Bulb: 'Unicorn', 'Fan', 'Kelp'

(Agency: Anomaly London; Air date: 04/02/19; Length: 3x30 seconds) 

Renewable energy company Bulb, launched in 2015, has teamed up with ad agency Anomaly London to begin advertising on television. As the company continues to grow, recently signing-up their millionth customer, Bulb has realised that in order to continue to compete with the Big Six energy suppliers, they must use the medium of television to get their message across. The campaign takes the form of three 30-second  spots: Unicorn, Fan, and Kelp. Three new adverts you say, all launched at the same time? How can a small competitor company afford this? Well, Bulb has kept costs down by using simple 2D animation in each. All three ads feature the company’s signature bright pink livery as the background colour, making the ads very distinctive, and simple white and blue lines for the animated characters that inhabit them. Those characters consist of a unicorn called Terry that longs to come out of hiding; a fan – who is literally a fan – recommending the company to a fellow electrical appliance; and the owner of a kelp which grows rapidly. Each of the three ads is used to deliver one of the company’s three key messages: they’re the biggest green energy company; they’re highly recommended on Trust Pilot; and they’re the fastest growing energy company.  

I like these ads for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think they’re funny. They made me laugh out loud when I first saw them on TV. I think this is chiefly because of the voice acting. The scenarios depicted are amusing, but the dry, understated, matter-of-fact way the dialogue is spoken by comedians Tim Key and Ellie White is what takes the humour up a notch. I think the decision not to play any music was a wise choice as well because the silence enhances the slight awkwardness of the characters and the situations they find themselves in. Secondly, these ads are distinctly different from the type of offerings we get from the Big Six energy suppliers, which stick with the “traditional” (i.e. boring) formula of straightforwardly showing and describing the product or service on offer. These Bulb ads, on the other hand, deliver the simple message they want to communicate and then use the rest of the time to have fun, whether it be with a comic visual metaphor of a kelp growing rapidly larger (get it? Fast growing, big and green), or a whacky gag about unicorns excitedly revealing themselves to Bulb customers at the wrong time and terrifying them in the process. These ads are playful, original and a breath of fresh air in contrast to the usual whirring electrical appliances or repairman-in-overalls we’re used to seeing in energy ads. 

Bulb seems to be doing something genuinely different from the competition in terms of the source of their energy and also the simplified tariffs they offer their customers. This different approach seems to have seeped into their advertising too, which is a good thing.