YMMV for this campaign for Comparethemarket.com:
- Heartwarming Moments:
- Aleksandr and Sergei adopting Oleg leads to very sweet scenes of them as parents. Sergei especially bonds very quickly with Oleg, allowing him rare moments of happiness.
- One ad released during Oleg's time in Africa shows Sergei and Aleksandr speeding in their RV. The RV has both an Oleg toy on the front and a picture of Oleg by the driver's seat. They really missed their pup.
- The commercial where Oleg and Ayana dress as Frozen (2013) characters and build a snowkat. Adorable on its own, but Oleg designs the snowkat to look like Sergei, showing he still loves his "auntie."
- Oleg not only journeys back to Sergei and Aleksandr when his home in Africa is destroyed, but he brings his best friend Ayana along, who becomes part of the family as well.
- Ho Yay: Aleksandr and Sergei go on regular movie trips together. Sergei broke up with Nicole Kidman for Aleksandr. They’re raising two children. In San Fransisco. You do the maths.
- Plus this ad
starts with the two of them playing Twister, showing Aleksandr on top of Sergei in an interesting position. - One ad has Sergei give Aleksandr the Heimlich maneuver while on a cruise, setting up a pose where Sergei holds Aleksandr the same way Jack held Rose in the Titanic (1997) "flying" scene. Aleksandr has to tell Sergei that it's okay to let go of him...
- In one ad, Sergei takes a day off, and Aleksandr spends the day alone staring at photos of Sergei while "All By Myself" plays.
- During the musical Meerkat Movies commercial, Aleksandr sings about seeing movies where a "girl meets a guy," which Sergei responds to by leaning up lovingly against Aleksandr and singing, "Or bromance!"
- Plus this ad
- Memetic Mutation: It is getting increasingly hard to avoid people finishing their sentences with "Simples" followed by a clicking noise in the UK at present.
- Moe: Oleg is a baby meerpup with big eyes and a playful attitude, so he's utterly adorable. It's no surprise that his debut coincided with the release of huggable plush Oleg toys.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: The tune of "Gingery and Furry" isn't quite "Ebony and Ivory".
- Tear Jerker:
- A lesser one is this one. The actual company is ruining an entire village: bastards!
- Also, the advert where Oleg finds his parents in Africa and he gets left there, leaving Aleksandr and Sergei incredibly distraught. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment. Later ads show Sergei reminisce about Oleg, who he really loved, and cry.
- The ad where Oleg and Ayana's village is destroyed, and they ask around San Francisco trying to find Sergei and Aleksandr. Nobody knows where they are, causing Oleg to cry as he lets go of the postcard. Thankfully, they are reunited with them soon.
- A lesser one is this
- Visual Effects of Awesome: The meerkats are consistently well-animated in a realistic style that completely avoids the Unintentional Uncanny Valley, made extra impressive by the fact that the videos are all done on a standard television ad budget.
- The Woobie: Sergei, who works his keister off for Aleksandr and yet is constantly put down or ignored, rarely getting a moment to himself. In one commercial, he ends up hospitalized because of his exhaustion and still gets little sympathy from Aleksandr. Luckily, later ads have Aleksandr treat him a bit more kindly.
