Lizzo Sings the Beatles to Introduce Facebook's Messenger Rooms
Leo Burnett and the Gondrys call the tune
John, Paul, George … and Lizzo?
Well, not exactly. But she does the Fab Four proud by belting out a version of their 1969 track “All Together Now” for the spot below, introducing Facebook’s Messenger Rooms video chat platform.
Developed by Leo Burnett and Facebook’s in-house Creative X studio during lockdown, the kicky commercial, titled “Pictures,” mixes still images and video of diverse users sharing special moments via the service. Michel and Olivier Gondry directed.
Recorded specifically for the spot, Lizzo’s warm, upbeat rendition feels in tune with the times and a service that lets up to 50 people group-chat for as long as they like. The Beatles, of course, are always a classic connection, with the mop-tops’ music most recently driving this fond stateside farewell to the Volkswagen Beetle. (Surely, Lovely Rita—you know, the meter maid—would let their parking fails slide.)
“The new campaign aims to showcase the real life benefits of Messenger Rooms, from celebrating a birthday remotely to virtual karaoke,” Facebook says. “The work aims to demonstrate a full and candid scale of all the ways people are looking to stay connected with the ones they love, and how Messenger Rooms can make that happen.”
Rooms enters a crowded but surging marketplace, with Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom enjoying big upswings in usage in recent months as folks spend more time at home during the Covid-19 crisis. For example, Zoom’s daily meeting participation surged to 300 million in April, compared to 200 million the previous month.
Along with Facebook’s platforms, the work breaks wide this week across various TV and digital channels.