Neil Patrick Harris has dimmed the lights, tossed rose petals on the bed and launched into an R&B-flavored slow jam about how much he wants to ... sleep?
Indeed, Harris is starring in a cheeky brand-centric music video to declare his love for a new beverage called Sleep from a Santa Monica, Calif.-based drink maker called Neuro. Harris, a song-and-dance man whose skills are often on display in live theater and at awards shows, collaborated on the campaign. The beverage includes an energy drink and a stress reliever.
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With cameos from rapper Problem and singer Asher Monroe, Harris sings about how his “desire is real” and he “can’t hide the way” he feels about Sleep. Double entendres are outpaced only by his saucy come-hither looks. (Example of the former: one of the taglines of the digital, mobile-first campaign is, “Neil Patrick Harris got lucky last night. Wanna watch?”)
The video, which kicked off a broader marketing effort for Sleep, has racked up some 1.1 million views on YouTube in one week. An accompanying in-app mobile mini-game, in which players try to catch bottles of Sleep on a pillow, is going strong, Neuro executives said. Their goal is to give away 1 million bottles of Sleep through the game, from mobile ad platform PaeDae and Neuro’s website.
Harris, who plays rakish womanizer Barney Stinson on the hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother, was a fan of Neuro’s beverages. He’s also friendly with L.A. entrepreneur Diana Jenkins, who founded Neuro five years ago, said the company’s chief marketing officer, Brian Pope.
Harris agreed to star in an online promotion for the brand, using collaborators who he has worked with on Tony Awards shows and partners in digital comedy venture JASH. Neuro’s ad agency, Brokaw, also helped create the concept.
“We wanted to come up with content that people would want to consume, not traditional interruption advertising, but something more memorable,” Pope said. “We’re still a small, emerging company, so we need the word of mouth and content that people want to share.”
In addition to the music video and mobile game, Neuro has launched a sampling tour at colleges and entertainment events featuring a giant bed where fans can roll around, pose and take photos to share on their social networks. The brand also negotiated a product integration into late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, with a Sleep-themed commercial starring series sidekick Guillermo.
Sleep contains melatonin and magnesium, comes in three flavors and sells at retailers like Target, Safeway, Circle K and Pavillions. You can play the game or visit Neuro’s website to request a free bottle, and don’t be surprised if either (or both) deem you “good in bed.”
“The tone of the whole campaign is playful and a little sexy, but not over the line,” Pope said. “It’s kind of anti-marketing with its non-traditional elements.”
Harris will appear in another Neuro video, for its energy drink Sonic, set for a future release. Pope said it, too, will take advantage of the multi-talented Harris’ singing and dancing abilities.
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