I realized it while watchig the latest episode of Apple TV’s Slow Horses. The formula is very similar to Netflix’s Stranger Things. The cast of characters gathers at first, and then groups separate and have their own seasons, only to come back together at the end for the season’s finale or climax.
This mystery or investigative theme in storytelling definitely did not originate with Stranger Things, but it is what helped me make the connection.
The next thought I had was, okay, if this is a mystery show that would make sense, but there are law enforcement, so is it a cop show? What show is it?
Advertise on Streaming: Slow Horses
Audience Demographics for CTV Ads (Who is loving)
- Adults 25–54
- Adults 35–64
- Affluent streaming households
- Fans of British drama and dark comedy:
Typical Advertisements (What is currently being seen during)
- Financial services
- Automotive
- Technology & cybersecurity
- Travel
- Food, drink & lifestyle:
Suggestions for Advertisements (Who could be seen)
- Identity theft protection: For spies who can steal your identity before you finish your password reset.
- Luxury car commercials: “Drive a car more reliable than the British intelligence service.”
- Coffee brands: Extra-strong coffee for surviving 14-hour stakeouts and Jackson Lamb’s personality.
- Online therapy: Because international espionage is stressful, and apparently nobody in MI5 believes in work-life balance.
- Meal delivery kits: For undercover agents who can dismantle a terrorist plot but somehow cannot plan dinner.
Where to Stream:
- Apple TV
An audience this specific is easy to reach and hard to prove you reached. Our guide to advertising on streaming platforms covers measurement, from household reach and completion rates through to the incremental lift that tells you whether the spend moved anything.
Coming from no real point of view, just one viewer’s, I believe Slow Horses would work best as a dark satirical cop show. This is no surprise, the humour in the show comes from crude British humour and random allusions to different famous celebrities or politicians.
The show’s success is really based on the humour and interplay between characters so I would land on dark comedy as its genre.
If this is the case, then I would have to say, the show is getting old.
Slow Horses has been successful at being crude for too long, it’s no longer actually crude.
Maybe I am being cynical but the show needs to have good story lines as well as being funny.
Recycling old characters and having groups go off by themselves and wreak havoc all while having the government agencies be the ultimate bad guys, has been done by Slow Horses before.
I want some more storylines of maybe international bad guys (there are Russians but maybe some more) or even American storylines (call me egotistical as an American).
Slow Horses should try to wow us, make the characters likeable here and there or have any redeeming qualities (having characters who are all bad, leaves you no one to root for)
So much to do for the show, the show that I do like and want to see be around for a while.
I just hope they don’t fall into the trap of old storylines and ultimately low stakes missions (they do tend to always get out of it, of course).
Financial services, automotive, and cybersecurity brands are a good target for this show. Your buyers are on Apple TV; book a strategy call, and we’ll map where your budget fits.
