Ant and Dec parody the creative brainstorm in new ad by Leo Burnett UK and Mitre Studios

Since 2019, the UK public has gotten used to loveable Geordie TV presenters Ant and Dec representing Santander via their parody brand Bank of Antandec. So you may be confused about them promoting an entirely different brand in their latest spot.

Leisure, travel and tourism company TUI has snapped up the presenters of ITV's Saturday Night Takeaway for a social-first campaign under the 'Live Happy' brand platform.

And anyone who's had the dubious pleasure of participating in a creative brainstorming meeting will see a lot of painful truth in the spot, which sees the duo throwing around ideas (literally at one point) for the new campaign.

Terrible titles

In this first film of the campaign, we see Ant and Dec accept their new roles as TUI's official 'Happiness Ambassadors' before they go on to brainstorm potential job titles.

They discuss several potential alternative titles, from Chief Happiness Officers to Heads of Happy. They even discuss the title 'CHUMPS' (Central Happiness Unit and Maximum Positivity Specialists). After much comedic back and forth, the duo decide to go with 'Happiness Ambassadors' after all. You can watch the full thing via Instagram below.

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The six-month campaign is centred around unique social content, which will appear on both the TUI and Ant and Dec social channels. The strategy and concept for the series were co-created and co-produced by Ant and Dec's own Mitre Studios and advertising company Leo Burnett.

Focus on the excitement

The social-first campaign aims to be a joyful social series that focuses on the exciting moments UK families experience before they fly away on a TUI holiday: from planning their holiday to booking, even while they're at the airport.

To our mind, it lands more successfully than the Santander ads because Ant and Dec had literally no association with banking in the minds of the public. Fun holidays, though, are central to Saturday Night Takeaway, where the chance for members of the public to win 'a place on the plane' – on a group trip to a glamorous location – is a highlight of almost every episode.

The campaign will live across both TUI and Ant and Dec's platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Kings of joy

"We wanted to find an entertaining way to show the nation that TUI will do whatever it takes to ensure their holidaymakers 'Live Happy'," explains Rob Tenconi, creative director at Leo Burnett UK. "And in our collaboration with the much-loved Ant and Dec, two kings of entertainment and popular culture, we found our answer. Over the next six months, we will share their mischievous adventures through the TUI business to see what they discover – watch this space."

Gemma Nightingale, creative executive at Mitre Studios, adds: "We're delighted to have worked alongside TUI and Leo Burnett on such an entertaining and engaging social campaign. Ant, Dec and everyone at Mitre Studios is passionate about creating content that connects audiences through joy, warmth and a measure of mischief, and this creative underlines that. The campaign has been a great collaboration that I'm sure will put smiles on the faces of TUI holidaymakers up and down the country."