In this spot for Verizon FIOS directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of Smuggler for McCann NY, Gaten Matarazzo (Stranger Things) is camping with friends in a backyard on Halloween night–with all the conveniences of the Internet as they are streaming shows. A neighbor approaches and asks them about their streaming devices. Matarazzo explains the benefits of running all of their tech on FIOS.
This prompts the neighbor to spin a scary, hearkening back to the pre-fiber optics dark age when bandwidth was limited, crawling at zombie speed. Videos and gaming would just stop–dead. This unconventional ghost story scares Matarazzo and his buddies who have only known Internet as its 100 percent fiber optic best via FIOS.
JSM Music scored the piece, with Sonic Union handling audio post.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED to access this page.
Already registered?
LOGIN
Don't have an account?
REGISTER
Registration is FREE and FAST.
The limited access duration has come to an end. (Access was allowed until: 2017-12-23)
Credits
Music/Sound: JSM Music, New York; Joel Simon, chief creative officer/composer; Brian Englishman, Nathan Kil, composers; Jeff Fiorello, exec producer; Norm Felker, producer. Audio Post: Sonic Union, New York; Paul Weiss, mixer Agency: McCann New York Production: Smuggler, bicoastal; Henry-Alex Rubin, director
Pearson has launched its first global brand campaign in more than five years as the 182-year-old company continues its evolution into an AI-enabled education and reskilling leader.
The campaign centers on a series of cinematic films featuring real learners in conversation with their younger selves. Using AI to recreate earlier versions of each participant, the films allow individuals to reflect on pivotal decisions, moments of doubt, and turning points that shaped their futures. The creative approach blends emerging technology with documentary storytelling grounded in lived experience.
At a time when AI’s role in both education and creativity is under intense scrutiny, Pearson has taken a deliberate and considered approach. The technology is used not as spectacle, but as a reflective storytelling device, built around consent, authenticity, and human agency. It reflects Pearson’s strong support for AI in augmenting human potential with learning at the core.
The first learner stories spotlight U.S.-based individuals, with additional international profiles launching later this spring as part of an ongoing global series that Pearson produced with VaynerMedia for creative, and Hummingbird and Tool of North America for production. Aqsa Altaf and John X. Carey via Hummingbird teamed to direct the “Impact Stories” films.
This film introduces us to Jasmine who meets her younger 27-year-old self. The younger Jasmine has two kids and is pregnant with a third. She and her two children are living in a domestic violence shelter, sleeping on an inflatable mattress with a slow air leak. Now getting a Pearson education and on her way to realizing her dreams seven years later, Jasmine gets to impart a message of inspiration to her younger self.
