There have been a bunch of recent Canadian ads all using the same trope: eccentric, enthusiastic employee impersonator dealing with customer, then revealed to not actually be working at the store being advertised.
The ads all seem to be trying to be offbeat. A couple dressed as a cow recommending an ice cream brand as a security guard gets concerned. Enthusiastic “employees” for cell phones or diamond rings giving advice while another worker tells the customer the enthusiast doesn’t actually work at the store.
It’s a somewhat odd trope. Where did this first begin? Is this just a Canadian thing?
I suppose it might be a reaction to the popularity of “Flo” at Progressive. She started out over-the-top perky and has gotten stranger from there. But she works.
Maybe finally Flo-fatigue is setting in and the wacky employee trope is wearing thin. No longer believable enough as Corporate Retail increasingly tramples on all manner of employee individuality.
But the wackiness is memorable, something to make your ad stand out from the rest.
So how do we make a realistically bland corporate salesdrone also be wacky? I know! Let’s make it two people! One subject to Corporate control, and one free agent not subject to Corporate control.
Another thought: In this social media / influencer era, people tend to trust the product advice and info they get from “real people” online more than they trust the advice and product info on companies’ websites or from companies sales reps.
The wacky non-employee employee at the store is the conventional advertising media equivalent of the social media fanboy / fangirl gushing about the awesome new product they found.