Virgin Mobile Australia Bets on Doug Pitt in Advertising

You definitely know who Brad Pitt is, but you might not know that he has a brother, Doug Pitt, who just became the central part in a Virgin Mobile Australia’s campaign.

“Meet Doug Pitt. The second most famous Pitt in his family” is the welcoming text on this site from where we also find out that “Doug’s just a regular guy”.

“He washes his own car, pays his own bills, and does his own laundry. You see, unlike his famous bro, Doug’s never been the star of anything.”

The general idea is to “Follow Virgin Mobile and help us give Doug Pitt a fair go.” Doug Pitt also features in a video featuring his daily activities. Another thing pointed by the official site is that Virgin Mobile settles things in the Pitt family regarding celebrity and brings Doug to light.

Apparently, the campaign generated 1 million views  last week to land on the chart at No. 5.

But let’s think beyond the obvious. Yes, the idea is interesting. Bringing the brother of a famous and loved star into the spotlight is a good move. Yes, the final result is a good one, as everything is consistent: the character, his image, all the daily activities, the language, etc. But let’s also face the fact that people visited and will visit the site just because of the Pitt name. Everyone wants to see Brad’s brother, and curiosity is a natural trait of humans, thus the big number of views.

But now that the buzz was generated (or pretty soon as the first wave of curiosity will have passed) it’s time for the second stage: the campaign has to go further and find innovative ways of using Doug’s image for promoting Virgin Mobile Australia.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Shift Communications keeps pounding the media for Virgin Mobile North America.