Even Apeldoorn Bellen: hilarious commercials with ingenious visual storytelling
This is a post about a famous series of Dutch commercials for a large insurance company. There is a lot to love about these commercials, that always end with the tagline: "Even Apeldoorn bellen." (Just call Apeldoorn). A funny detail is that Apeldoorn isn't even the name of the company, but the city where its main offices are located.
The concept of each commercial is the same: something very funny but very unfortunate is going to happen. But if you just call Apeldoorn to get the proper insurance, this is one thing that you won't have to worry about. The trick is that we never actually see the terrible tragedy that is the punchline of the joke.
This campaign has been used in the Netherlands since 1978. And the commercials are loved by the audience because of the humor and the high production value. I also very much love these commercials for their great sense of visual storytelling. I really appreciate how fast they establish a location and the characters. Of course, as many commercials do, they depend on stereotypes a lot but I must say that to me at least it usually feels as if they give them a little spin. There is more to it than just the stereotype. Ah well, enough talking go watch some of these great videos!
The concept of each commercial is the same: something very funny but very unfortunate is going to happen. But if you just call Apeldoorn to get the proper insurance, this is one thing that you won't have to worry about. The trick is that we never actually see the terrible tragedy that is the punchline of the joke.
This campaign has been used in the Netherlands since 1978. And the commercials are loved by the audience because of the humor and the high production value. I also very much love these commercials for their great sense of visual storytelling. I really appreciate how fast they establish a location and the characters. Of course, as many commercials do, they depend on stereotypes a lot but I must say that to me at least it usually feels as if they give them a little spin. There is more to it than just the stereotype. Ah well, enough talking go watch some of these great videos!
