Steve Buscemi Stars as Alien Overlord Whose ‘Scamageddon’ is Blocked By Telstra

Steve Buscemi plays an alien overlord hellbent on sending a “scamageddon” to Australia in Telstra’s latest blockbuster campaign. But cunning as his plan may be, he and his bumbling minions are no match for Telstra’s security network.

"What was the one rule I said we had to remember when launching the greatest creation of an entire species?" his villainous character says in the hero 90" spot.

"Don't target a mighty network. I guess we forgot."

Directed by Smuggler’s Randy Krallman and filmed in Prague, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire founder and chief creative officer Micah Walker told LBB the team had “a list of folks we thought could play the emperor villain -- you just have to when it comes to celebrities” but the ‘Reservoir Dogs’, ‘Sopranos’, and ‘Monsters Inc’ actor was an ideal contender.

“Then it just comes down to conversations and negotiations. Steve felt like the right mix of nostalgia and humorous hostility that we knew we wanted. He’s a great actor and played the character in a way that was true to him. He’s actually married to an Australian, which none of us knew before the shoot.”

Whilst the emperor of the Zalunians -- the species of aliens aiming to pull off ‘scamageddon’ -- is a fresh character for Buscemi and Telstra, the character  feels familiar to anybody with a passing interest in sci-fi. 

Ian Williamson, creative director at Bear Meets Eagle on Fire, said they drew inspiration from “familiar sci-fi villains, from Flash Gordon’s ‘Ming the Merciless’ to classic ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Dr Who’ villains, with a bit of ‘SpaceBalls’ silliness thrown in.”

For all the inspirations drawn, Steve also brought his own flair to the character. Ian added, “Randy allowing Steve to riff on his character gave us some unscripted gems, little moments of dialogue that really rounded his character out. These are the lovely accidents that you hope for but can’t plan for.”

It’s not just the characters borrowing from nostalgic space epics -- the technology the supposedly-advanced aliens use feels retro, right down to the green computer monitor displays. Every detail has been considered to give the message that even aliens are no match for the more sophisticated Telstra network.

“We just kept using that retro-futuristic lens to help us make decisions throughout the production design phase,” Paul Gregson, creative director at Bear, said. 

“Everything from choosing analogue buttons and knobs versus things like touch screens, to designing a whole suite of UI graphics for the ships screens that had that nostalgic 90s aesthetic.

“The combination of lots of those decisions hopefully makes it easy to understand for a viewer the Zalunians are due a few upgrades.”

Paul laughed, “On set, hearing an acting legend shout swear words in a language you’ve completely made up was a particularly fun moment for me.”

Micah explained the brief was to talk about the telco’s network security in a memorable way that built on the brand’s creative momentum.

“Our ‘Better On A Better Network’ campaign showed the less obvious places and characters who benefit from the scale of the Telstra network,” he said.

“But scale is just part of that story. Security is also critical, so that was the brief: how do we talk about network security, how many things Telstra blocks, in a more distinctive and memorable way?”

​Blake Crosbie, managing director of +61 said, “The security of a network, and all that happens on it, has serious implications, but doubling down on ‘serious’ too easily follows the tropes of the category. Sometimes making light of a topic is the best way to get people to pay attention to it.”

Finally, Alita McMenamin, Telstra head of brand and marketing communications, added, “This is essentially a product demo, a very entertaining one, that differentiates our network not just on size, but also on safety. Created with the exceptional level of craft we always enjoy from Micah and team.”

​At June’s Cannes Lions, the series of stop-motion spots, ‘Better on a Better Network’, won a Grand Prix. The telco’s glittering award run featured a fistful of Lions, Bear Meets Eagle on Fire being named third best independent agency, and production partner Revolver taking out the Palme d‘Or.

In response to the market leader’s run of work, rivals Vodafone and Optus both took their creative accounts to pitch. The former recently appointed indie Howatson+Co, after only shortlisting independent agencies, while Optus chose a village model featuring Accenture Song and Droga5 to lead media and creative, supported by Apparent and BRX.