Apollo Munich - Optima Restore

 

Apollo Munich Health Insurance has been running a multi ad campaign called ‘Unbelievable’ for their Optima Restore plan on TV for some months now; there are three ads showing real people and there are animated ads running side by side as well. Until recently I couldn’t react to these ads (showing real people) because I simply did not understand what was happening. I wondered why did the young lady get into a suitcase while the man looked on in ‘The Contortionist’ ad or what did the bare bodied man possessing magnetic powers, with spoons, knives and other such items stuck to his person convey to the viewers in ‘The Magnetic Man’ ad and what was the man with balloons doing in ‘The Balloon Man’ ad? The message sought to be communicated in these ads is quite simple, that Apollo Munich has
unbelievable offers which would benefit people; the lady in the suitcase, the ‘magnetic’ man and the balloon man were analogies because of the unbelievable things they did; hence they were supposed to serve as hooks to engage the viewers.

To my mind the three characters are quite meaningless and only distract viewers from the message sought to be conveyed. When I saw the ads on TV I found them different but rather odd and decided to write about the campaign in my blog, I viewed them a few times on YouTube to understand what was going on in the ads and that is how I understood (or did I?) the message. The general viewer is under no obligation to do what I did to understand the ads. When the advertiser has something unique to convey, which could be of special benefit to the target audience, the best thing would be say it in an effective manner without frills; the visuals and the audio must work together to engage the viewers and deliver the message effectively. Unfortunately for the Apollo Munich campaign (showing real people) the visuals distract viewers while the message is being conveyed.  In contrast their animation ads are better because there is single minded focus on the message and both voice over and imagery complement each other.

The tagline says “Let’s uncomplicate” but I wish the Optima Restore ads featuring people were less complicated. I would like to invite readers to write in their views on this campaign.

Watch the ads below:

Magnetic Man

Balloon Man

The Contortionist