truTV's All-New Brand Campaign Launches, Immediately Falls Apart

First Wave of Creative Unveiled Introducing Network's New Tagline (Spoiler Alert: It's Like Every Other Network Campaign You've Ever Seen Except Totally Different)

In case you have missed the few dozen press releases sent over the past two years, truTV has undergone a transformation. Long gone are the days of trial coverage and derivative reality shows, in favor of a new network of premium, creator-driven comedies that are making some noise. And now, in an effort to directly connect this new truTV brand to its comedic slate of shows like Impractical Jokers, Adam Ruins Everything, Those Who Can't and Jon Glaser Loves Gear, the Turner-owned network is going one step further and today unveiled an all-new brand campaign that it hopes will really nail the point.

This multiplatform campaign, created in collaboration with truTV's new agency partner WorkInProgress, will include a range of company actions that will roll out over the next year. With a passion for comedy that is found in life's unexpected moments and spanning a wide range of formats - like Adam Conover exposing everyday realities or four real-life best friends challenging one another to outrageous dares - truTV has a unique and clearly-defined role in the comedy landscape and with it comes an all-new tagline to cement its comedic identity: Funny because it's tru.

truTV launched the first wave of creative today, setting its sights on the decades-old trope of network television promos, complete with A-list talent under blazing klieg lights, shimmying across unnaturally shiny floors to way-too literal theme music. To bring its satirical vision of these spots to life, truTV tapped renowned comedy director Jake Szymanski (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Funny Or Die) to create the network's version of these brand spots featuring 24 different creators and comedians from across truTV's portfolio, and worked with iconic photographer Andrew Eccles to drive the point home with a high-gloss print portion of the campaign.

And, thanks in large part to their contractual obligations to participate, the truTV talent that will appear in this initial creative includes: Abbi Crutchfield (You Can Do Better), Adam Cayton-Holland (Those Who Can't), Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything), Amanda Seales (Greatest Ever), Andrea Savage (I'm Sorry), Andrew Orvedahl (Those Who Can't), Ben Roy (Those Who Can't), Bobcat Goldthwait (Bobcat Goldthwait's Messed Up Stories), Brian Quinn (Impractical Jokers), Brooke Van Poppelen (Hack My Life), Damien Lemon (Comedy Knockout), Guy Branum (Talk Show the Game Show), Hari Kondabolu (The Problem with Apu), James Murray (Impractical Jokers), Joe Gatto (Impractical Jokers), Jon Glaser (Jon Glaser Loves Gear), Kevin Pereria (Hack My Life), Maria Thayer (Those Who Can't), Matthew Latkiewicz (You Can Do Better), Michael Carbonaro (The Carbonaro Effect), Molly Austin (Austin Martinez Comedy), Prentice Penny (Upscale with Prentice Penny), Sal Vulcano (Impractical Jokers) and Shamikah Martinez (Austin Martinez Comedy).

"Executing this new campaign required more than a clever concept, witty direction and talented stars and collaborators," said Puja Vohra, executive president, marketing and digital for truTV. "It required a creepy clown, an overzealous wind machine, a clawfoot bathtub and 200-ish pounds of gold Mylar. And fortunately, we had all of that. Not sure why, but we did."

"When truTV and WIP called saying they wanted to make a really classy network promo, I was drinking in Mexico and the phone had a bad connection," said Szymanski. "So I did not clearly hear that these were supposed to be 'classy" and 'promote their shows.' They let me shoot them anyway."

Now that you've made it through the previous 591 words of dry text used to describe this bold, fast-paced, visually-arresting new brand campaign, why don't you just check it out for yourself:

Lots of spots on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZxWJ6CTr63ZIoLe08XiW-FjWZ-jSqPji

(Seriously, words are useless here. Watch these new spots.)

About WorkinProgress

WorkInProgress is a fully-integrated agency focused on helping companies boldly act, innovate and create to prove why they passionately exist. They believe this is the way to create the most effective advertising, and ultimately love for a company. WorkInProgress is looking to partner with companies who want to harness this philosophy to achieve transformative business results. Visit www.wipbdr.com for more information.

About truTV

Seen across multiple platforms in 90 million households, truTV delivers a fresh and unexpected take on comedy with such popular original series as Impractical Jokers, Billy on the Street, The Carbonaro Effect, Adam Ruins Everything, Hack My Life and Fameless, as well as the original scripted comedy Those Who Can't. And the fun doesn't stop there. truTV is also a partner in airing the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

truTV is part of Turner, a Time Warner company. Turner creates and programs branded news; entertainment; kids and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.