Tennant takes the Big Kahuna for a spin in latest Virgin Media ad campaign

29th May 2014

  • Ads celebrate the UK’s first true ‘quad-play’ Big Bundles
  • Clapped-out car transforms into cool convertible as Virgin Media supercharges home entertainment



David Tennant gets behind the wheel of some seriously supercharged vehicles in Virgin Media’s latest ad campaign, showcasing its new range of Big Bundles. Virgin Media is putting its customers in the driving seat with its flexible new bundles, enabling them to mix and match the UK’s fastest widely available broadband, the country’s best value mobile SIM and unbeatable TV and home phone services.

Each Big Bundle can be tailored to suit a household’s needs with great value extras available to add at any time. This includes the flexibility to take more of any particular service, such as adding Sky Sports or Movies or getting unlimited mobile data.

The ads also star Richard Branson and will first air with a primetime slot during Britain’s Got Talent on ITV on Thursday 29th May.

In the first ad, called ‘Power Drive’, Tennant starts off in a clapped-out Reliant Robin bemoaning unreliable copper broadband speeds. The car suddenly becomes a bright red sports car at the mention of Virgin Media’s superfast fibre optic broadband and powers a sleek red trailer carrying an entire family, all online at the same time. The car then transforms into a rock star tour bus, fully kitted out with Virgin Media TiVo, a gold-plated home phone and even a mobile SIM, all available with Virgin Media’s new quad-play Big Bundles. Branson appears, skating behind the tour bus, as Tennant exclaims all this is available for as little as the price of a “pair of old roller blades”.

In the second ad, called ‘Power Flex’, Tennant cruises along on a powerful motorbike and compares the experience to the freedom customers get with Virgin Media’s flexible Big Bundles. He pulls a lever to add and remove Sky Sports to his package whilst an entire Virgin Media family pulls up alongside him on a supercharged bike. Everyone is busy online with different devices so the family’s pet Labrador is at the wheel and cranks up the broadband speeds to cater for everyone’s needs. Tennant holds up a mobile SIM which can be added to his quad-play bundle, which turns into a dove and flies away, prompting Tennant to say “freedom is awesome, eh Rich?”’ Branson leans out from behind Tennant on the back of his bike where he’s been all along.

Richard Larcombe, brand and marketing director at Virgin Media, said: “The time had come for our blockbuster duo of Tennant and Branson to hit the road – after all, what better way to show off our supercharged services than from a supercharged vehicle? The ads celebrate the freedom and flexibility of our new unrivalled Big Bundles, helping turn Virgin Media customers into the Big Kahunas of the household.”

Virgin Media’s Big Bundles have transformed the way in which home communications and entertainment services can be bought, offering unprecedented flexibility and value to consumers. For just £45 a month, the ‘Big Kahuna’ bundle makes the most of the unrivalled power of Virgin Media’s network by boasting 152Mb broadband, twice as fast as any other service of scale. This market-beating bundle also includes the highly acclaimed TiVo® with over 230 TV channels with over 40 in HD, such as every BT Sport channel, and a home phone service.

The ad campaign was created by BBH with media planning handled by Fifty6, and will run across TV, print, out of home and online.

Notes to editors

Details of the full range of Virgin Media Big Bundles can be found here.

The creative leads for the campaign are as follows:

Director: Guy Manwaring
Creative director: Matt Domon and Ian Heartfield, BBH
Copywriter: Ed Cole, BBH
Art director: Lewis Mooney, BBH
Production company: Sonny

About Virgin Media

Virgin Media offers four multi award-winning services across the UK and Ireland: broadband, TV, mobile phone and landline.

The company’s dedicated, ultrafast network delivers the fastest widely available broadband speeds to homes and businesses. And we’re expanding this through our £3bn Project Lightning programme, which will reach 17 million premises.

Our interactive TV service brings live programmes, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and the best apps and games in a set-top box, as well as on-the-go for tablets and smartphones.

We launched the world’s first virtual mobile network, offering fantastic value and services to customers. We are also one of the largest fixed-line home phone providers in the UK and Ireland.

Through Virgin Media Business we support entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector, delivering the fastest widely available broadband speeds and tailor-made services.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, the world’s largest international cable company. Together Virgin Media and Liberty Global serve 27 million customers across 14 countries.