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1Jan/1162

Morgan Freeman apparently voices More Than adverts

Crikey, how did More Than insurance get Morgan Freeman to voice their new adverts with all of his "like a turkey on Thanksgiving eyeing up a bottle of sour mash underneath a hickory tree near a faraway creek..." shtick; a kind of insurance-related take-off of Freeman's folksy voiceovers from such films as The Shawshank Redemption?

Time was, More Than produced some of the most annoying adverts on the box, in the shape of the stupid Julian Barratt-voiced ads that borrowed music from Lionel Richie and Gerry Rafferty and added idiotic gibberings like "easy peasy Lionel Squeezy". It was shit. So shit it was the first AdTurd ever.

More Than seems to have had a bit of a rethink about these ads, which it hoped would "increase the viewer response rate". They now seems to think they're shit too, with marketing director Pete Markey saying that although the company wants "intelligent humour" they don't want to be "silly."

Whether you think a man standing on a roof, talking with Morgan Freeman's voice and calling himself More Than Freeman is not silly probably depends on whether you're a marketing director for More Than.

But I have another issue with this. Namely that it's quite easy to mishear the last line, which explains that it's not narrated by Morgan Freeman. However this clarification sounds exactly like the impressionist is saying "I AM Morgan Freeman" - particularly in the one about tiles.

There's two ways to look at this: either a complete, if fortunate, coincidence - or something rather more calculated.

Because having Morgan Freeman voice your new adverts would lend a huge amount of authority and raise the trust engendered by your brand enormously.

Republicans in North Carolina certainly thought as much in the recent US Congressional elections, as they deliberately used a Morgan Freeman sound-a-like to slag off their Democrat opponents in an attack ad.

That impressionist wasn't as good as the guy doing the voice here, Josh Robert-Thompson, who appears at the end of the adverts, and is helping More Than further their "trust, honesty, strength, and protection".

Well, him and Morgan Freeman.

Morgan Freeman/More Than Freeman adverts

 

The one with the roof
 

 
The one with the car
 

 
The one with the car in the river
 

 
The one with the beams
 

 
The one with the dog
 



Posted by Robin Brown

Tagged as: , , , Leave a comment
  • Anonymous

    firstly: WooOOooo- first comment…well…umm…yay morgan freeman, nay more-than freeman. That is all.

  • V8TVRGRIFF

    THE MAKING OF THE ADVERTS, IT ‘ISNT’ MORGAN FREEMAN BUT A WHITE AMERICAN…………

  • Quincel

    Perhaps, but I can’t help but think that the words MoreThan Freeman coming up at the same time pretty much clears it up.

  • nevylle

    i think chris barrie does the voice for morethan freeman

  • http://www.robinbrown.co.uk Robin Brown

    Not really – half the people searching for this advert are typing this like ‘is it really morgan freeman?’. Not cleared up for any of them.

  • Ghostlea

    I don’t think its morgan freeman. I think its french stewart from 3rd rock from the sun in morethan tv add

  • Will M

    I liked the adverts, the first time I saw one, it made me laugh out loud to see the guy on the roof (carrying a travel flask and a doughnut for some obscure reason) saying ‘I’m More Than Freeman’.

    I think you have to be pretty stupid to firstly mishear the guy and think he’s saying ‘I’m Morgan Freeman’, and secondly to think that this white guy with a side parting is Morgan Freeman.

  • Yer

    i think its a bit of a piss take, its obviously a play on the bruce almighty kind of thing were morgan freeman is the black bloke wearing a pure white suit and is god. so why is it some random white bloke talking with a good morgan freeman impression? i think its pretty pointless with a tad of retardedness thrown in…

  • Yer

    oh and “Thanks for listening” lol

  • Yer

    oh and “Thanks for listening” lol

  • Yer

    oh and “Thanks for listening” lol

  • Yer

    oh and “Thanks for listening” lol

  • D Wood

    Cheer up everyone. Can anybody name a better, more engaging Insurance ad? Nicely dramatises a negative and makes you smile.

  • D Wood

    Cheer up everyone. Can anybody name a better, more engaging Insurance ad? Nicely dramatises a negative and makes you smile.

  • http://twitter.com/FutureDave David Mitchell

    I thought imitation of famous people in adverts was a no-no. As in, against Advertising Standards ‘rules’.

  • Hobble

    I like this. It temps you like most insurance companies into believing something that isn’t true but the small print “More Than Freeman” can be missed and you believe they have an endorsement (not as though that’s worth anything) from someone with a reputation. Deceive us no more More Th>n.

  • The Ad Hater

    I just saw the “Wheels Don’t Stop” version of the More Than ad on the TV about an hour ago and fucking hell, it’s BORING! I don’t want some twat talking in a Morgan Freeman voice about fucking CAR BLOODY INSURANCE! And the stupid advert drags on for a MINUTE! ARGH, I want to KILL everyone involved in this shit excuse of a car insurance ad! I hope Morgan Freeman sues the bastards for imitating him!

  • Admaster

    Can only agree with the article – this set of ‘Freeman’ adverts from MORE TH>N is ‘iffy’ at best, and how on earth they think this will increase response rate is just beyond me. Maybe they/agency are more after an award than actually driving response, so have taken this risky approach, but appear to have made ‘love ‘em or hate ‘em’ adverts…..oops! The narrative is way too confident and smug and almost seems to talk down to you; it really is pretty grim. MORE TH>N seem to be masters in the art of lurching from one dodgy creative to the next without a clear strategy in mind…just hilarious when you think about it. The only saving grace is the production, and that’s it! I can imagine a few red faces in the office tomorrow!

  • http://twitter.com/bizzypeople Simon Thompson

    This ad campaign can only be the result of too much fizzy pop and sweeties during a particularly puerile ‘word storming’ session. I sincerely hope Mr Freeman and his lawyers sue their arses off. An insult to a great movie…

  • http://twitter.com/Mikeypcs Michael

    Should have got Samuel L Jackson to do it, he’ll do any old crap

  • jim McDonald

    AFTER SEEONG THESE ADS, MORETHAN IS THE LAST COMPANY THAT I WOULD CONSIDER DOING BUSINESS WITH. THIS IS TACKYNESS TAKEN TO THE Nth EXTREME.
    DO THESE PEOPLE THINK WE ARE ALL MORONS…….

  • http://www.mediaburst.co.uk mediaburst

    I watched the rooftile ad last night and couldn’t believe what I saw. Morgan Freeman advertising insurance. Then the end of the advert arrived and some guy in a yellow suit claims to be Morgan Freeman, which, apparently I now realise I misheard, or maybe I wasn’t supposed to hear it properly.

    Very poor show from More Than.

  • Jambot41

    So many people leaving comments ‘I think its so and so…’

    Message for the next generation of Einstein’s who have done so, they tell you who it is in the article above… Wow! I hope you remember to breathe while reading this post.

  • Jambot41

    So many people leaving comments ‘I think its so and so…’

    Message for the next generation of Einstein’s who have done so, they tell you who it is in the article above… Wow! I hope you remember to breathe while reading this post.

  • Madnightowl

    Morgan Freeman must be in deep conversation with his lawyers right now and rightly so !!!!

  • Abc

    The guy who does the voice is called Josh Robert Thompson. That is all.

  • Mikeybw84

    Firstly, more th<n have achieved what they set out to achieve!! Create an advert to get people talking! Regardless if it's a bad impersonation or a good one! Hats off to them, they made issuance a hot topic of communication!!

  • Blobby

    Tripe, plain and simple. The Ad agency did a great sales pitch!

  • Morgan

    More Than is a direct brand of RSA. The oldest insurance company around. They are not stupid enough to blatently rip off Morgan Freemans persona without consulting their legal
    team first.

  • http://www.robinbrown.co.uk Robin Brown

    As long as they blatantly ripped off Morgan Freeman’s persona AFTER consulting their legal team!

  • http://twitter.com/CelebVoices Stuart Smith

    There is now a parody of this advert, thought I would have a bit of fun with it.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBhYakMyim8

  • snowmoonelk

    I liked the Julian Barratt-voiced ads!

  • http://www.robinbrown.co.uk Robin Brown

    Not bad!

  • Pingback: Is it Morgan Freeman on the Morethan adverts? | AdTurds - Adverts That Are Shit

  • Hunter

    comparethemeerkat.com/comparethemarket.com

  • Ansellmag

    Well, whatever. I just love this voice, whoever’s it is: clear, articulate, beutiful pronunciation, could listen to it for ages (I think of him as the male equivalent of Joanna Lumley). And I also think it’s quite a clever & amusing ad, actually – I somehow don’t think M.F would mind much: no such thing as bad publicity, they say . . . .

  • Stephenfarrant

    its quirky and fun and if the Real Morgan Freeman got paid for saying yes to this then good luck to him , money for nothing .
    Just like we all would like.
    The AD has done its purpose got people talking .

  • http://www.robinbrown.co.uk Robin Brown

    Sadly for ad creatives, ‘getting people talking’ isn’t the sole metric by which ad campaigns are judged.

    The Halifax ads ‘got people talking’ – to the extent that the agency that had the brief has been booted of it.

  • media1986

    A whole minute?? Of your life?? You are such a martyr.

  • Tomthelegend

    I could fart a better Morgan Freeman impression. What a stupid advert. I wouldn’t buy insurance from more than if I was a blind driver with no arms or had a house on the edge of a receeding cliff and they were the only company stupid enough to offer it to me.

  • Curator

    “When you wrestle a gorilla, you don’t stop when you get tired…you stop when the gorilla gets tired”

  • Hdijdhd

    Hahaha Its an impressionist who does the voice (and a piss poor version too) he sounds nothing like Morgan Freeman.

  • http://www.heatherteysko.com heather

    thanks for posting this – I listen to classic fm online and hear these ads all the time, and it was seriously doing my head in, whether it really was Morgan Freeman. It didn’t seem beyond comprehension considering Garrison Keillor is doing honda ads on the radio, but it just didn’t seem right. Thanks for clarifying! Heather in california

  • Steve

    Doesn;t the fact the camera shows him as a white guy kind of make this thread rather stupid?

  • Tigershark

    It’s Josh Robert Thompson..also does Fake Arnold, Geoff the robot on Craig Fergusson Show, voices for Wall-E and many games like Avatar etc. He’s a buddy of mine so don’t diss him. Check him out on http://www.facebook.com/pages/Josh-Robert-Thompson/228195266074?v=info&ref=ts

  • John

    The guy doing these adds ib a impresionist from the usa he dose films and tv see his imdb profile see link http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2590280/

    Now I never knew being an inpressionist was illegial all all those people on bbc’s inprssionist show with john culshaw will be suing the BBC if you want to sue someone for impersonating you then sue me I doi some excelent impressions

  • http://www.facebook.com/joss.sanglier Joss Sanglier

    Although it is Josh Robert Thompson doing an impersonation of Morgan Freeman, they would still have had to get Morgan Freeman’s permission (which means pay him) to make the ads.

    You cannot simply impersonate someone in this business – many years ago I remember a “British actress” successfully suing another voice over for impersonating her on an advert. Unlike impersonating someone for fun on a comedy, in advertising it is seen as steeling someone’s voice – in addition, the celebrity is perceived as endorsing the product so there are lots of issues. Mr Freeman would have been paid a hefty sum, as would have Thompson – so quite an impressive bill for the advertiser!

  • Fred Flange

    What does Morgan Freeman think of this crappy advert?

  • jacob zuma

    so much anger. release.

  • Mtpipe75

    The Julian Barratt ones were great. Always made me smile. Need to have a silly sense of humour I guess. At least it’s not some annoying opera singer who really deserves to have his moustache tied to the back of a truck and driven over gravel…..still attatched of course

  • Benwinter2

    Do you all really care?

  • A helpful chap

    Josh Robert Thompson is the name of the impressionist who provides the voice for these adverts =)

  • BIzzle913

    Cant believe all these comments, the advert is just genious!

  • Goasklaura

    I think it’s really funny. The first time I saw it, I thought it was Morgan Freeman and then I watched out for the Ad again. It’s a very clever trick and I think that it’s meant to be picked up by the audience because it’s quite a funny thing to do. It’s cheeky and it’s the kind of joke that takes a few watches of the ad to notice. I wonder if it’s infringing on Morgan Freeman’s rights or whether it’s just free advertising for him! 

  • Sophie

    its Josh Robert Thompson his is an amazing voice actor

  • Sophie

    they got permission from morgan before they made it

  • Granitoons

    Why is he always standing very high in the air? It’s obviously not Morgan, this chap is white for one thing. Annoying adverts.

  • jazz4

    I don’t know why people think that’s actually Morgan Freeman- people have such a terrible ear for voices, it’s clearly an impression.  Especially taking into account the fact that More Than could no way afford his salary.

  • Jsdjh

    Its Josh Robert Thompson

  • Pingback: The worst adverts of 2011 | AdTurds - Adverts That Are Shit

  • Ron1271

    Thanks for the info – I think that it is outrageous they are able to mislead like this, but sums it up for insurance companies in general!

  • Stick_insect

    It’s not Morgan freeman, it’s the guy who voices geoff Peterson the robot on Craig ferguson tonight show in America – YouTube search Geoff Peterson impersonates Morgan freeman, he does the voice to Morgan freeman on the show.

  • Drewxs

    all thats fine but
    a is Morgan Freeman getting paid for the adverts or
    b is he sueing the arse off the advertisers or
    c why not.

  • the truth

    Compare the market isn’t an insurance company

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