How Ryan Reynolds’ Creative Agency Fooled Oscars Viewers
Image Courtesy: Business Wire
During the highly anticipated 2023 Academy Awards, 18.7 million viewers eagerly watched to see if their favorite nominees would be chosen to collect a golden statue. Instead, audiences everywhere saw an advertisement that spanned over three different commercial breaks that featured the achievements of elusive filmmaker “Otto Desćinski.”
In the first ad, Elizabeth Banks (actress and director of the recently released Cocaine Bear) speaks to the influence of Desć, saying, “I wouldn’t be the filmmaker I am today without Otto Desć.” The ad continues to show beautiful, cinematic shots that are presumably the work of the filmmaker. The viewer only sees silhouettes of him, sitting pensively in a director’s chair and standing on the outskirts of unimaginably beautiful set designs. Actor Ron Perlman and cinematographer Mandy Walker speak to the camera and congratulate Otto on his lifetime accomplishments in film. Desć even had a Twitter account that was live tweeting during the Oscars!
The final part of the ad revealed the truth that “Otto Desć” is actually a video editing software named Autodesk. A narrator explains the capabilities of Autodesk such as creating visual effects, CGI skyscrapers, and space robots. The ending note of the ad implores viewers to unleash their creativity and “Make Anything.”
After the Oscars, it was revealed that Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort was behind the surprising ad. Reynolds stated that “the Oscars are a major cultural event.” With this knowledge, the team at Maximum Effort was able to craft an ad that would engage the specific audience who tuned into the Oscars and grab their attention in a unique way. It worked on me too, because I immediately Googled “Otto Desć” when I first saw the ad to find out if this was a nominee I had missed. As it turns out, the first result was a link to AutoDesk.com.
The team behind “Otto Desć” knew that the increased attention on the Oscars would attract people who are interested in the filmmaking world. Incorporating the awards ceremony into the ad while also driving curious viewers to research the subject themselves is what made this campaign a success.
Ruolan Crocetti