Ordering an Octopus from 1,000 Meters Under the Sea

When you go deep sea diving, it’s important all of your equipment works properly. You are entering a dangerously beautiful terrain where there is no air to breathe, no laws of man to protect you, and where every inch you dive deeper the pressure increases to where it can crush you. This type of world requires one to be on alert and focused on how much time they have to dive, which means one of the most important tools a diver needs is a watch. But not just any ordinary watch. No. You need an Octopus.

Octopus watches are a new French dive watch with an impermeable range of 300 to 1,000 meters (approx. 984 to 3,280 feet) of underwater reliability. To advertise its new product Octopus reached out to HumanSeven, the agency of ambiguous messages, to prove the watch’s dependability. As a result, HumanSeven created the short film-ad hybrid, “Octopustore“. Shot on (in) location, the film detailed an amazing marine watch shop that paid tribute to the majestic, mysterious oceanic world the watches were created for—and the spectacular animal that is its fitting mascot.

Some Good

Here’s where this ad rose up like air bubbles to the surface…

1. Production Value – As with all of their work, HumanSeven cannot be faulted for the artistry of their projects. Yes, they can miss the mark on messaging (Citroën Forward project), but they don’t miss the mark on production value. This ad was beautiful to watch. Everything was exquisite. The cinematography was picturesque from close up to wide shot, especially in the deep-sea photography. The editing was fluid like that of waves and the story was clever, which leads to my next point…

2. Clever Story – When I read the description under the YouTube video about an underwater watch store I was expecting some small watchmaker store inhabited by Atlantians. Instead, I got a pleasant surprise and the cleverness won me over. It was great branding to tie the mascot of the company into the ad itself. Sometimes companies carry creative names, but never capitalize on it and leave the viewer responsible for picking up on the subtext of its choice. I applaud HumanSeven and Octopus for doing the opposite. The mascot was a great way to convey diving equipment. The octopus is an animal that has evolved for millions of years in the ocean and every part of its body is important to its survival—from its eight arms and the suckers that riddle them to its big eyes and the unique ability to squeeze into tight spaces. Every part of it is essential, much like how every piece of diving equipment is essential to the diver. Finally, the beauty of the octopus’s choreography was cool to watch.

3. Oceanic Research – I don’t think this was the intent of the ad, but after watching it, it inspired me to brush up on my oceanic zoology with an emphasis on octopuses and squids. Next thing I knew I was on a page about how both creatures inspired stories of the Kraken and mythological monsters and I love mythology as much as I do science so thank you, Octopus and HumanSeven!

Some Bad

Here’s where this ad sank like a stone…

1. Nothing – Unlike its Citroën Forward project, HumanSeven did nothing wrong with this ad.

The Takeaway

Courtesy of its top-notch production value, ingenious story, clever branding, and uber-cool mascot, HumanSeven and Octopus put together a great short film-ad hybrid in “Octopustore”.