s the start and we developed it until we found the right twist for the plot and the secret the character wanted to hide. We all basically have a secret we want to hide, right?
LBB> What did the director Wuthisak bring to the humour – how did his ideas and vision help push the ad to the extreme?
Ogilvy Bangkok> What the director has put into the film is very cool. His direction brought it to life with emotions. The visual looked creepy at first but he controlled it with the love story that made it less creepy and, eventually, sweet. The scene when there were tears running down from three eyes was practically funny. He created a great gimmick for the pack shot where there were like three photos overlapping. It was a very good idea for the execution. His talent and care truly made a product shot look interesting and memorable for audiences. It’s something you can see in every film that he’s directed. Even only on the storyboard, you knew it was his work.
LBB> Can you share any other examples of weird or edgy humour Ogilvy Bangkok has worked on in the past?
Ogilvy Bangkok> The other Voiz films are weirdly funny too but I can say that Ogilvy has produced some really great films over the years including NatureGift (Slim Coffee) that tells the story of women who do not feel confident at first but gain more confidence following how they drink NatureGift regularly or a film for Leo Beer which is funny, new and very interesting.
Apart from fun films, we’ve also produced some good dramatic ones that have captured the hearts of Thais, like the ones we did for Thai Life Insurance. They won so many awards and every time we had a new film coming out, people seemed to wait for it and they loved it when they watched it.
LBB> What can the rest of the world learn from the humour of Thai advertising?
Ogilvy Bangkok> We can simply say that humour in Thai advertising is generally accepted the world over, which is proven by the many awards we have won over the years. If you ask me what really is the strength of Thai advertising, I would say it’s humour because in our films we take something real, something that really happens in our daily lives. People basically connect to it because they have seen it happen.
LBB> And the rest of the world seems to really love Thai advertising – the really good comedy stuff feels braver than anything else! Why do you think it resonates?
Ogilvy Bangkok> We tell it as it is. In casting, for each and every character, we also choose those actors who’re natural and real. They might not always be good looking but these are people we see every day on the street or in our lives. This is why all the humour and jokes reach the heart of Thai audiences.
LBB> And are Thai clients a bit braver too, when it comes to comedy, do you think?
Ogilvy Bangkok> It depends on each client. I think people love to hear jokes. Clients too love to hear good jokes and good stories. If it’s good enough and doesn’t make a product look bad, they can love it. The most important thing in creating a funny advertising is how we help sell the product. The more we expose the product in our ad, the more we must blend it seamlessly with the story. That is the important part of creating an advertising film. We’re here to advertise, not just making a fun film to watch. It’s like David Ogilvy used to say: ‘We sell or else.’
LBB> I know about Thai comedy when it comes to advertising, but in wider Thai culture, are there any comedians or TV shows or directors we should know about and check out to get a feel for Thai comedy?
Ogilvy Bangkok> There was a television show, ‘Ching Roi Ching Larn’ (‘Win a Million’) that has been on air since 1990 and continues to be popular today. It has three performers who act in short parody skits about current incidents or popular soaps. Thai people just loved it.
There’s another funny show called ‘Kadee Det’ (‘Awesome Case’). This show was inspired by real events and would create short films based on real police cases. At the end of each film, the real policeman who handled the case would give an interview telling the real, fun story of what has happened before his eyes. For example, there was one case about a gambling ring and when the police came to catch them in the act, there was one auntie who couldn’t run because her legs weren’t good. What she did was put powder on her face and pretend to be asleep (it is traditional in Thai culture for people to take a bath and powder their faces before going to bed) while the cards were still in her hands. In the end, the police caught her anyway. What’s really funny is that this is a true story, not a fictional one that filmmaker has come up with on their own.
