Copycat warmly recommended
Numéro 10 has launched eight humorous commercials for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy on a serious topic.
Saving energy is "so easy"! Or who doesn't know that you can save up to 3 percent on fuel by inflating your car's tires 0.5 bar above the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure, thereby improving the vehicle's handling and reducing the risk of a blowout. And everyone also knows that you can reduce water and energy consumption by up to 50 percent with an energy-saving shower head.
It would be nice if everyone knew this. After all, the numerous tips on saving energy from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) really are watertight. They just need to be communicated to the general public in a way that is easy to understand.
Not with a moralistic appeal, however, but with surprising wit. Numéro 10 developed the idea and won this important pitch at the SFOE. Strategist Gilles Aeby came up with the idea: If I have people give me tips on how to save energy, it comes across as stale pointing fingers. But the same messages spoken by a clever monkey can trigger a wave of sympathy. Since the end of March, SwissEnergy, the program for energy efficiency and renewable energies, has been broadcasting a new one of a total of eight funny TV commercials every month until the end of November 2009. With animal humor, these short sketches propagate that it would be "so easy" for each and every one of us to save energy and money. Without any effort and without having to give up the comfort we are used to. The monkeys' tips revolve around exhaust fumes, hot water, tire pressure, stand-by appliances, energy-saving light bulbs and heating. A special campaign in the fall offers an energy check-up for homes for CHF 200 instead of CHF 1200. A national energy day is also being held on October 24.
The concept of the films is based on the fact that one monkey is particularly clever and wants to teach a somewhat lazier fellow monkey. However, these seemingly stupid energy sinner monkeys refuse to understand, even though the arguments of the clever know-it-all would be convincing.
For the eight scenes, Numéro 10 had many archives around the world, such as National Geographic, searched for monkey films. From the documents found, the weirdest situations and the most ridiculous gestures were then edited and accompanied by a dialog. The agency now hopes that the content will soon be "mimicked" by schoolchildren, for example, and thus understood.
The TV commercials will be broadcast during prime time on the three national channels. In addition, www.so-einfach.ch offers even more information on the topic with numerous energy-saving tips. You can also re-watch the commercials that made you smile in front of the TV the night before.
Andreas Panzeri
It would be nice if everyone knew this. After all, the numerous tips on saving energy from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) really are watertight. They just need to be communicated to the general public in a way that is easy to understand.
Not with a moralistic appeal, however, but with surprising wit. Numéro 10 developed the idea and won this important pitch at the SFOE. Strategist Gilles Aeby came up with the idea: If I have people give me tips on how to save energy, it comes across as stale pointing fingers. But the same messages spoken by a clever monkey can trigger a wave of sympathy. Since the end of March, SwissEnergy, the program for energy efficiency and renewable energies, has been broadcasting a new one of a total of eight funny TV commercials every month until the end of November 2009. With animal humor, these short sketches propagate that it would be "so easy" for each and every one of us to save energy and money. Without any effort and without having to give up the comfort we are used to. The monkeys' tips revolve around exhaust fumes, hot water, tire pressure, stand-by appliances, energy-saving light bulbs and heating. A special campaign in the fall offers an energy check-up for homes for CHF 200 instead of CHF 1200. A national energy day is also being held on October 24.
The concept of the films is based on the fact that one monkey is particularly clever and wants to teach a somewhat lazier fellow monkey. However, these seemingly stupid energy sinner monkeys refuse to understand, even though the arguments of the clever know-it-all would be convincing.
For the eight scenes, Numéro 10 had many archives around the world, such as National Geographic, searched for monkey films. From the documents found, the weirdest situations and the most ridiculous gestures were then edited and accompanied by a dialog. The agency now hopes that the content will soon be "mimicked" by schoolchildren, for example, and thus understood.
The TV commercials will be broadcast during prime time on the three national channels. In addition, www.so-einfach.ch offers even more information on the topic with numerous energy-saving tips. You can also re-watch the commercials that made you smile in front of the TV the night before.
Andreas Panzeri
The eight commercials each follow the same dramaturgy: one monkey is the smarter one and explains to his still bucking dialog partner how to save energy.
