AdMiration feature: ASICS’ “The Desk Break”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we looked at consumer response to ASICS’ “The Desk Break” ad. The ad premiered ahead of World Mental Health Day and features Brian Cox, serving as a public service announcement that urges office workers to take a break for their mental health.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens to a dark room with Brian Cox in a suit and looking into the camera stating, “Hello workers, another long day at the office? Boss being a meanie?” 

The camera starts to zoom out until viewers see he is sitting at a lone desk as he continues, “Too bad! Shut up. Listen. I’ve got some important news.” The camera continues zooming out as he says, “It turns out that I’m not the deadliest thing in the office. This is…” as he jams his finger and then fist onto the desk in a close up.   

“It's a killer,” he exclaims and begins to stand. He explains, “Science has shown it can be bad for your mental health…but I don’t see you running away from it.” The camera begins to cover Brian at different angles as he says, “No, your boss has you locked to it; for eight, nine, ten hours a day.” He slams his laptop shut as an email notification pops up and continues, “Look at you, trading your own mental health for free fruit and a Wellness Wednesday. Banana anyone?” as a shot of a browning banana is shown. “F**K the FRUIT!” he shouts.

The camera has fully zoomed out at this point and you can see that Brian is only wearing the top half of his suit and has on gym shorts and ASICS sneakers. He continues to shout, “Wake up geniuses! I’m giving you the truth – it’s a trap. You need to get away from your desk; run, jump, rollerskate.” He skips along moving closer to the camera and says, “Whatever, I don’t care. Just move. For your mind.” 

As he walks off scene, text appears on screen that reads, “Your desk is a danger to your mental health. Take a desk break to move your mind.” The ad closes with the camera zooming back in on the desk as the ASICS logo appears on screen, with the tagline “Sound mind, sound body.”

3 facts

• “The Desk Break” uses a highly creative approach that is very distinctive (ad distinctiveness mean score 4.1 vs. 3.8 US norm) and works well for the brand.

• People love the message ASICS champions around mental health, which is cleverly integrated into the story and humorous punchlines. This results in a high purchase uplift (33% vs 20% US norm) and strong potential sales (Sales Impact: 86) among viewers 45 or older.

• Brian Cox is a perfect fit for the serious (yet humorous) tone of the story given the unrelenting roles he often plays. Viewers have a strong affinity for him as evidenced by high celebrity appeal (3.8 mean score is significantly above the US norm of 3.4). 

2 learnings

• Too much seriousness or intensity can be hard for audiences to watch or digest. ASICS does a wonderful job of delivering a serious message with a beautiful contrast of fun and humor. They take viewers on an emotional journey that provides some moments of “relief” to create a more enjoyable viewing experience and help punctuate the message. Brian Cox is forceful and delivers a very important message. What’s ingenious is that they inject moments of surprise and laughter that people can relate to (e.g. him being in shorts and tennis shoes, saying: “run, jump, roller skate, whatever, I don’t care, just move your mind”) which all help engage viewers and convey the key message of the need for a mental health break. 

• Achieving strong viral potential for an ad is relatively rare. When achieved, it provides extra “legs” and free press that can extend the reach and frequency of a campaign to new heights (providing it’s positive). ASICS’ distinctive creative approach and very relevant message result in strong viral potential with 62% of people thinking others will share this ad on social media. In fact, it’s achieved over 137k YouTube views by the end of September! You’ll probably find yourself sharing it as well.

1 reflection

Have you thought about how you could break the category code to make your campaign more distinctive and engaging? “The Desk Break” breaks new ground with a distinctive ad for athletic footwear that delivers an important health message. Many other athletic brands focus on performance, but ASICS talks about the harmony of mental and physical health. They do this in a way that fits with their brand as ASICS stands for “anima sana in corpore sano” (healthy mind, healthy body). How could you do this for your brand?

Created by ASICS' agency partner Golin, the campaign features actor Brian Cox, who takes on the role of the world’s scariest boss in their PSA-style ad. 

The campaign is inspired by the findings from ASICS’ recent State of Mind study, which found that our mental state declines after only two hours of continuous desk-based work.

Al Wood, CCO at Golin shares, “We loved the idea of ASICS stepping out of the exercise world to take on office culture in ways you wouldn’t expect from a sports brand. From putting the world’s scariest boss in shorts, to using employment contract law to help people create change. A balance of entertainment and action to get workers away from their desk.”

Based on these findings, ASICS launched The Desk Break Clause: an employment contract clause that gives workers the legal right to additional 15-minute movement breaks during their working day.

Regarding the project, Brian Cox shared, “I’ve played some pretty intimidating characters in my time but who would have thought a desk could be scarier? It’s great to see ASICS try and do something about this and encourage people to support their mental health through exercise. As I say in the film, run, jump, roller skate. I don’t care. Just move for your mind.”

Gary Raucher, EVP ASICS EMEA, adds, “At ASICS, we champion the power of movement, not just on the body, but also on the mind. It’s why we’re called ASICS – an acronym for the Latin ‘Anima Sana in Corpore Sano’ or ‘Sound Mind in a Sound Body’. Our global study revealed that the hours spent at your desk for hours on end are having a real and scary impact on our minds. That’s why we wanted to deliver a powerful message from the world’s scariest boss to inspire people to move their minds. We hope to encourage office workers around the world to move and feel the mental benefits. We look forward to seeing the empty desk images on World Mental Health Day.”

To find out more about the Desk Break, visit asics.com/deskbreak.

ASICS’ “The Desk Break” utilizes a highly distinctive creative approach, for both the overall idea and creative. This makes the spot very distinctive (4.1 mean score vs 3.8 US norm) with a strong potential to go viral (62% vs 56% US norm). 

The creative approach is distinctive in many ways. It has:

• A unique approach for the category that fits well with the brand

• A highly relevant health message expressed in a new way

• A unique emotional journey (serious tone injected with fun and humor)

• Strong celebrity appeal featuring Brian Cox “in character”

The highly distinctive approach effectively breaks the category mold by focusing on the harmony of mental and physical health compared to most other athletic brands which focus on performance. ASICS cleverly positioned the desk as the enemy to mental health and movement as being part of the solution. Of course, ASICS sponsors the spot and wants people to choose them as part of the solution and the brand is a “perfect fit” for the mental health message. ASICS’ goal is to help people realize the mental health danger of sitting at your desk too long and to “just move for your mind.” Will you start taking more breaks and moving as a result?

People love the highly relevant message expressed in a new way, “Take a desk break to move your mind.” The message is delivered in a unique way, is well timed with World Mental Health Day on October 10th, and drives strong purchase uplift among all viewers, especially males 45+. Its potential to drive sales is also incredibly strong among men 45 and older (Sales Impact: 93%).

Elements that people like about the spot help showcase the power of the message. Here’s what some respondents had to say:

• "It was interesting and unlike common fitness commercials. The twist about the desk being bad for mental health and the encouragement to move for your mind is encouraging to those who are not necessarily fitness aficionados."

• "I liked the whole idea of how the office is related to mental health and we need to be more active."

• "I liked how it encourages people to get moving to improve mental health."

• "It showed that even old people can be active and exercise for health.”

• “I loved the advertising of the shoes. It was a great thing to see. It’s going to make me buy the shoe most definitely."

• "I liked everything about this product. It is something I would use."

"The Desk Break" uses a creative approach that takes viewers on a unique emotional journey. They cleverly intersperse fun and humor into the serious tone and message about mental health, evoking love, surprise and laughter, even more so among those 45 and older. 

Early on, humor emotionally engages viewers when Brian Cox changes his tone and says, “too bad, shut up, listen” and then they are surprised when he unveils that “the desk is the deadliest thing in the office,” making his point even more poignant with his finger and subsequently slamming his fist on the desk. 

People also find the scene when Brian Cox stands up from his desk wearing his suit coat and tie while wearing shorts and sneakers (trainers) particularly funny. 

Viewers love the message featured in the last third of the ad along with the ASICS logo near the end. Most notably, Love is evoked when Brian Cox says “run, jump, roller skate. Whatever, I don’t care, Just move for your mind.”; the screen showing “Your desk is a danger to your mental health” and the ASICS logo. This reinforces why the ad drives strong purchase uplift and corroborates that those 45+ have the strongest brand recall after watching the ad among a clutter of other ads (77% vs 80% norm).

Another distinctive feature of “The Desk Break” is Brian Cox. His character is perfectly suited for the scary and gruff tone of the story which shines through in strong celebrity appeal. He makes the funny elements even funnier because they are unexpected.

In fact, it’s his character, the funny/entertaining style and message that people like the most: 

• "I like the main character. I like that it was gruff and funny. I like that it made fun of working in an office environment. I like the overall tone and message and the amusing way in which it was conveyed."

• "I liked the actor and the way that he delivered the message. It was funny that he had a suit on top and shorts on the bottom. It was an interesting message and a unique commercial."

• "Brian Cox wearing shorts and sneakers with a coat, tie and vest on top. Hilarious."

• "The actor was very good; and I liked his attire, the message was clear and should grab anyone watching and at the end you get a laugh."

• "I loved the advertisement and the use of the Succession actor in his role. I liked that it focused on mental health improvement by physically moving."

• "I liked that they used someone of a significant age to show mental health matters in all ages of people."

• "I like how it was entertaining and was being serious at the same time"

ASICS’ “The Desk Break” is a great example of breaking the category mold with an empowering and emotionally engaging message that can help change people’s lives. Will you start taking more breaks and moving as a result?

ASICS’ “The Desk Break” uses a powerful insight of the need for people to step away from their desk and move for their mind to help incite change in the workplace. The serious and gruff tone of the ad portrays the seriousness and importance of the message, cleverly injected with humor and surprise, to deliver the message in a more impactful and emotionally engaging way. And the timing couldn’t be more impeccable as this was released shortly before World Mental Health Day on October 10th!

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