Developed by M&C Saatchi and OneXeno, the initiative comprises several short video clips from the site, getwhateveruwant.com. The ads show what can happen when people have to make do without the things they need, with the executions brand-free until the very end, when eBay shows the product the talent missed out on buying on the trading site.
"You've always got so many things, and if you know (the campaign) is sent out by a commercial company, then maybe you don't want to watch it," said Iris Lo, ECD, M&C Saatchi Hong Kong. "We wanted it to look like the email that your friends would send to you."
In one execution, the talent is trying to teach a cat to shake hands because they missed out on a dog. In another, a woman repeatedly crashes her scooter into a wall, hurting her head, which is poorly protected by saucepans, buckets and other random items, again reinforcing what can happen if you miss out on buying a helmet on eBay. And in the third execution, a man starts playing wargames with a group of children. By the end of the ad the children have the man face down on the ground, and they begin hitting his back repeatedly -- and the man has a smile on his face despite that. It finally ends with a product shot of a massage chair.
The campaign is expected to run indefinitely, in order to allow the push to gather momentum.
