A Walrus Enjoys the Freedom of Better Broadband with Virgin Media O2

Virgin Media O2 today launches the third chapter of its ‘To Better and Beyond’ campaign, ‘Walrus Whizzer’, an integrated campaign from agency of record VCCP, which highlights the freedom that better broadband brings.

Set to the soundtrack of Billy Ocean’s ‘Suddenly’, the 60” hero campaign film emulates the unstoppable feeling experienced when using Virgin Media broadband and spotlight’s the provider’s recent ‘Best Broadband Experience’ award win from GWS.

The humorous and memorable film follows on from award-winning campaigns ‘Highland Rider’ and ‘Goat Glider’, this time featuring a walrus, climbing out of icy waters in a fishing harbour and hopping on to a speedboat. It hits the controls and cruises off into the distance with confused locals and a group of envious walruses looking on as it speeds away. The walrus lets out a roar of happiness as it skims across the waves.

VCCP, together with its global content creation studio Girl & Bear, collaborated with Untold Studios to bring the Walrus to life. The VFX team worked closely with director Andreas Nilsson, meticulously crafting a detailed pre-visualisation, allowing key animation work to commence even before the shoot.

Untold’s team expertly created a photorealistic Walrus, designing various looks and fur grooms to depict its transformation as it dried off after emerging from the water. Additionally, a flawless digital replica of the speedboat was developed, ensuring seamless interaction between the Walrus, the boat, and the surrounding water.

The animators and creature effects team closely collaborated to bring the Walrus to life with stunning realism, while meticulously simulating highly complex water effects and splashes. The lighting and compositing teams then seamlessly integrated these elements with the live-action footage.

Simon Valcarcel, marketing director at Virgin Media O2, said, “This latest campaign celebrates the feeling Virgin Media broadband delivers to our customers every day. Smooth, fast and reliable. Being recognised by GWS as providing the ‘Best Broadband Experience’ only confirms what our customers already know - they are truly unstoppable with us.”

David Masterman, deputy executive creative director at VCCP, added, “With our Highland Cow and our Goat we brought to life just how unstoppable Virgin Media is. We’ve been on land and in the air. It was time to take to the high seas. And, let’s face it, Walruses have a lot of personality.”

The campaign launches today and will run until 27th October across Cinema, TV and VOD, Online, D/OOH, Social and Radio. Media planning and buying was managed by MG OMD. Creative digital agency Bernadette also worked across the integrated campaign to bring digital, social and online elements to life.