Pru mimics TV shows in 2m blitz

The Prudential is launching a 2m national TV advertising campaign that will mimic the programme it is run with.

The campaign begins on October 2 and will last for six weeks. Ads will appear in breaks for Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm, Home and Away, The Match and gardening programmes.

They will promote the company’s pensions products.

The commercials feature images and soundtracks that parody the programmes. Some of the voiceovers will be done by actors who have starred in the shows.

The ad for Coronation Street features shots of terraced houses and brass-band music, with the actor who used to play Eddie Yates doing the voiceover. Other ads star Billy Corkhill from Brookside, and Amos Brearley from Emmerdale Farm.

The concept was tested in the press on sports and women’s pages, where ads referred to editorial issues.

The ads were passed by Broadcast Advertising Copy Clearance. Prudential brand communications manager Keith Hicks says the BACC allows ads to include actors who have not appeared in the programmes for more than a year and similar images and sounds to those of the programmes.

The commercials include lines such as “Want a pension that will always give you a happy ending”, for the soaps, and “Want the right result on your pension”. They all have the endline: “Talk to Prudence”.

Mustoe Merriman Herring & Levy created the ads, with media planning and buying through Pattison Hurswell Durden.