My YouTube ad of the week: Sushma Sagar, Banana Republic

Sushma Sagar, senior brand manager, Banana Republic

Why I like this

I had the most bizarre dream the other day about a freaky man-baby-sheep creature that could fly. The twisted mind behind Air New Zealand’s new viral is to blame. Take a trip with me and I’ll explain.

The central protagonists are sheep called Mason and Jason, who are travelling together in the new two-seater "Skycouch". I suppose it makes perfect sense for Air New Zealand to have bovine main characters and it’s quite cute to think of them being upgraded from cattle class. The concept then progresses from cute to weird when you realise that Mason and Jason are, in fact, conjoined twins. Weirder still, they are played by grown men encased in a large, woolly romper suit. It gets stranger. They speak in a Kiwi accent, using a mixture of normal and baby language to discuss, for example, the merits of "blankees". Did I mention that they are cuddling each other? Well, they are.

A week on and I’m still telling people about it. Brand recall? Word of mouth? USP? Check! I’ll admit I find the ad disturbing, but can’t help conclude that the idea is genius, despite being more ewwww than ewe.

This article was first published on Campaign YouTube