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Time can seem to stand still in action movies when the star gives a big speech during a disaster or while a countdown ticks towards calamity. French broadcaster Canal+ pokes fun at this trope with an ad where the classic inspirational monologue doesn’t go as planned.
The nearly four-minute film starts with a frantic call to air traffic control from a plane where the pilots have fallen unconscious. A man attempts to calm the flight attendant down with lots of preamble, commanding his team who stands by watching his process with admiration.
But all his questions, swagger and reassurance turn out to have just wasted critical time needed to actually keep the plane from crashing.
Canal+’s longtime ad agency BETC Paris created “Super” to promote the network’s sponsorship of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, where the writers and directors always have to get to the point quickly. The ad is airing online and on the Canal+ streaming platform.
“We noticed that many feature films were far too long and that this was often due to the heroes’ long lines, which added nothing to the plot,” BETC Paris creative director Chrystel Jung told ADWEEK. “We wrote down the script for ‘Super’ and Canal+ followed us in this crazy adventure.
“Indeed, this one was very ambitious in terms of production. Whether it was the set, the acting or the special effects, everything had to be perfect in a pretty short time.”
Last year, the agency and Canal+ plugged the festival by releasing a bizarre short of their own. The partners have also poked fun at the disappointing ending of Game of Thrones to show Canal+’s commitment to good television.
“BETC and Canal+ have always included stories and plots in their advertising, so that it never looked like advertising but more like entertainment,” Jung said. “I’m very pleased that clients like Canal+ are still taking the risk of broadcasting long-form advertising. It allowed us to instill tension [and] play with silence to create a climax and keep viewers entertained during the whole almost four minutes.”
