Humour lights up Philips' bulb TVC

The TVC, which will also have an Asia-Pacific airing, is the first regional television spot developed by D'Arcy since the agency and DDB won the account about a year ago in a global realignment at the expense of Euro RSCG.

However, it will be up to the country managers to decide whether they run the TVC.

The lighting division of the Dutch electronics giant is attempting to build awareness of its range of long life light products under the group's 'extended life technology' banner.

And, with the help of D'Arcy, it is trying to achieve its objectives by using an ample dose of dark humour.

The TVC shows a man who has spent hours patiently setting up thousands of dominoes around his living room. He then switches on the video recorder to film the milestone as he knocks down the first domino. Within seconds, the lights go out and the man lets out a howl of despair since he isn't using a long-lasting Philips bulb.

D'Arcy Hong Kong executive creative director, Marc Lucas, said Philips' worldwide positioning was "bulbs that really last".

But he said that the infusion of humour was aimed at reinvigorating a mundane category.

"The biggest challenge was that the category is about light bulbs. It's not a subject we get emotional over. The other major point is that 99 per cent of the time, people aren't in the market for light bulbs. This is why we used humour: it underlined the need to present a lot of entertainment value to make it interesting, relevant and emotionally appealing,

Lucas said.

He also said that the use of humour helped to transcend many different cultural barriers. "We're not holding up a mirror to the consumer. Rather we were looking for the funniest idea which can be run in the Philippines just as easily as in China."

The campaign, shot in Kuala Lumpur, also has a print component which focuses on the consequences of using poor quality lighting products.