MPC teams up with VCCP, Gary Freedman and the ever-helpful Bubl for O2’s latest campaign

Following on from the brand’s first ever Christmas ad, MPC has once again joined forces with VCCP and Gary Freedman for O2’s latest integrated campaign. With VFX led by Andy Steele, Animation led by James Bown and Colour by Jean-Clément Soret.

Based on the insight that we’re all struggling to get on with our lives at present, with inertia and a feeling of ground-hog day, O2 is offering low prices on the latest tech to help people get the best from life as the nation begins to think about lockdown lifting.

To bring these new offerings to life, the TV advert shines a light on how O2 can help every one of us. We see an average man on an average street, looking out his window and seeing the only thing that’s really going on right now: deliveries. But with each delivery comes a little blue robot, eager to move in with the lucky new owner.

After seeing a few of these deliveries our protagonist cottons on and realizes he’s missing out, so he orders his own O2 phone, and with it comes his very own Bubl – the ever-helpful robot who is a literal embodiment of the O2 brand. The advert ends with the viewer seeing the start of a blossoming relationship with Bubl as they take on the challenges the world throws at them together.

With its third outing for Bubl, the campaign focuses on continuing to build affinity with the ever-helpful robot. Bubl was first brought to life by MPC for the brand’s ‘You and Me’ campaign.

Andy Steele, CG Supervisor at MPC said:

“Getting an emotional connection between the animation and the live action characters can always be a bit challenging, so we had to ensure that we made subtle nuances to Bubl and his performance”.

James Bown, Lead Animator at MPC said:

“Here we had the chance to explore Bubls character a little more by having him interact with props such as the skateboard, how he holds or wears different bags or the funny moment where Bubl does a double take as he notices the cat. The team wanted to really push subtle details too such as Bubl spinning the skateboard wheels and adding charms to the bags to really sit the character into the environment”.

On working on this latest O2 campaign Andy said:

“Working with the same people over a period of time and forming those relationships is priceless. You become more streamlined as you get to know each other and from that it becomes easier to visualize the animation and anticipate how Bubl would behave in certain situations. Each time we work on an O2 project we learn more and more. The campaigns always look great and it’s fun to see them on the TV.”