Xfinity Adds Zombies to Its Menagerie of Monsters and Mayhem

Because mobile woes can feel like the end of the world

The scene: During a zombie apocalypse, with flesh munching and destruction all around, a young guy cowers atop a burned-out bus and faces one of the undead.

Corpse: Infinity Mobile gives you phone upgrades every year. They also cover all your devices for life.

Dude: Do you, like, work for Xfinity?

Corpse: Used to. Anyway, nice chatting. I’m gonna go eat this lady.

That’s one of many cute bits in the wireless provider’s latest round of Hollywood sendups. Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Xfinity Creative Production and director Damien Shatford collaborated on the campaign.

Spots breaks today, recalling Xfinity’s fabbo Frankenstein advert from last Halloween and its Jurassic Park Super Bowl play. This new flight rocks similar spoofy sensibilities as the brand continues to promise reliable and affordable WiFi and related tech service.

Here, we learn that being dead doesn’t exempt you from paying bills—which might be horrifyingly high unless you switch to Xfinity:

“A dead zone at the worst possible moment, a forgotten download before you lose WiFi, a cracked screen right when you need it most—these are the moments that can feel like the end of the world,” says Diana Hicks, executive director of brand IMC of Xfinity.

“The campaign personifies that feeling through a zombie apocalypse, showing that with Xfinity Mobile, customers can stay connected and worry a little less, no matter what comes their way.”

Another plus … should the world slip into oblivion, Xfinity provides ABBA’s pop stylings to ease the pain:

“The set felt more like a feature film than an ad campaign with huge make-up teams from Auckland and Sydney, a horde of over 100 zombie extras and production design that transformed lovely looking spaces into apocalyptic wastelands,” Hicks recalls. “There was rarely a moment during the entire week where a zombie or two wasn’t lumbering past us heading to their trailers or to lunch. It surreal and hilarious at the same time.”

As for the broader goal, “First and foremost, we’d love people to laugh when they watch these,” says agency co-founder and co-chairman Jeff Goodby. “After they stop laughing, we’d love them to takeaway the idea that no matter what is going on in their chaotic lives—apocalypse or no apocalypse—it’s not so bad when their WiFi and technology is running smoothly.”

The dead rise today across broadcast and digital. We’re told this flight marks the first of satirical series that will unfurl through the summer and fall.