Google’s Most

Unskippable ad

As part of a competition to promote YouTube as an advertising platform, MONA art gallery in Tasmania was given free ad space by Google. Perhaps Google should’ve picked a different brand. Because David Walsh – MONA’s famously anti-authoritarian owner – hates advertising.

So when Google called up and said, “Hey BMF, want to make an ad for a museum that hates advertising? You'll get a free trip to Tasmania…” we said yep. But unlike the other entrants, we didn’t make an ad for MONA. We made an ad for someone else instead. Someone who actually likes advertising: Flippers.

Then the ad went live on YouTube. A few hours passed. And suddenly, it was the top video on Reddit, worldwide. 88% of those who watched it up-voted it. The media chose to write about Flippers, instead of education. Or the economy. Flippers’ sales went up by a flippin’ 16%. And there was a 20% increase in tourists visiting Tasmania. All part of our plan.

Credits: our tiny BMF team (camera and editing wizards Al Moore & James Bristow and creatives Millie Malcolm and myself, Emily Field) wrote, shot, and edited the entire thing. Overseen by Chris Berents and Alex Derwin. With a little sound love from our friends at Rumble Studios.