Connected TV service Freeview Play will be unveiled to the public on October 2 ahead of its launch this month in what Freeview says is its biggest ever advertising campaign.
The new TV advert, called Set Yourself Free, will air tomorrow during Emmerdale, under ITV’s ‘Proud to Present’ banner and will be introduced by the channel’s continuity announcer.
Commented Freeview managing director Guy North: “Freeview Play is the biggest development in the brand’s history and our new advert perfectly illustrates that, with it, viewers are now free to choose the TV service that best meets their needs.”
The two-minute CGI film depicts an Orwellian world where people are brainwashed and urged to “conform, upgrade and subscribe”.
The ad’s central character, Hero TV (pictured below), frees the other two main characters, a girl and her dog, from the Orwellian landscape and “opens up a whole new world of free-to-air television to them”.
The campaign also includes 40- and 60-second versions of the ad, as well as product adverts, which explain the features and benefits of Freeview Play. This will be backed up by in-store and outdoor print advertising, plus digital and social media activity.
Freeview head of marketing Owen Jenkinson added: “Set Yourself Free is really an emancipation story. The aim of the advert is to challenge category norms and show that there is a better, savvier way to watch free TV in a visually striking and compelling narrative.”
Set Yourself Free is set to a new version of I Dreamed A Dream from Les Misérables performed by Sarah Kingsmill and recorded specially for the advert.
Since last Saturday, Freeview said it has been hinting of the new campaign with a version of the brand’s Cat and Budgie advert interrupted by an evil TV from Set Yourself Free.
Freeview Play combines catch-up TV, on-demand services and live television. The service is free from subscription and works with all existing broadband services.
