Our TV campaign
Seen our new TV ad?
It features Paul Whitehouse as Damien the hairdresser, owner of Damien & Jason's salon. Damien is a successful and busy salon owner. He uses a broker to sort out his insurance as he values expert advice and feels safe in the knowledge he has the right cover and a great deal.
Click above to watch the full feature length advert.
Did you know?
- The advert took two days to film.
- In a 2005 poll, Paul Whitehouse was in the top 50 greatest comic acts of all time voted for by comedians and comedy insiders.
- Paul was in make-up for 2 hours in order to create the character of Damien.
- He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show.
- The director of the advert, Declan Lowney, has worked on Father Ted, Little Britain, Cold Feet and Help to name just a few!
- Declan won a British Academy Television Award in 1996 for his work on the first two series and Christmas special of Father Ted and he later won a BAFTA award for his work on the BBC television comedy series Help.
- There were 75 people on the shoot, which included cast members, make-up artists, caterers, dog handlers and vets!
- A real life salon on Richmond High Street, London was the chosen location for the Damien & Jason hair salon.
- The owner of the salon was on site to teach Paul how to hold a pair of hairdressing scissors and other tricks of the trade so his performance looked natural.
Behind the scenes images!
Paul Goodwin Q&A
Paul Goodwin was the producer for our Damien & Jason TV advert. He gave us the following insight into the shoot.
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What was your role in producing the Damien & Jason TV advert featuring Paul Whitehouse?
I played a number of roles when it came to producing the new Damien & Jason TV advert. Liaising with the production company, director and Paul Whitehouse's agent to co-ordinate the shoot itself was one of the key roles, along with managing the production budget. In addition, I was also involved in co-ordinating the editing schedule to arrive at an approved rough cut and managing the post-production process and post-production budget.
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Not including the initial concept creation, how long was the entire production process?
We had four weeks of pre-production, which included make-up tests for Paul Whitehouse, wardrobing, casting, location scouting, prop preparation, etc. This was followed by the shoot which lasted two days and then a week of editing. We then continued onto the post production stage which lasted for an additional two weeks. So altogether the entire production process for the advert lasted nine weeks.
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What was your most enjoyable part of filming the ad?
The most enjoyable part of the filming was Paul's improvisation at the start of day one, where he just ad-libbed a bunch of gags that ended up in an out-takes edit.
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What was the most tricky part of the filming the ad?
The tricky part of this ad was probably not the shoot itself, but the character development where we had to be mindful not to make Paul either too Geordie and 'blokey', or too effeminate. Getting the right balance was key in creating a likeable, believable three dimensional character.
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How did you find working with Paul Whitehouse?
He genuinely is a unique comedy talent. He totally made the character his own and thoroughly researched the part to ensure Damien was real and believable. He really helped develop the dialogue and was great with the supporting cast.
To watch the TV ad and see for yourself click here.
