Stephen Semple:
Matthew, here’s the reason why I shared, there’s a bunch of things going on in this ad that I really love. But the first part is David Ogilvy, one of the most famous ad guys around, would always talk about tying into the conversation that’s happening around the water cooler. Now, I know we don’t really have water coolers any longer, but it’s that whole idea.

What’s the conversation that’s happening out there? What’s resonating out there? And we all feel it. We go to do takeout food and they’re asking for a tip. You’re at the drive-through and they’re asking for a tip and you see it. You see it on social media. Everybody complaining about how this tipping thing has gotten out of hand. So what do we do?

 

Man 1: Tipping is out of control these days.
Announcer: Tip score!
Announcer: Waving a tough one for a goaltender.
Man 2: Everywhere you look, tip, tip, tip.
Announcer: Tip in goal!
Announcer: Under the arm of Saros.
Man 3: Sometimes all they did was stand there.
Announcer: This goes off the left leg. That’s pretty much how you’re going to beat Marks.
Man 4: It’s always when you’re trying to save.
Announcer: No chance for…
Man 5: What? I love tipping.

Stephen Semple:
If you’re a hockey fan, you immediately recognize that first character as an NHL goalie. If you were not a hockey fan, you would think they’re talking about tipping. Because he’s at the point of sale, doing a tip, and then it flips to the shots of it being tipped. And what I love is, again, if you’re a hockey fan, each shot that they show being tipped in, and then they show the goalie. That was the guy, like they connected together.

But again, they didn’t put the name underneath. They let you discover it on your own. And look, even if you weren’t a hockey fan, you probably eventually figure it out. That’s the goalie. That’s the goalie. And then I loved it at the end, when Brad Marchand came on and went, I love tipping. Then they put the forward on, I love tipping. And the inside joke is when the tip was 63, his number in his shirt, 63. But they kept that hidden.

Matthew Burns:
That’s right. Yeah. They didn’t say it. They didn’t make it obvious.

Stephen Semple:
But if you were a hockey fan, you went, oh my God, that’s funny. Right? In other words, it was filled with a bunch of little inside jokes.

Matthew Burns:
I want to say that I completely commend you for this one because it is, as you said, what’s being talked about now, right? Ogilvy talked about around the water cooler. My brain breaks when I go to pick up food, or like you said, for takeout, and the first tip amount is 18%.

Stephen Semple:
Right.

Matthew Burns:
It’s not 15%, which historically is kind of, that’s where most people tip.

Stephen Semple:
Especially us Canadians, Americans tip more, but…

Matthew Burns:
Yeah, right. Okay. But that 15%, I would be less offended if they started the tip at five or 10%, I’d be less. But I’m offended they start them at 18, and they go up, and it’s like, what are we doing? My other big takeaway moment, because you shared this with me, I just watched this one. There’s one tip that hits off the leg, and that’s my favorite one, because this is the reason why I get so offended about tipping is that when it’s unearned, it’s “an unearned tip”.

Stephen Semple:
Oh, I didn’t even pick up on that. That was one where you just hit the body in the front.

Matthew Burns:
It hit his leg and tipped in. It’s an unearned tip. So if I’m going to pick up food, and all you have to do is do this, I’m tipping you to extend your arm past the counter to give me my food. I’m going to give you a tip for that. I don’t think so. My God

Stephen Semple:
We probably just offended a whole pile of people in the food industry, but that’s amazing. I didn’t even, Matthew, I didn’t even pick up on that.

Matthew Burns:
An unearned tip.

Stephen Semple:
But it is that whole idea of they started the ad fitting into a feeling that’s sitting out there in the world today, which immediately catches people’s attention. Tipping is out of control.

Matthew Burns:
Yes, it is.

Stephen Semple:
I agree. You’ve got my attention. And then they flipped it in this fun way and then let these little Easter eggs all through it, which frankly maintains your attention. And then again, I love the ending where Brad Marchand says, “I love tipping”.

And again, if you don’t know who he is, I love tipping would be a weird fricking line. You love tipping. So what they did is they threaded a really interesting line. They talked to hockey fans. If you were a deep hockey fan, you found it entertaining.

Matthew Burns:
Yes.

Stephen Semple:
Now, the purpose of advertising is to try to expand your audience a bit.

Matthew Burns:
That’s right.

Stephen Semple:
So they found a way to also speak to people who are not hockey fans and show some entertaining moments of hockey.

Matthew Burns:
That’s right.

Stephen Semple:
So I thought it was absolutely, and that’s a really hard line to skate.

Matthew Burns:
Yeah, I see what you did there. No, I agree with you a hundred percent. I think what I found most interesting about this was an elevated way of speaking, especially for guys. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m a coach for baseball. I understand athletes, but it was an elevated way of speaking to sports fans and an elevated way of speaking about and for athletes. And I think it was a great way for the NHL to elevate their brand to show we are for everybody. We have something for everybody. And all you have to do is spend the time, and you’ll see.

And connecting the dots is the last part of this that I really liked. It’s that even though you don’t have to say it, they did such a good job all the way through the whole thing, connecting the dots, because it’s all about what side of the puck you’re on. And it’s like you said, we’re probably going to offend a whole bunch of restaurateurs because of tipping. “We don’t like tipping.”

But as a consumer spending money, who is the majority in this, right? So tipping sucks. It’s talking to the majority. It depends on what side you’re on. I thought this was great. I was so happy when you recommended it. I’m glad that you liked it so much. You’re a big hockey fan. You watch hockey on a regular basis, right?

Stephen Semple:
Oh yeah. That’s my sport.

Matthew Burns:
So they’re speaking directly to you. And I don’t watch hockey on a regular basis, but it was a brilliantly composed ad. I thought it was great, and it was really well done.

Stephen Semple:
So you see, but there that speaks to it. I loved it as a hockey fan, and I knew from the moment of the first shot that it was a hockey player. That’s how big a fan I am. You were not, and you loved it. So again, to my point, they managed to speak to both audiences, which is really hard. And that was where the magic was. So yeah, awesome.

Matthew Burns:
It was a good one. NHL, congratulations. Advertising agents for the NHL. Really. Congratulations. Good job for them. And guys, the NHL’s ads, I mean, we just did an Uber Eats NFL comparison. Now we’re doing a hockey one. Sports are really doing a great job of doing what they need to do to entertain and keep people interested in what they’re doing. So great job.

Stephen Semple:
And it speaks to this power of there’s a conversation or a mood out there. How do you tie into it? And tie into it in a clever way and find a nice way to pivot it. They found a really elegant way to pivot to what they wanted to talk about. So it was great.

Matthew Burns:
Exactly. It was a really, really good one. Listen, we talked about this before. I mean, this is Ryan Reynolds. This is exactly what he does. He finds what’s topical, and then he turns it into an ad for whatever business he’s hawking at the time. Anyway, guys, listen, thank you so much for watching. We really do appreciate all the followers.

Subscribe if you haven’t, if it’s your first time here. Give us a like on the ones you are enjoying. And guys, let us know what ads you really like and see if we can’t get an episode done for your ad. Steve, thank you again, and we will talk to you next time. Awesome.

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