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This year’s Global Comedy Festival comes with a $1.5 million advertising campaign that includes television, radio and print and boldly positions the annual Vancouver comedy fest as the city’s “best festival.”
In fact, Rethink, the ad agency behind the campaign, takes a jab at pretty much every other festival in the city.
In one of the two television spots a woman is shown visiting a portable toilet at the Folk Festival. On the second day a man visits the toilet and takes a step back from the smell. On day three a woman goes in and comes running out again.
The tag line is: “There is a better festival.”
Print ads are just as pointed. One shows the Fringe Festival with copy that reads “Where artists want to break down barriers and audiences want to put them back,” and for the Children’s Festival, the copy reads “the best birth control money can buy” under the picture of a screaming child.
“There are lots of festivals during the year and by mid-September people are feeling a little festival-weary,” said Lara Palmer, art director, who is married to a comic.
“Only the comedy festival can take the piss out of the other festivals. The wine festival or the jazz festival could never take that stance [as best festival]. So sometimes to make it unique and ownable, it means just taking an attitude that only you can own.”
While well-known headliners such as Carol Burnett, Steve Martin and Red Green will draw many attendees, said Palmer, the campaign targets a 20 to 35-year-old “younger, edgier” audience who may not otherwise be aware of the festival.
