Humour is front and centre for the new “You’re all Set” campaign from online restaurant booking and discovery platform, TheFork by Droga5. Combining laughable circumstances with dry-humour and narration, the hero film delivers TheFork’s message with a healthy serving of wit. 

The new campaign forefronts the message that diners don’t have to use TheFork, but it will likely improve their dining experience if they do. This is conveyed through funny scenarios in which not planning ahead leads to less-than-desirable outcomes. For instance, you don’t have to train before you enter a karate tournament, but it certainly helps. The platform aims to improve the dining experience of users by providing reviews, unique filters, booking systems, and discounts. And while this type of preparation isn’t essential, it is beneficial.

The campaign is comprised of a TV ad, out-of-home content, and digital and social advertising across Europe which all encapsulate TheFork’s desire to include more joy and levity in its branding. The campaign utilises the brand’s reimagined identity and logo, which comes after their global rebrand by DesignStudio.

With humour and imagination in mind, the campaign sets forth a total of six scenarios in which not planning ahead results in a much worse outcome. From accidentally booking a restaurant with a bear-costumed server for a romantic dinner to buying a house that ends up being haunted, the scenarios are witty and engaging. In one iteration a man fully kitted up in ski gear stuck on the side of a grassy mountain, as the narrator compares dining without TheFork to “go[ing] skiing without checking the weather”. The comedic values of the different scenarios helps to position TheFork in its new branding and light-hearted tone of voice.

“Every meal takes prep, even those eaten out. With no prep, it’s like leaving things to chance and we’ve all experienced the unlucky outcome of doing something we haven’t prepared for properly. We had so much fun imagining the downsides of just living life without planning (some from previous experience) - but had to cut several of our scenarios because of health and safety. TheFork is the no-brainer solution to preparing properly for the ideal eating out experience.” explains Shelley Smoler, CCO of Droga5.

With this new campaign, TheFork establishes itself as a tool that while not vital for dining out, it would be silly to not use. It promotes the idea that the dining experience starts before you sit down to eat, by way of choosing a restaurant, looking at reviews, ensuring that it meets all your needs. By doing the groundwork ahead of time with the platform, users can make their experience at the table even better. This is a vision that people in Europe and Australia are already buying into, as TheFork is the leading restaurant booking platform in both locations. 

With Covid-19 restrictions well and truly lifted, dining out has returned to normal. Yet the cost of living crisis is reducing the amount of disposable income people have, making restaurant-going a little less frequent for many. The campaign embodies the notion that when they do decide to eat out, people want to know that where they go will be worth it. The campaign is a clever example of how humour can convert an audience to become users of a product that might not be a bare essential but is certainly beneficial.