Jeffrey Tambor, Fred Willard & Co. Revive ‘Empty Cable Suit’ Parody for DirecTV-AT&T’s New Campaign (Video)

In the campaign, cable networks attempt to take down the tycoon that is DirecTV

Jeffrey Tambor, John Michael Higgins, Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard are helping DirecTV revive its popular “Empty Cable Suit” commercials from 2008 for the cable provider’s latest ad campaign, “Cable Corp.”

In “Merger,” the first commercial airing Thursday, Tambor’s character announces Cable Corp’s partnership with CableWorld in order to take on DirecTV. The campaign aims to highlight the benefits of DirecTV — a member of the AT&T family since July — over cable.

“We know that DirecTV is better at this whole TV thing, so to beat them, we’re going to get bigger and we’re going to merge with CableWorld,” he tells the board.

The second ad, titled “Big Idea,” airs later this month and takes place after Cable Corp has merged with CableWorld.

“Now that we have merged with CableWorld, we are so excited to hear your big ideas and how we are going to take on DirectTV,” says Tambor.

Ideas, however, are scarce, since the entire board was up late partying.

In 2008, “Empty Cable Suit” introduced us to Higgins in his role as a clueless cable exec. Iterations of the campaign aired in 2009 and 2012.

Watch “Merger” above, and watch “Big Idea” below.


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