Mother offshoot TheOr has unveiled its first work for grocery delivery firm Gorillas – a multimedia push fronted by an innuendo-laden TV ad that subverts drug, sex and booze terminology, applying it to grocery products.
Gorillas, which appointed TheOr last year without a pitch and has operated in London for a year, briefed the agency to concoct a campaign that brings to life the "weird and wonderful ways" that Londoners use Gorillas.
The "Whatever London wants" creative is built on a year's worth of data collated from Gorillas' eight million products delivered in London, which includes insights such as Londoners love bananas. The fruit itself makes an appearance, standing in for a naked man's legs.
There are so-called Easter Eggs aplenty that only Londoners will get, with appearances from illustrator Mr Bingo, singer Hak Baker and model Mia Wells. The soundtrack is by Little Simz and the ad's narration is by rapper Sam Wise.
The TV ad, directed by Ethan and Tom through Academy Films, uses multi-frame, social-style vignettes that are stitched together to create weird composites in the style of parlour game "picture consequences". For example, in one sequence the front half of a man scrubbing a kitchen floor apparently has the rear end of a dog, while in another the naked torso of a man showering appears to have the aforementioned bananas for legs.
"London loves acid..." says the voiceover as a man with a lemon wedged into his mouth grins into the camera. "Pints" the voice continues, while a tub of ice cream rests on a pregnant woman's belly. Other double entendres include "poppers", accompanied by an image of Champagne spurting from a bottle, "big buns", while a toaster pops, "double-dipping" as someone dips their Doritos into two separate jars of salsa, and "blow", while a woman with a cold blows her nose with a tissue.
"But the grocery London loves most is bananas," the narrator says. "Literally, you order absolutely loads of them. Weirdos. Gorillas – whatever London wants."
The TV ad comes in two versions – a post-watershed, 30-second execution and a less suggestive pre-watershed edit. Both spots will also appear on VOD.
The work is supported by radio, digital, social and out-of-home executions including projections, 48-sheet and six-sheet posters and murals.
The OOH work will reveal insights from how people behave in different London boroughs. So, one poster explains that Lewisham shoppers order the lowest number of razors of any area in the capital, while Islington has a penchant for avocados.
Lastly, an activation will celebrate Gorillas' first year in business in the UK, enabling eight people to win "whatever money can buy" up to £400 by placing a minimum £10 order and using promo code "WHATEVER".
Danny Barry, Gorillas' head of brand for Northern Europe, said: "We are not like other instant delivery services so our comms need to feel different too. That's why we decided to work with TheOr, who are all about doing things differently. We dug into our data to discover some fun facts, and collaborated with TheOr to bring our insights to life in a playful and provocative campaign.
"As the data shows, we've delivered everything Londoners could want whenever they've wanted it, from late-night tea bags to 32 chocolate bars in a single order. This campaign celebrates the fact that we know our customer base, and we are confident it will inspire others to try out the Gorillas app to get the products they desire in minutes."
Paulo Salomao, TheOr's co-founder and business lead, added: "Gorillas is a really exciting client win for us – an ambitious start-up that wants to shake up the market and connect with younger generations in mould-breaking ways.
"What better way to get Londoners to sit up and be interested in on-demand groceries than letting them know what their neighbours are ordering? This is a big idea that can rise above the industry clutter and we look forward to seeing it run in London and then other cities around the world."
Gorillas, which operates in more than 60 cities worldwide, competes in an increasingly busy grocery delivery marketplace, which has seen the like of Getir carve a niche.
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