"Chip Shop"

29 December 2020

60s

Taking care of business.

This is fun. QuickBooks are advertising themselves as an essential tool for small businesses, but that doesn't mean their communication has to be dry and dull. Instead, they've opted for a full-on parody of a powerhouse corporate ad… and it's magnificent.

What we particularly enjoy is the way every single moment in this film is an exaggeration of one kind or another. The spokesperson appears to have been studying corporate videos to learn what stance to adopt when you want to look impressive in front of the camera, and the pose she adopts is a perfect pastiche of the form.

The business in question is a chip shop, and the team of people representing QuickBooks show up on the premises as little Borrowers ready to help in any way they can. The blustering soundtrack adds to the deliberate portentousness, as they tackle an errant seagull threatening to trespass.

It's a neatly judged way of providing the viewer with a little entertainment, at the same time as suggesting that the advertised product isn't as dreary as you might think (though, let's be honest, it probably is).

UK

Computer Software