Uber gets sentimental with time-hopping ad showing Singapore’s Gillman Barracks
Ride-hailing app Uber has turned the nostalgia sentiment up to 11 with its latest campaign film released in Singapore.
In a new two-minute video created by BBH Singapore, Uber shows a retired lieutenant general revisiting his former National Service station Gillman Barracks, a former British Army base.
As the old man, whose life story is based on that of Singapore veteran Albel Singh, takes an Uber to the former barracks, the film flashes back to his military training 40 years ago.
His story is intertwined with a young boy in the present day who is bullied by his peers for making artwork out of straws. Following this, the boy’s mother takes him – via Uber of course – to Gillman Barracks, which became an art centre in 2012. As fate would have it, the boy then bumps into the retired veteran as a another sequence of flashbacks – and flash-forwards – ensues.
Entitled ‘‘Where’ is more than just a place’, the film was released on YouTube, Facebook and in Singapore cinemas last week, and will form part of a series exploring “special” places in Singapore.
BBH creative director Gaston Soto said: “The film gave us room to tell an emotional story and explore the different meanings brought to a place by different people. This is so acutely felt in Singapore, where places are constantly evolving and every street, lane and corner may hold a different memory or signify a new opportunity across generations.”
The rose-tinted video marks a stark contrast to Uber’s most recent campaign to recruit drivers in Singapore. The more light-hearted effort showed comedian Rishi Budhrani trying and failing to find his ideal job – only then to realise his dream role was becoming an Uber driver.
Meanwhile, Uber’s most recent outdoor campaign in Singapore was recently panned for encouraging commuters to have sedentary and lazy lifestyle by taking its cabs to work.
So sad to see BBH continuing its decline in Singapore and producing this kind of generic “emotional”, nostalgic advertising
Feels like an agency that has given up.
And that’s without even considering how bad a fit this film is for Uber.
ReplyToday at 9am, I wanted to go from Bedok to Hill Street. Two Uber drivers cancelled their trips after accepting them and after being within 2 minutes of picking me up. Just like that – no reasons were offered. I was getting late and I booked a third Uber. After seeing that the ETA was 6 minutes and which can always increase, I cancelled the trip. Uber slapped me with a $6 cancellation fee. What audacity! How about slapping fines on the two drivers who cancelled their trips after accepting the trip?
Uber (or any brand for that matter) should build a foolproof product/service before embarking on “brand” advertising otherwise it’s water off a duck’s back. It is the Agency’s responsibility to guide a brand in this regard.
As to whether this piece of communication is relevant to the brand at all, I don’t think so. And would love to hear the views of other brand custodians.
In the meantime, after Uber failed me 3 times this morning within a space of 20 minutes, I reached my destination in a good old Comfort cab.
ReplySorry to hear it….do you follow local chat forums? If you did, you would know that many uber drivers (possibly even Grab) practise a very hard to detect form of discrimination where they reject customers with a certain kind of name. You did right by getting a cab on the streets….I have no idea whats so attractive about booking a car via an app.
ReplyGuys, this “film” is really quite badly done. It’s a confusing edit, the storytelling is messy and what has any of it got to do with Uber? At the end of the day, it’s just not a good piece of work. It could have been a simple story well told, but in the end, the creative team added so many bells and whistles, it made the film so messy and hard to follow. I hate it when other CDs use the word “convoluted” but this is exactly what this film is. I expected more from BBH.
ReplyWhen the world zigs, so do we.
BBH has become just another one of the many faceless agencies chasing revenue. It’s identity has gone down the pan. This ad could have been done by any other of the holding company shops. A shame.
ReplyAs an agency, there’s no other one in singapore that consistently does good, solid work. Work that any Creative would be happy to have in their books. Their recent win on Nike was great and the women’s video for ntuc was good too. I’m also looking forward to seeing work for SingTel. Yes, this uber video was utter pretentious shite. But that doesn’t mean BBH is not a strong agency to be in.
ReplyGod this video is badly made. Whoever came up with the dual storyline nonsense needs to be shot. That duality thing just messed up the whole narrative. All fluff no substance.
ReplyIn the grand Singaporean scheme of things this is not bad. But on the international stage it is still a steaming turd.
ReplyYou’re sounding as if the Singapore creative scene is at a lower level than the international scene, whereas the record of Singapore agencies on the international stage indicates otherwise. Including BBH’s own Nike Unlimited Stadium that won 15 Cannes Lions.
ReplyI would have made the storytelling a more linear one. Cut out the confusing time warp bit & stuck to a clear storyline. If you can’t do a time travel edit properly, leave that to the Scorseses and Nolans of the world. Just my two cents.
ReplyI am not sure who is running uber marketing but this person needs to go back to school. They have NO cohesive and united strategy they’re working towards.
Every campaign is going off on its own tangent…where’s the unified message?
Theres no integration between what their in-house arm produces….usually poorly conceived junk. And what BBH has done is take it on another sharp detour.
There is no way such an approach succeeds in the marketplace. That’s the problem with marketing/advertising folks today. They’ve jammed up their offices with kids who speak so much tech jargon…yet no one seems to have the capacity to think like a human.
ReplyThis video was talked about at spikes parties this year. But in a bad way. Main gripes people had were the weak storytelling and poor edit. These issues should have been thought through at the script writing stage and simplified the story. The copywriter needs to go back to scriptwriting school.
Replyif u guys think this is bad from BBH, wait till u see their previous work for FrieslandCampina. 😛
ReplyBoy builds straws, thirty years later he builds a SAME bigger straw sculpture? Sikh Guy revisits his old army camp, in modern parade uniform?
I find it hard to find a link in each individual narrative. Let alone multiple timelines. Were they trying to play Nolan?!
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