Who: Subaru Canada and Zulu Alpha Kilo, with Agence Rinaldi for French creative, Darling VFX, Eggplant Music & Sound and OMD Canada for media.

What: “Cure Boredom,” a national campaign promoting the 2020 Subaru Impreza. The TV/online video ads are directed by David McCary, a segment director with Saturday Night Live who has directed numerous mock commercials (including this, this and this).

When & Where: The campaign broke on Jan. 20 and is running nationally across TV, digital, out-of-home and cinema. Ads are also running on Spotify and in dealerships.

A planned social campaign, meanwhile, will include “pointless polls” on Instagram, and “finding the ultimate cure for the seemingly endless stream of boring content” found on social.

Why: It’s all about positioning the Impreza as an alternative to its competitors in the compact car segment, with a particular focus on younger Canadians.

How: The campaign takes its cues from pharmaceutical marketing, presenting the  “fast-acting” Impreza as a cure for the tedium of daily life, which manifests itself in replying to spam e-mails, catching up on junk mail or binge-watching everything.

According to the ads, the “side effects” may include reliability, frequent bouts of punctuality, LOL moments and “prolonged smiling.

And we quote: “Being able to break through, while being relevant with a younger audience were crucial components to this launch. For this launch, we purposely went against conventional car advertising in order to stand out.”—Ted Lalka, vice-president, marketing and product management, Subaru Canada.