Calling JohnMalkovich.com
Squarespace2017
Calling JohnMalkovich.com is a 2017 30-second television commercial for Squarespace, created by JohnXHannes, New York.
The line
Get your domain before it's gone.
Why it works
John Malkovich, newly launched as a menswear designer, sits in his studio on the phone to another John Malkovich, the man who already owns JohnMalkovich.com. The actor reasons, wheedles and finally snaps ("Get out of my name!"), and the spot lands its point: get your domain before someone else does. Created by the New York collective JohnXHannes and directed by Miles Jay of Smuggler, the 30-second commercial aired during Super Bowl LI on February 5, 2017; the agency says the idea came from a real case of someone using the actor's domain to sell under his name. It is studied as a counterweight to Super Bowl spectacle: one star, one room, one relatable panic, built squarely around a single product. Up against four earnest nominees promoting unity and inclusion, it won the 2017 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Commercial, the first Emmy for both the agency and Smuggler.
Techniques
- Humour The comedy comes from an actor's escalating phone row with a namesake who already owns his web address.
- Testimonial and endorsement John Malkovich, playing himself as a new menswear designer, embodies the very panic the product solves: someone else holding your domain.
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