Droga5 Unearths Deep Cuts From the '80s and '90s in Musical Ads for Amazon Prime

Can buying stuff through Amazon Prime cure your existential malaise and brighten your dreary days by sparking visions of your chiller inner self?

Absolutely! Plus, you get free shipping! 

Droga5 London’s new work in the U.S. market for the e-tailer’s vaunted loyalty program—which boasts about 100 million members worldwide—cheekily taps into the emotional boost that shoppers feel when they fall in love with an item they weren’t expecting to find on Amazon. It should go without saying that hit ballads from the ’80s and ’90s play on the soundtrack.

First, a stressed-out new mom finds a kicky chair she simply must buy, and promptly envisions herself performing a sultry dance routine:

Yeah, it’s 1987 all over again, thanks to Whitesnake’s “Is This Love.”

For the dude in our next spot, a new bed feels like a dream come true—especially with Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson’s “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” cranked up:

Of course, the right clothes can dress up anyone’s mood, especially with tuneful accessorizing via the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame” and K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life.” These two ads promote Amazon Wardrobe:

“We wanted to make sure we picked tracks that dramatized the moment of falling in love and felt nostalgic, but not obvious,” says Droga5 chief creative officer David Kolbusz. “We didn’t want to choose the go-tos that are used on every ad and in every film. There’s something about deep cuts that mean more to people. They feel more personal.” 

Getting the tone just right proved trickier than the team anticipated.

“Each character needed to transform into an idealized version of themselves,” Kolbusz says. “In a way, it was like working with eight actors instead of four. And each pairing was a romance. So weirdly we needed to work out for each character how they would flirt and interact with themselves.”

Sure, the premise is hyperbolic. But it captures an abiding element of e-commerce and fuels an entertaining, relatable campaign.

“When you shop for style-driven products, you’re fulfilling a more emotional need,” says Kolbusz, “and the truth is that you often imagine yourself wearing the item, or what it could look like in your home. In these spots, the future version of yourself isn’t necessarily better, it’s just idealized in the same way that we all hope that the things we choose to buy will have a positive effect on our lives.”

CREDITS

Client: Amazon Prime U.S.
Agency Droga5 London
Chief Creative Officer: David Kolbusz
Group Creative Directors: Shelley Smoler and Raph Basckin
Copywriter: Molly Wilkoff
Group Account Director: Heather Cuss
Account Director: Max Levine
Strategy Director: Pete Heskett
Agency Producer: Rachel Hough
Production Company: Furlined
Executive Producer: Olly Chapman
Producer: Giles Skillicorn
DoP: Joost Van Gelder
Post Production: Untold Studios
Grade: James Bamford at The Mill
Editor/Editing House: Paul Hardcastle, Edward Hanbury, David Davis at
Trim Editing
Sound: Will Cohen at String and Tins
Directors: Will Speck and Josh Gordon