You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
The Product:
The Space Channel
The Promotion:
The Pitch:
We play too much Star Trek to appeal to anyone who’s not a Trekkie, so we may as well just lean into it.
There’s a delicate tight rope to walk in creating something that’s meant to appeal to nerdy science fiction fans while also using stereotypes of nerdy science fiction fans as a source of comedy.
Select any random YouTube video about The Rings of Power or the modern Star Wars movies, and you’ll see evidence that nerds can be extremely sensitive about anything they perceive as not respecting them/their media franchise of choice. At the same time, that sensitivity is perhaps not entirely unwarranted, as the ability of mainstream marketing to understand the headspace of niche nerd communities … well, it doesn’t have the best track record.
But I think this ad handles the balance beautifully. A lot of its success is due to having characters who represent three different attitudes towards Star Trek (the obsessive fan, the dude who looks down on both Trek and Trekkies, and the outsider who doesn’t really understand what the arguing’s all about) and poking fun at all of them. Anyone who may feel offended at how they’re portrayed in the ad, they can be assuaged that everyone else is made fun of just as much.
Also making it work is how it both exaggerates and subverts stereotypes. We’ve got the cosplaying, Klingon-speaking, basement dwelling Star Trek nerd … but turns out imitating Klingons includes lots of working out and bat’leth practice, letting them kick some ass. The anti-Trekkie ends up looking more like the obsessive, easily beaten-up nerd than anyone else. And, of course, the clueless old lady speaking perfect Klingon at the end makes for a killer punchline.
Just an all around well-executed commercial. Only complaint is, at 90 seconds, it’s pretty long for an ad – feels like some tighter pacing could have done the whole thing in half the time.