YOU WOULDN’T EXPECT ASPERCREME TO MAKE BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT.

But as the seventh-largest topical pain reliever in the U.S., our brand and audience of 55+ year-olds were both facing the same challenge: overlooked, but a lot more interesting than people were giving us credit for.

So we partnered with Spinal Tap, the world’s most famous fictional band who was now 40 years older, achier, and in no mood for pain.

A NATURAL ROLE FOR THE BRAND

Ahead of the release of their sequel film - Spinal Tap II: The End Continues - we created a film of our own. Rock bands are known for wild tour rider requests, so we asked: what would an eccentric, aging, arthritic band want for their final tour? Turns out, their list included items like a jar of London fog, a Hungarian dictionary and most importantly, Aspercreme.

OUR BRAND.

THEIR WORLD.

It was critical for our work to feel like an extension of the Spinal Tap universe, not a paid ad with famous actors holding up a product and discussing talking points. We shot the campaign in the same iconic mockumentary style of the original film, leveraging the distinct comedic genius of the four lead actors. We scripted out tight prompts, scenarios, and product benefits, then empowered the actors to follow their famous improvisation style, ensuring their deadpan humor and character authenticity shined and made this as funny and believable as possible.

FROM CONTENT TO THE RED CARPET

We extended the campaign by creating custom 80s-rock-inspired spandex pants branded with Aspercreme. We showed up at the Spinal Tap 2 Premiere not just promoting the pain reliever, but also a sweepstakes where fans could win a pair of these Legendary Leggings.

A BIG WIN FOR A TINY PAIN RELIEF BRAND

Our campaign struck a chord, boosting base sales by 6% and exceeding social engagement benchmarks by 33%. Even as a skippable YouTube ad, our 30-second video delivered a staggering 63% completion rate, while the full-length version held 53% of viewers to the end. And 10% of moviegoers who saw Spinal Tap II on opening weekend were familiar with our brand tie-in.