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Someone Is Not a Fan of KPMG’s New ‘Reconnect with KPMG’ Ad Campaign

As a Fisbhowl user, I received a notification on my phone this evening that “KPMG was tagged in a post,” and this was the post:

I had no idea this was a thing. Someone in the comment section said the commercial was on KPMG US’s YouTube channel, so I went there, and sure enough, there are a series of three “Reconnect with KPMG” ads. And I watched them.

They are sorta fashioned after the “This is Sportscenter” commercials on ESPN, with the location, date, and time shown of when the scene was supposedly happening in KPMG’s offices. Are they cringey? Yes, very! Are they “return to office propaganda?” Absolutely! That’s the whole point of each of the three commercials. They want you to talk to your co-workers around the watercooler again. They want you to believe that once you walk through those KPMG doors for the first time in two years or however long it’s been since the Rona sent you home to work, there will be a celebration with streamers and balloons and your colleagues hootin’ and hollerin’. They want to entice you with a variety of nearby restaurant menus so you can go out to lunch with your co-workers again. All three are full of kumbaya cheesiness.

Are they the worst public accounting firm ads I’ve ever seen? No. At least KPMG tried to make them slightly entertaining. Have you seen a BDO USA TV commercial? Yeesh, they are horrible. I have to watch one nearly every day during the WGN Morning News. And nothing can be worse than that EY Super Bowl ad from a couple of years ago.

KPMG Norway did the same thing as KPMG US late last year, but their return-to-the-office ads are actually amusing for a stuffy Big 4 firm.

Anyway, the three “Reconnect with KPMG” ads are below. You can judge for yourself whether they are cringey, return-to-the-office propaganda or just another thing they can show potential recruits about how fun it can be to work at KPMG. Or both.

Related article:

KPMG Norway Has Achieved the Impossible And Created a Mildly Amusing Video (For an Accounting Firm)