Y&R NY Revives Xerox’s Iconic SuperBowl Spot

Now that Christmas advertising is a thing of the past, the next big advertising event that everybody can get excited about is this year’s Super Bowl LI, held on February 5.

While it’s much too early to unveil any of 2017’s sporting spots, Young & Rubicam New York has released a new ad for Xerox, which acts as a throwback to the brand’s iconic 1977 SuperBowl campaign (below).

Initially conceived by Needham, Harper & Steers’ (now merged with DDB Worldwide) creative director Allen Kay, the spot sees one monk compliment the work of another, after he has finished transcribing the sacred manuscripts… before asking him to go away and duplicate it 500 times.

Rather than become disheartened by this ludicrous request, Brother Dominic rushes to his local Xerox to complete the task.

The latest spot (below) – helmed by The Corner Shop director James Rouse – has been updated to suit modern audiences, expanding the elderly monk's request to make 500 copies that are translated into 35 languages, personalised and shared across all the continents.

Thankfully, Xerox’s technology makes this painstaking task nothing but some sailing - proving that the brand is just as reliable now as it was then and that it’s still a big player in digital print technology.

“[The ad] offers a nod to Xerox’s heritage, reflects our present and embraces our future by showing how Xerox has evolved to help companies connect both the physical and digital world through personalization, apps, automation, and security,” says the brand’s CMO Toni Clayton-Hine.