Canal+ The Cube
Canal+ tasked BETC Euro RSCG to create a campaign that would powerfully convey the depth and cinematic quality of its entertainment content. The client wanted to differentiate Canal+ by showcasing its compelling storytelling and exciting value, implying much more happens than just pressing a button. The challenge was to make viewers understand Canal+ offered truly special, immersive experiences, aiming to elevate brand perception and attract new subscribers.
Creative Idea
Canal+ created an elaborate world behind a TV's on button to highlight their compelling storytelling.
Canal+ created a playful and imaginative ad that reveals the complex, dramatic world happening inside a TV's on/off button when it's turned on, suggesting the brand's entertainment content is as exciting and cinematic as the creative scenario behind a simple light. The campaign humorously implies that Canal+ offers more depth and excitement than just pressing a button, using an elaborate behind-the-scenes narrative to demonstrate the brand's compelling storytelling and entertainment value.
The Culinary Alchemy of Cinematic Ingredients
A Masterclass in Visual Metaphor
To launch the +Le Cube hardware, BETC Paris moved away from technical specifications to embrace a "selling the love of cinema" philosophy. The campaign's centerpiece, "The Kitchen," directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, reimagined a high-end restaurant where the ingredients were literal film tropes. Carrots transformed into high-speed police chases, while spices exploded with the intensity of action-movie pyrotechnics. This analogy positioned Canal+ as the "Master Chef" of entertainment, suggesting that great TV requires the same precision and premium ingredients as a Michelin-starred meal.
Engineering the VFX Rampage
The production was a technical feat handled by the Paris-based powerhouse Unit Image. Described as a "VFX rampage," the film blended live-action kitchen footage with complex 3D animation and motion capture. Stéphane Xiberras noted that the lunar landscapes were shot on location in Iceland to provide a sense of scale that CGI alone couldn't replicate under tight deadlines. The sound design, crafted by Schmooze, was essential in grounding the fantastical visuals in a tactile, high-stakes culinary environment.
Hardware as High Design
The physical set-top box was as much a part of the campaign as the film. Designed by Yves Béhar of Fuseproject, the device featured a striking black-and-white geometric aesthetic intended to be home decor rather than a utility. It included a gyroscopic detector that automatically reoriented the LCD display regardless of whether the box was placed horizontally or vertically. This focus on premium hardware paid off - by 2010, Canal+ France reached 11.1 million subscriptions, and the advanced VOD functionalities of the Cube became a primary driver for subscriber retention.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
As a premium broadcaster with a heritage in high-end cinema, Canal+ has the creative authority to treat its brand identity with the same epic scale as a blockbuster film. They possess the production capability to turn a technical detail into a grand narrative.
Category
Broadcasting marketing typically focuses on functional utility, such as channel counts or hardware specs. Ads in this space are often transactional and dry, rarely exploring the imaginative or emotional experience of the technology itself.
Customer
Viewers are often bored by the routine of home entertainment and crave a sense of wonder. They want to feel that their subscription isn't just a utility, but a portal to something extraordinary that justifies a premium price point.
Culture
A growing cultural fascination with 'Easter eggs' and the hidden complexity of digital life made audiences receptive to imaginative lore. This tapped into the zeitgeist of high-concept storytelling where even the smallest details have epic importance.
Company
As a premium broadcaster with a heritage in high-end cinema, Canal+ has the creative authority to treat its brand identity with the same epic scale as a blockbuster film. They possess the production capability to turn a technical detail into a grand narrative.
Category
Broadcasting marketing typically focuses on functional utility, such as channel counts or hardware specs. Ads in this space are often transactional and dry, rarely exploring the imaginative or emotional experience of the technology itself.
Strategy:
Dramatize the mundane act of turning on the TV to position Canal+ as a gateway to epic cinematic depth.
Customer
Viewers are often bored by the routine of home entertainment and crave a sense of wonder. They want to feel that their subscription isn't just a utility, but a portal to something extraordinary that justifies a premium price point.
Culture
A growing cultural fascination with 'Easter eggs' and the hidden complexity of digital life made audiences receptive to imaginative lore. This tapped into the zeitgeist of high-concept storytelling where even the smallest details have epic importance.
Strategy:
Dramatize the mundane act of turning on the TV to position Canal+ as a gateway to epic cinematic depth.
Strategy Technique
Dramatize the Invisible Benefit
The campaign dramatizes the invisible depth and cinematic quality of Canal+ content. It makes the brand's entertainment value tangible and exciting, implying much more than a simple button press.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Create Fantasy Worlds, People and Things
The campaign crafts an elaborate, imaginative world inside a TV button. This ludicrous alternate reality visually represents Canal+'s deep, cinematic entertainment content.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's craft is exceptional due to its high-quality cinematic production, particularly in its visual effects and sound design, which build a grand, immersive sci-fi world, only to dramatically and humorously subvert expectations with a mundane product reveal.
The seamless integration of complex futuristic elements like armored suits, alien landscapes, floating monoliths, and giant robotic walkers creates a highly believable and immersive sci-fi reality.
The masterful use of wide, sweeping shots, dramatic close-ups, and dynamic camera movements effectively establishes scale, heightens suspense, and conveys character emotion within the epic narrative.
The rich and immersive soundscape, from the atmospheric rumbles and futuristic weapon effects to the subtle product clicks, significantly enhances the storytelling and atmosphere, selling the high-stakes sci-fi world and the domestic relief.
The precise and impactful cuts in the action sequences, combined with the expertly timed, unexpected shift to the domestic scene, generate both dramatic tension and comedic payoff, driving the campaign's central idea.
