Would you want to flee the neighborhood if a kooky cat lady with 40 furry friends bought the house next door? What if some dude obsessed with wind chimes moved in, and the clanging-jangling kept you awake all night? Or, perhaps the arrival of a family with 13 destructive kids would send you on a quest to find a new home?
Credit Karma poses such silly scenarios—and reminds you that before trying to buy a new place, you should check your credit score—in spots that take the brand’s trademark humor to the next level.
Developed in-house with the help of production company Smuggler, the ads represent an effort “to unlock the value of Credit Karma beyond free scores,” Dana Marineau, the company’s vice president of brand and creative, tells Adweek.
Themed “Keep Moving Forward,” the commercials seek to show “how improving scores helps consumers make financial progress,” says Marineau. “In this case, highlighting how using Credit Karma to monitor and improve credit can help someone move and escape that very relatable experience of having a terrible roommate or neighbor.”
Thanks largely to Benji Weinstein’s brisk, sitcom-esque direction, these ads feel right on the money, buoyed by odd touches like a #SadFace roommate’s berserk barking and Jingle-Boy’s poetic/insane declaration that, “The wind is my wife, and the chimes are our children.”
- AdWeek Feature