Specsavers has joined forces with Flickerfest to launch a new iteration of its 'Should’ve Gone to Specsavers' ad campaign, titled 'Auction Day'.

The ad premiered at the opening night of the 33rd Flickerfest 2024 Short Film Festival in Bondi. The campaign was created as part of a national competition to support an up-and-coming filmmaker, with Melbourne-based creative and award-winning comedy short filmmaker, Jesse Vogelaar, emerging as the winner.

The ad will be screened at the Flickerfest festival from the 19th to the 28th of January before appearing in 45 other venues around the country as part of the Flickerfest national tour from February to October 2024. The ad will also be rolled out nationally across BVOD, SVOD, YouTube and Cinema from January 19.

The ad was shot in Melbourne, Australia, with support from the Specsavers marketing team and creative agency Sunday Gravy.

Shaun Briggs, Director of Marketing Planning ANZ, expressed his excitement about the partnership.

"For over 15 years, we’ve seen audiences continue to love our ‘Should’ve Gone to Specsavers’ ads. We were so excited to give Jesse the platform to put his own creative spin on a beloved campaign. We are delighted with the final product and excited to see the ad come to life on the big screen at Flickerfest. The Should’ve messaging continues to inspire audiences to be as excited about eye health as we are, and Jesse’s concept showcases this in a fresh new way."

Jesse Vogelaar, the winning filmmaker, also shared his thoughts on the project.

"The famous ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ line was a great framework for coming up with my own concept and the folks at Specsavers were really supportive in bringing it to life. As someone who’s shortsighted, there’s been a few times that I’ve run into a case of mistaken identity - so it was a lot of fun to write this idea and set it within the theatre of an auction. I hope audiences get a laugh out of it like the other “Should’ve” ads that have come before it."