"Talking Fish"

28 May 2025

60s

No trout about it.

"We live in a cynical world," as Jerry Maguire once put it. Take the youths in this German O2 commercial, for example—when a soggy bloke enters the room with a fish that says, "The O2 Installation Service will set up your home network for you, free of charge," how do the teenagers respond? With a weapons-grade scoff, that's how. The proof is in his hands, for God's sake!

This is the perfect time for an O2 engineer to appear out of nowhere and deliver the immortal words, "Listen to the fish—he speaks the truth." It's a wonderfully silly line delivered with the utmost sincerity—so much so that the cynics bow their heads in shame—and it's easy to see why director Andreas Nilsson was drawn to the script. He ensures viewers are more inclined to have faith in the brand... and, er, fish.

Germany

Mobile Phone Networks