Having cable is more annoying than many things but Direct TV is better than everything.

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The campaign’s relevance to DIRECTV’s product offerings lies in the smart yet simple way the insight was established and exaggerated. The audience has an instant connection with the problem, and enjoys the path to the solution. The combination of superior art direction and sophisticated, irreverent and modern humor was an effective way to engage DIRECTV’s core target – educated men aged 35-54 who are dialed in to popular culture and value good entertainment. Because the spots maintain the same memorable structure, consumers learned to anticipate the creative and irreverent payoff at the end of each unfortunate chain of events.

Cable Effects delivered a great success for DIRECTV in two ways: it gave the brand huge pop-cultural relevance and lured cable subscribers onto DIRECTV’s platform in droves. The public response was tremendous, with stories published in many major entertainment and media outlets. The campaign even got a shout out from President Clinton who called it “the most hilarious ads I’ve ever seen.”

The business results were even stronger: DIRECTV’s profitable revenue growth during the campaign period increased 10% over the same period last year. Against Marketing Plan, call volume to 1-800-DIRECTV lifted 10% and sales from 1-800-DIRECTV lifted 16.2%.