The campaign uses observational office humour to demonstrate how office chaos can be resolved with a trip to Staples. Each of the 30 second spots focuses on a specific product solution and cleverly ties this into the brand message that “Staples makes office life easy”. The campaign introduces the “Easy Button”, which is pressed by office employees suffering from office chaos, in order to resolve their plight.
The first ad is for an HP laptop and uses the idea of the conscientious employee trying to work while his colleagues are performing a mock rowing race behind him. In his frustration he reaches for the Easy Button, and the solution of a wireless HPlaptop appears.
The second ad is for an HP printer and shows office workers subjected to wearing ridiculous jumpers that one employee has knitted for them while he waits for the eternally slow printer to work. One of his fashion victims presses the Easy Button and a new printer appears.
The third ad is for Really Useful Boxes, and shows two employees trying to tidy up a mountain of clutter that has accumulated in the office before their new boss starts, only to unearth a long-lost colleague underneath the pile. The dishevelled employee who has been uncovered reaches for the button, and a range of Really Useful Boxes appears.
The campaign breaks on 1st April, and runs for two weeks, with media targeting small businesses.
Directed by Michael Downing and written by Mike Oughton and Cameron Short, the commercials help to establish the “Easy Button” in the UK.