Everything’s Better with Iggy Pop – the new voice of On the Beach

On the Beach adverts have endured some infamy for its previous star, a bizarre character made from sand with a sandcastle for a head. Its latest frontman is rather more esteemed – the rock legend Iggy Pop – who has lent his dulcet tones to the new campaign by agency Uncommon. Simple in execution, the comically on-point copyrighting and voiceover make for a humorous series of ads that aim to show the healing power of a holiday.

Everything’s Better on the Beach “speaks to the power of that restful feeling on a beach, reflecting its universal healing nature against a hyperbolic modern outlook of the world we live in today,” says Uncommon. In each of the three films shot by comedy director Jeff Low, the visuals show a closely cropped shot of a supremely relaxed person on a sun lounger, waves lapping in the background. As recounted by Iggy (once the co-star of Swiftcover ads, alongside his puppet alternate) each of them has had “the worst week of their life” – Sally, for example, has found out both of her parents are sleeping with her best friend (this spot even has its own spoof website thesuburbancowboys.com); while Jessica accidentally poisoned her child’s entire school with her contribution to the charity bake sale.

Iggy’s drawl not only channels the absolute serenity of the ads protagonists, but Uncommon’s Nils Leonard also says it brings weight to the silliness of the words. “[The client] shared our ambition to really mess with a predictable category,” he says. “One killer shot, with Iggy’s beautiful gravel over the top will stand out a mile in the clutter of Christmas. This campaign is all about creating the space to tell some proper naughty stories. Sometimes, words just win. You can do in a spoken story what you could never do in picture.”

The films were produced by Biscuit Filmworks. The campaign launched over the weekend and will roll out over the festive period.

Uncommon recently created the WWF ad Adopt a Better Future, working with director Noah Harris and a star team of Wes Anderson animation alumni, including character designer Felicie Haymoz and model makers Andy Gent and Arch Model Studio.