ZipRecruiter and Norelco mine the dark world of severance for new ads
Lumon Industries is looking for employees with “wisdom, etiquette and zeal,” according to a creepy recruiting ad that conveniently fails to mention the soul-sucking, brain-hacking part of the job.
Lumon is of course not a real company: it is the evil empire at the heart of the hit Apple TV+ series. Breakup. And the new spot is a deadpan satire of ZipRecruiter, which fits into the show’s animated second season as a timely marketing hook.
The campaign aims to be “a fun, tongue-in-cheek way to promote the show while highlighting ZipRecruiter’s innovative matching technology for job seekers,” according to Monika Shah, director of marketing. She noted that the ad attacks the “qualities needed to work at Lumon Industries, where you can be so much more than yourself.”
At the same time, Philips Norelco is also entering the twisty world of job terminations. The brand just released a flashing ad titled “Smooth, Sharp, Office Ready,” intercutting scenes from the TV show with “razors and clippers that adhere to Lumon’s beloved playbook.”
Tramell Tillman’s (Mr. Milchick) video narration notes that “as the founder said, the unshorn worker is horrible,” and the Philips home page offers product suggestions “to best prepare your innie to its tasks”.
The cross-promotion has its roots in the brand’s ongoing relationship with series star executive producer Adam Scott, a self-proclaimed “facial hair lover” who appeared in several Norelco commercials.
Traffic stop
These collaborations follow a Apple TV+ stunt for the science fiction series which put a glass wall pop-up installationresembling an office cubicle, in New York’s busy Grand Central Terminal last week.
Scott, Britt Lower and Zach Cherry appeared in the cube as characters, while other Severance notables like Patricia Arquette and director Ben Stiller filmed the event and shared footage. The dystopian performance art attracted a sizable IRL crowd, spawned a trailer, and lit up social media.
Think inside the box.#Breakup Season 2 — Premieres Friday on Apple TV+ pic.twitter.com/5hdSFMy7hv
– Apple TV (@AppleTV) January 16, 2025
Streaming services, in a highly competitive market, are ramping up their marketing for big-name shows, relying increasingly on real-world events and brand alliances. Ahead of Grand Central’s activation, Apple TV+ canceled Severance’s Hollywood premiere last week, out of respect for the devastating Los Angeles wildfires and a campaign tied to State farm was delayed.
Capturing cultural moments
ZipRecruiter’s new announcement comes from its internal team, working alongside Apple creatives. Brandview, a division of Mayflower Entertainment, secured and managed the ZipRecruiter deal with Apple.
To reinforce the campaign’s inside joke, ZipRecruiter created a layoff web page with fake job postings for “macro data refiner,” “wellness counselor,” and “separate floor manager.” A testimonial from the inscrutable Mr. Milchick says that “Lumon finds great candidates faster with ZipRecruiter.”
In addition to video advertising, ZipRecruiter has partnered with the Severance podcast, hosted by Scott and Stiller. A recent audio spot during an episode featuring co-star John Turturro said the brand “connects companies with people who are looking for a job they actually enjoy, not a job they want simply forget about it at the end of each day.”
ZipRecruiter is reportedly looking for “candidates with very unique skills, like grouping numbers into categories,” according to the audio spot.
The brand has already latched onto important cultural moments, most recently advertising on CNN during the 2024 presidential election. Working with Courageous Studios, the in-house branding arm of Warner Bros.-Discovery, ZipRecruiter has launched several spots on the theme of the political race.
While avoiding any partisan issues, the ads mixed shots of the U.S. Capitol building and office workers with blue-collar occupations like construction crews and mechanics. The message was that good recruitment is crucial, whatever the position.