Mona’s moaning minnies

For anyone studying the art of comedy, this spot is a masterpiece of understated deadpan humour. 

Created in house and produced by FINCH, with Alex Roberts directing with his typical subversive flare, the film is a series of delightfully doleful scenes that present people who’ve look like they’ve been underwhelmed, if not downright traumatised by the exhibitions they’ve attended. 

Titled The Best of Our Worst Reviews, it is the first ever campaign for the brand and repurposes quotes that have been collated from over 400 stunningly bad one-star reviews sourced from across Tripadvisor, Facebook and Google. 

"Mona gets more one-star reviews than the Louvre, on only 10 per cent of the visitation," says Mona's Marketing Director Robbie Brammall. "We also get more five-star reviews, but that’s a less cherished metric."

The spot cleverly unlocks what is special about Mona; its uniqueness, and distinct, vaguely horrifying edges. 

Roberts and the team at Mona distilled the best of the worst reviews, then set to work imagining the people behind the digital scribble. 

In the film, they are adrift as they go about their daily lives. The lingering impact a visit to Mona leaves on visitors is palpable. "We wanted to convey the idea that these keyboard warriors were having ‘acid flashbacks’ of their time at Mona," says Roberts. "Using actual reviews as our script, we ensured there was a diverse range of unsatisfied ‘reviewers’ and placed them in a scene that instantly spoke to their personality."

The attention to detail is worthy of note, for example the creaky sound of a little girl’s playground ride as she's watched over by her miserable mum who's recalling their unsatisfactory visit.