NFL Partygoers Fill Buffering Silences in Humorous Xfinity Campaign

When it comes to catching a must-watch, can’t-miss live event, nothing can ruin the fun like a poor streaming connection. That’s especially true when it comes to a live sporting event, where it’s all on the line. 

That’s the premise driving the latest campaign from Xfinity and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, entitled 'Between the Streams.' Directed by Harold Einstein of Dummy Films, the campaign – which consists of four 15-second spots and one 30-second spot – is set to debut during the NFL Wild Card Game this Saturday evening, January 13th, on Peacock. 

“Live sports only happen once, and we wanted to raise awareness for consumers around the need for having the very best internet streaming connection in a high impact way,” says Todd Arata, senior vice president of marketing communications at Comcast. “The speed, coverage and reliability of the Xfinity 10G Network is what every fan needs in season and beyond. It’s a network made for the internet streaming of live sports and this fun campaign proves that out memorably.” 

In each spot, we visit the same group of friends at their NFL watch party, where a glitching moment creates a different opportunity for a partygoer to fill the awkward buffering-induced silence. The scenarios grow more comedically extreme and situationally desperate with every successive instalment - pushing the friends to make admissions and expose one another in ways a seamless internet streaming connection may have never forced them to. 

“It’s such a great opportunity to have this much ‘commercial’ real estate during a live game.” says GS&P executive creative director Jim Elliott. “It allowed us to create the sense of a live episodic featuring an ensemble cast of friends seemingly watching the same live game as everyone else. It becomes a uniquely meta experience of us watching them trying to watch the game but suffering more and more throughout thanks to their inferior internet.”  

Beyond the Wild Card Game, the work will continue to run in social and online in the coming weeks.